Lessons on Life
Author Unknown

There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to
learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them
each on a quest, in turn, to go and look
at a pear tree that was a great distance away.

The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring,
the third in summer, and the youngest son in the fall.

When they had all gone and come back, he called them
together to describe what they had seen.

The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted.

The second son said no it was covered with green buds
and full of promise.

The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms
that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was
the most graceful thing he had ever seen.

The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was
ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right,
because they had each seen but only one season in
the tree's life.

He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person,
by only one season, and that the essence of who they are
and the pleasure, joy, and love that come
from that life can only be measured at the end, when
all the seasons are up.

If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise
of your spring, the beauty of your summer, fulfillment
of your fall.

Moral:

Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.
Don't judge life by one difficult season.
Persevere through the difficult patches
and better times are sure to come some time or later.

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Aunt Jean in Columbus sent this along to me. I thought you might enjoy it as much as I did. Thanks Aunt Jean!