Choice Of Words

There once lived a man who had five sons. The eldest son was very fond of having his palm ‘read’ by palmists and astrologers. He would invite astrologers of repute and ask them to predict his future.

One day a palmist, ‘read’ the lines of his palm and said, “Oh God! Young man, your life will be full of misery. You will witness many deaths of your loved ones. Soon your parents will die. One by one, all your brothers and their wives will die and you will have to carry their corpses to the crematorium. Your shoulders will ache, for having carried so many dead bodies and lighting their pyre. The last rites to be performed for each of these will become a burden on your heart. You will go through unimaginable grief to see your brothers and their wives dying, while you, the eldest will live on. Later, your own wife and two of your sons will also die. You will be like a mad man after their death. May God give you strength to bear so much pain and suffering. To experience just one death of a loved one, can break a person. The number of deaths you will be a witness to, are more than I can count on the fingers of my hands. Oh God! What a terrible future….” Having made these predictions, the palmist left, leaving the man very very sad and broken. Whenever he would look at his beloved brothers, he would picture them as dead. He would mentally picture them as corpses that he would be carrying on his tired shoulders. The whole incident was playing havoc with his nerves and he was very disturbed.

So, one day he decided to visit another famous palmist. The wise old palmist studied his palm, looked up from above his spectacles and said, “Well young man, you seem to have a very long life. You would probably live to be 105 years old. You would inherit a large part of your father’s property. Good health would always be your asset. You shall enjoy the respect and support of all your brothers and their clan. All your grand children would love you and you would be a great favourite amongst your people. You have a wonderful life ahead of you. You have practically no problems … no worries……You are a very lucky man indeed.”

Such is the power of words. The same thoughts can be expressed in different words. The choice is yours, the words are yours, use the bitter ones or the better ones. The choice will make you wise or…. otherwise…”