Seeking and Finding Wholeness

I have a story for you:

Once Upon a Time In a Land Far Far Away, there was a young king who suffered from mood swings.

He would be confident of his decisions and his own greatness, until he got depressed and fell into a deep depression. When this king was feeling blue, he would sit and stare, he would sleep for hours on end, he would do nothing, and he would also become convinced that he was worthlessness and unimportant.

If this king lived today, we would have called him bipolar or perhaps manic-depressive; but this was a long time ago, and back then no one had names for these symptoms. The king was left with no real help, he brought the best herb doctors and they gave him special attention only fit for a king, but his mood swings did not improve much.

The king’s counselors looked for wise men and healers that could help him, but soon became discouraged at the king’s lack of response. Until, one day, a traveling old gypsy man visited the king and motioned that he has a treatment that will surely work.

The gypsy was brought in front of the king; he requested to be left alone with the king. Sensing this man’s wisdom the king agreed. Once the men were alone, “my lord”, the gypsy spoke “I have brought to you a king’s ring of wisdom. Slip this ring on your finger right now, the next time you feel depressed and hopeless, please take it off and look inside, you will find something that will help you feel better.”

The ring was truly royal, it was studded with beautiful green, red and blue stones surrounded by rare diamonds and it was made of white gold. Needless to say, the king slipped the ring on and admired its craftsmanship.

A few days later as the king became depressed, his old habit of feeling worthless took over his rational thoughts, he remembered what the gypsy had said. He slipped the ring off his finger and looked inside. What he found seemed to comfort him. His advisers noticed the difference as time went by, the king became more stable emotionally and mentally.

The king ruled for many years during which he frequently consulted the ring. The king’s oldest son grew into a man and always pondered the power of this ring, he never knew why his father consulted the ring and held it in high regards, but he was sure the ring had magical powers.

The king never saw the gypsy man again, and after a long reign the king died. The king’s son, longing to know the ring’s secret for so many years, slipped the ring off his father’s finger and looked inside.

He found, engraved around the inside of the band these four (4) words:

.

..

“This too shall pass.”

Story origins:

This is a story I heard a long time ago, I don’t remember where or when. In fact, I don’t remember the exact story as told. The above is re-crafted in my words and influenced by my life experience.

I have never seen this story written down, I thought it is time to share.

Pass this story along, please let people know where you read it.

Disclaimer

The ring dipicted in this article is NOT the real king’s ring, just what I imagined it would look like