Why Bad Things Happen to Good People?

The Question: Why does bad things happen to good people?

This story might help shed some light on the answer.

So there once was this really rich king who lived a long time ago. He spent his entire life living a life a luxury. One day something horrible happened to him and he couldn't figure out what he had done to deserve it.

Needing answers, he went far and wide to find the wisest sage to discover the answer.

He came across a humble farmer who was known as the most brilliant man in the land. He told him about his tragedy and asked him the question "Why does bad things happen to good people? and all the man replied was, "Have you ever made bread before?"

Now the king was a little taken back by the question because 1. a king would never do such a menial thing as make bread and 2. it had absolutely nothing to do with the king's question... or so he thought

The farmer said, I will give you the answer you seek, but first to get the answer you must help me make some bread.

The king was willing to pay any price to find out the answer so he thought, if all I have to do is help him make bread, I'll gladly do that to find out such a meaningful answer.

(Mind you, the king has never done any type of farm work or any laborious work ever, so everything about farming was new to him.)

So this is what preceded to happen...
1. The farmer shows the king a beautiful field then thrashes it with a rake to aerate the soil.
The king freaks out, "What are you doing!?!?! that was a beautiful field why would you smash it up like that?"
To which the farmer replied, "It's okay, just trust me, it's for the best"

2. After the farmer is done beating up the soil, he then starts pouring water all over it.
The king yells, what are you doing!?!?! Now you are turning this great earth into a soggy mess!!!
To which the farmer replied, "It's okay, just trust me, it's for the best"

3. Then the farmer takes out a beautiful burlap sack filled with perfect looking seeds. The king sees this and thinks it looks beautiful.
The farmer then takes many handfuls of the seed and throws them, scattering all of the seeds all over the land.
The kings says "WHOA! why would you just throw away all of that good seed? What's wrong with you?"
To which the farmer replied, "It's okay, just trust me, it's for the best"

Then a few weeks go by and the king gets nothing else out of the farmer and is just completely confused by why the farmer would do such horrible things to his land.
Then the farmer takes the king to the field so that he can see how beautiful the grain has grown. So the king thinks he finally gets it, he thinks to himself "Oh, so we did all of that crazy stuff to get this beautiful field of grain.

4. Just then the farmer takes out his sharp scythe and begins to cut down all of the crop that just took so long to grow.
The king is now convinced the farmer is completely nuts. The king says "Okay I thought I got it, but why cut down what took so long to grow?"
To which the farmer replied, "It's okay, just trust me, it's for the best"

5. Then the farmer bundled up all grain into nice piles and then began to run a course sled over the grain separating the top of the grain from the long stem.
The king says, "Wait, you put it all into nice piles just to separate them like that so roughly?"
To which the farmer replied, "It's okay, just trust me, it's for the best"

6. Then the farmer took his pitch fork and picked up the grass and threw it into the air. The long stems blew away and the grain fell. The king was perplexed, "So now you are throwing away all of that crop to keep just that little bit on the top?!?!!"
To which the farmer replied, "It's okay, just trust me, it's for the best"

7. Then the farmer took the grain and began grinding it down into a fine powder.
The king FLIPPED! "why crush the grain like that? it has taken us so long to cultivate it"
To which the farmer replied, "It's okay, just trust me, it's for the best"

8. Now the farmer begins to add water and other strange ingredients to make some weird mixture turning the grain into a doughy gross feeling thing. The king is disgusted and confused and before he can open his mouth to say anything the farmer says "It's okay, just trust me, it's for the best"

9. Then the farmer takes this mixture and heads to throw it in the oven. The kings screams, "NOOO, you are going to destroy weeks worth of work by putting it in that fire!"
To which the farmer replied, "It's okay, just trust me, it's for the best"

Finally, the farmer opens the oven door to show the most delicious looking loaf of bread the king has ever laid eyes on and then says to the king.

"We go through life not truly understanding why things happen the way they do. Life seems to thrash us, break us down, smother us, and when we finally think we have figured it all out we get cut down, separated from ourselves, ground up, turned into mush then subjected to the fire. But we have to have faith that the Man in charge knows what He is doing. So when bad things happen, you may not know why at first, but in the end know that it is going to be okay and it is for the best"







My company Arel Moodie International (AMI) delivers the necessary principles of success to change the mindsets of how students approach school and their lives. We are proud to bring you the College Success Program
The most complete event existing today to help college students succeed in life and in college. Could one event completely change your life the better? Find out at www.arelmoodie.com

The Best Peice of Advice That You Can Get...

I was on the phone with a friend from college, Adam Gilbert, and we were talking about a current project that I'm developing for my speaking company. While we were talking he said something that I've heard many times before, but I think it sunk in with me a little deeper than usual, and I probably needed to hear it again.

Here's the advice, it comes in many forms and has been at times overused but spend some time to reflect on what I'm about to say.

It's safe to say that if you are reading this you are serious about taking control of your life and reaching certain levels of success. I'm sure you read a lot of self-help books, (you've probably bought a bunch of books that you haven't opened yet and are sitting on your book shelf collecting dust, we all have done this, there's a reason people say "Shelf-help", don't feel too bad as long as you commit right now to opening one up and finishing it!) and you've probably seen movies like "The Secret".

The best piece of advice is this, you really won't ever become successful if you try to be someone you are not. Being authenticate or being yourself is the best piece of advice out there. Now before you say the four most dangerous words in the English language "I already know that" (I'll touch upon why this is the WORST sentence in the English language on a later post) think about this.

Success is a recipe, yes. This is true, to be successful you just have to do what other successful people do and you will get there. (Most of us are following habits of really unsuccessful people unknowingly). However for you to really get to that "level" that I know you want to reach, you have to let your own voice and personality shine through. I know, I've read hundreds of books and sometimes I find myself wanting to be like the people I read about so much that I start losing myself. I so badly want to "make it" that I'm willing to sacrifice, study, learn, grow, but the key, the real key to sealing the deal is to use the information you learn to be more of who you are. Not to change, but to become more of who you are.

So as you are going through this journey (it never really ends) pick up things here and there that you like from others, learn skills and habits that will propel you forward, but make sure you are being yourself. I think the true balance is when you can stretch your comfort zones, feel uncomfortable, but know you are doing it your way. There is nothing, I repeat NOTHING more freeing than spending every second of your life being who you really are and not pretending for others (read my post, "The Rule of 3", if you need more clarification on why.)

So here's your action step. For the next two minutes (we all have two minutes), do not check your email, facebook notes or anything. Just be quiet with yourself and ask yourself: "Am I living my life the way I want to, saying how I feel and feeling free, really living genuinely to my core principles?" Sometimes the answer is not as important as the question itself.

"Be Yourself, Because Everyone Else Is Taken"
Visit Arel at www.arelmoodie.com
What is CSP?