One day a sculptor was walking down the road. In the midst of his walk he came upon this large pile of debris consisting of many stumps from previously excavated trees. The sculptor asked the lumberjack, “May I have one of these stumps?” to which the lumberjack replied, “If you want to carry around garbage, be my guest.”

The sculptor put one of the larger stumps on his back and carried it home. Upon returning home, he looked at the tree stump for a long time. He knew there was a reason why he wanted it, and that inside of it lived something great – but how to tap into that greatness was what eluded him. He began to carve and sculpt the wood. For weeks he would work on it, and little by little the most beautiful soaring eagle you have ever seen was sculpted from the once useless tree stump.

He decided this piece could get him a pretty penny and took it to the local flea market to sell. A passerby said to him, “This piece is exquisite – I must have it. How much?” The sculptor replied, “$500.”  Without blinking an eye the man reached into his pocket and

paid $500 for the sculpture. The sculptor laughed, put the money in his pocket and shook the man’s hand, looking him in the eye while smiling and said, “That’s some expensive garbage you just bought there”. The man’s eyes widened as he realized what he had just done.

A week later, the sculptor was walking down the same road and saw a pile of tree stumps wearing a sign “Stumps – $500”.

Sometimes you may feel like the tree stump: Useless, passed your prime, a hunk of garbage. Sometimes you feel like the sculptor as you look at those closest to you, trying to bring out the best in them.  You work at it, you never give up on those people. My question is then – why do you belittle yourself to stump position? Why do you believe that those closest to you harbor something within them that is truly magnificent, but you don’t believe that of yourself?   If everyone around you contains a little “magic” – well – don’t you?

I have news for you – everyone DOES hold within them some sort of magic to be used for the good and benefit of society. Every single person. That means then, that you hold that very same magic within you! Next time you want to pour your energy into someone else and help them to discover their magic, make sure that you have first poured that same amount of energy into yourself and discovered that day’s magic within you.