Story Wisdom

I am going to re-produce here, an inspirational story that I received today. It is a short story which hits the nail right on the head. Here it is.

WHERE TO TAP
Ever heard the story of the giant ship engine that failed? The ship's owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure but how to fix the engine. Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was a youngster. He carried a large bag of tools with him, and when he arrived, he immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom. Two of the ship's owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what to do. After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life. He carefully put his hammer away. The engine was fixed! A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for ten thousand dollars. "What?!" the owners exclaimed. "He hardly did anything!" So they wrote the old man a note saying, "Please send us an itemized bill."

The man sent a bill that read:
Tapping with a hammer ........................ $ 2.00
Knowing where to tap ............................ $ 9998.00

Effort is important, but knowing where to make an effort in your life makes all the difference.

When I read this story, I was instantly reminded of many of 'us' who are so talented and who are sincere in our effors but for some reason never seem to be scaling the heights of success and satisfaction that many others do. The one thing that struck me hard after I read this story is that it is not only enough to make efforts. It is more important to make those efforts in the right direction. And for this one requires a strong sense of purpose and a clear goal.

I hope this story helps provoke some useful thoughts for all of you as well.