Wanted to share a story I heard from my teacher since I was young. Back then, it didn't feel so meaningful. I guess, when we grow up, we understand things better, the very same dull old things, might actually prove to be jewels we've yet to discover.

So the story is about an orange tree.

An orange tree grew beside a road. The road is used daily by many people and is highly accessible! One day, a boy noticed some ripe oranges on the orange tree. Since the orange tree grew near the roadside, and does not belong to anyone, the boy wanted to climb the tree and pluck a few oranges for his own consumption.

Knowing what the boy is about to do, a wise friend advised him that the oranges on the tree would definitely not be sweet, but instead sour. Unconvinced, the boy pointed out that we'll never know whether those oranges are sweet or sour until we taste it. He then proceeded to climb the tree while his wise friend could only sigh at his lack of insight.

Upon obtaining a manageable amount of oranges, the boy greedily tasted the first one, and as expected, found it to be extremely sour. Puzzled, the boy then asked his friend how he knew the oranges were not to be sweet but sour.

His friend answered, "The tree grew by the road, accessible daily to many people. Had the oranges been sweet, countless people would have already been up there and plucked its fruit. The only reason why we still see the oranges on the tree would therefore be because they are sour and nobody wants them."


Isn't that just the perfect mirror of our complicated lifes? To get the sweet oranges, probably we have to be the ones to sow it. Oranges that can be found by the road would almost definitely be sour, for the sweet ones would long be taken already.