There is a certain legend that a monk, very wise and elderly, was willing to find a successor to run the community he served.

There were many of his pupils, but living with them made it clear that not all of them had the necessary conditions to occupy the position.

However, two faces stood out in his mind, as they seemed the most prepared.

As only one could replace him, he decided to launch a challenge that would put both of their abilities in check and show the most prepared to succeed him.

In this way, he summoned the two monks and gave each one some beans, which should be placed inside their shoes, for the test.

The challenge was to climb up a big mountain using the shoes with the grains inside.

When the day and time arrived, the teste began.

In the first meters, one of the candidates started to limp. He did not go beyond the middle of the climb.

His face was etched with pain. He stopped, took off his shoes. The blisters on his feet were huge and bleeding.

He sat down by the wayside, recognizing that he would not be able to continue.

To his surprise he found that the other competitor was out of sight, walking briskly up the mountain.

When the race was over, everyone gathered to applaud the winner.

Later, after bandaging his own feet, the loser approached the winner and asked him how he managed to make it all the way with the grains in his shoes.

Oh! - he explained - it is that before putting them in the shoes, I cooked them.

*   *   *

The challenges we face during our lives are varied.

In a general, we left eagerly wanting to resolve them as quick as possible. We almost always we forget to seek, first, a way to soften our rude difficulties.

No matter how difficult test that life presents us with, at certain times, we can find a way to, at least, ease the situation.

Perhaps the willingness to talk to someone who can help us to see a solution for a fact that seems impossible to be resolved is enough.

In certain situations, a gesture will often be enough, a few words that portray our desire to find a way out, with wisdom and humility.

 Sometimes, we will have to put ourselves in the other´s shoes, to better understand their problem, which will lead us to realize how much we, too, still need to soften ourselves inside.

Challenges are inevitable, but we can always use our intelligence, our creativity, in the search for solutions.

If we do not solve the difficult situations that surround us, we will carry our problems with us wherever we go.

It is precisely our pride, our selfishness or our vanity that put beams in our eyes, preventing us from seeing what solution it could be.

These monsters hunt us because we feed them. Problems, we all have them. Bigger, smaller.

We are the ones who determine whether they dominate us or whether we overcome them.

Let us remember that sometimes it will be enough to cook our beans.

Spiritist Moment Team, with narration
of oral knowledge legend.
March 6.2023.