A senior at my company shared with me a story that I really enjoyed.
He told of a friend who was super successful in the Philippines as an investor but lost everything and became a bum and a drug addict in Canada.
This friend would constantly bug him for money (for drugs, but he would never admit it)
"Please, can I have some money. I really need it just this once"
And so he gave his friend $250 on 1 condition.
"OK fine! Here is some money. I'll lend it to you as long as you stop bugging me all the time".
Fast forward a few months.
Every time he got a check from his friend, it would bounce. Eventually, after a few more bounces, he lost faith in his friend and gave up trying to get his money back.
"That $250 is gone," he thought.
But then a year later he got a check from his friend for $5000 right before Christmas.
He figured that it was fake. But the friend called him and urged him.
"You didn't cash the check. Please, just cash it in, promise me".
Since he had nothing to lose, he cashed the check.
It didn't bounce.
He wanted to know badly what happened to his friend?
"I changed" was what his friend told him.
The friend was super grateful. He even insisted that they meetup (he moved far away) and paid for a plane ticket, first class.
"You are scaring me! First you give me $5000 and now I am flying first class! If you are doing drug dealing, I don't want any part of it."
"My brother, I don't do drugs anymore. I changed."
"How did you change"
"I changed because of this pencil"
...
"You were one of the few people that gave me money when I needed it most. And I betrayed your trust. I was ashamed to face you. I was ashamed to face my close friends. I was ashamed to face my parents who lent me money. I wanted to change"
"That was when I met my master, and he changed me through this pencil. And so I keep this pencil with me as a reminder. He told me that to change, I needed to be a pencil and live by the 4 rules of the pencil."
1) You can be the best pencil in the world if you allow a greater power to hold you and guide you.
2) You can be the best pencil in the world if you make use of your eraser to undo mistakes before they grow too big
3) You can be the best pencil in the world if you allow yourself to be painfully sharpened every so often
4) You can be the best pencil in the world even if the world breaks you because your lead is inside of you and you can always be sharpened again.
"And so, what I did was put my faith in God. I did not give up because I was broken. I allowed myself to be painfully sharpened. And I made it my goal to give back 200% of all the money that was given to me to undo my mistakes."
"Now, I am more successful then I have ever been."
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