MAN IN THE DESERT

A story about Value, Honor and Life by Chris Kok

A person who is stranded alone in the hot Sahara Desert for two weeks without water will really value the first glass of water given to him.

The feeling/thoughts that sets upon him when he sees that first glass of water is “VALUE”.

At that moment, he would drink the water if there was a fly inside (no more complains).

During the time that this man drinks the water, he made a vow in silence that he will no longer be the old him if he survives this ordeal.

He will not be selfish, deceitful, temperamental, lazy, greedy, jealous and vindictive.

He will always smile, live his life with full gratitude and help others.

After he survives the ordeal, it is time for him to HONOR the silent vow he made at the desert. His actions thereon will determine whether he HONORS.

The man survives the ordeal and gets back to his life.

For the first six months, he honored his vow and he was smiling all the time and he was filled with gratitude that he survived. He even started his own little project to provide free tuition for underprivileged children.

After 6 months, the news media heard about his ordeal and what he was doing thereafter, and offered him an interview and he was also offered to publish his story. All these offers came with lucrative monetary returns.

His wife advised him to take up the offer only from the highest bidder and he felt that was a very good idea.

As it turns out, he found out that the next offer always promises higher payments.

His friend for many years convinced him that he needed a professional manager and offered himself for the job. The man thought about it and agreed with his friend. Now that his friend became the manager, all offers had to be vetted by “the Manager” before it could be considered.

The wife was furious when she found out that her husband had opted for a friend to be the manager instead of appointing her. That sparked off rounds of quarrels and heated arguments.

Now, the man became sad and he was no longer smiling anymore.

He could no longer feel the gratitude of being able to survive. 

All he could feel was the sorrow, frustration and anger due to his troubled marriage. 

Even his private project providing free tuition for the underprivileged children had stopped.

He no longer remember the vow that he made when he was about to die in the desert. 

Turns out, he only honored his vow for six months. 

When prospects of money came into his life, everything spiraled downwards. 

It was not the fault of his wife or his friend or the money-offering media. 

It was his own doing. He lost himself simply because he no longer honors anything.

Things got out of hand eventually and the man decides to take a long vacation alone in his private jet that he bought with the down payment he received from the publishers. 

As fate turns out, the engines on his jet failed midway and his plane plunges into the desert. 

He found himself back where he was before………..stranded alone in the desert without water.