The path to selflessness

One day, a king decided to go for a walk. It was his twenty-fifth anniversary as king on that day and he had heard that there was a path behind his palace with lovely  hododendrons that were now in bloom. He had worked hard and his kingdom was doing well. He hadn't been on a walk like this for a long time and thought that a well-deserved walk in the countryside would do him good. He had been following the picturesque path with its lovely fragrant rhododendrons for a while now. Who planted all these brightly coloured plants, he thought, and where does this path lead to?

At the end of the path he saw a beautiful field of flowers with an open space where an old man was planting an apple tree with some difficulty. He spoke to the man and said, 'Hello Sir, why are you planting that tree? It will be many years before the tree bears any fruit. You'll probably never be able to pick fruit from the tree yourself.'

The old man stood up, bowed before the king, sat down respectfully and said, 'Your Majesty, with the greatest respect, I'll probably never pick fruit from this tree myself but my children and grandchildren will be able to do so. That's why I'm planting this tree.'

The king was astonished at this remarkable answer and gave the man a coin. In reply, the man said, 'Thank you your Majesty, I've only just planted the tree and it is already bearing fruit.' 

The king, surprised again by this wise answer, gave the old man another coin and asked, 'Sir, you look as though you are quite old. May I ask you how old you are?' The old man, who had difficulty standing, said proudly, 'I've only recently turned twenty-five, your Majesty.' The king, who was amazed at this answer, became slightly annoyed and answered, 'Are you pulling my leg? You can't possibly be twenty-five. You must be much, much older.' 

The old man smiled and said, 'And yet it's true because I only really started living when you became king twenty-five years ago and gave everyone a piece of land to grow crops on. That's when my life began. What you then sowed is now bearing fruit.' And he gave the king an apple. The king, pleased with this splendid answer, laughed and gave the man yet another coin. 'I'd better go back to my palace now because if I stay any longer, wise man, I'll be a poor king soon.'

The old man continued planting. Only this time, he planted a young rhododendron plant at the end of the path. Selfless?

The king already had a lot of respect for people who worked selflessly to help people and nature in his kingdom without financial rewards. The king continued to take regular walks along the picturesque path. He never saw the old man again but he tells the story about meeting the wise old man to anyone who will listen. The king also placed a sign at the start of the path that says, 'A path of selflessness dedicated to all helpers, volunteers, carers and everyone else who devotes themselves selflessly to helping others.' The end ...

 ... of the path of selflessness or of working selflessly on a never-ending path. Schools, companies and organisations are often dependent upon volunteers who selflessly work towards achieving a better future for their children or community. Tell them this story or, even better, let a child read it to them as a token of appreciation for all the hard work they do, because without them...