A Parable

From Living, Loving, and Learning by Leo Buscaglia, Ph.D.:

There's one story that tells of a day when a man named Mullah was out in the street on his hands and knees, looking for something and a friend came up and said, "Mullah, what are you looking for?"

Mullah said, "I lost my key."

"Oh, Mullah, that's terrible. I'll help you find it." So he got on his hands and knees, then said, "Mullah, about where did you lose it?"

Mullah said, "I lost it in the house."

"Then what are you looking out here for?"

He said, "Because there's more light out here."

You know, that's hilarious, but that's what we do with our lives! We believe that everything there is to find, is out there in the light where it's easy to find, when the only answers for you are in you! Go ahead and look out there! Nobody has your answers - only you have your answers. And if you think you can pack up your bag and escape you, you're in for a mighty big surprise. Run to a mountaintop in Nepal, and when you get over the wonder of being in Nepal, who are you faced with in the mirror? You! With all your hangups, with all your fears, with all your confusion, with all your loneliness, with all the things you are. So it's time to begin looking where it makes sense to look. What is essential is not out there. What is essential is indeed in you. But it's frightening inside and dark and it's not easy to search in the dark. That doesn't mean you should waste time looking where you will never find it.