The Blue Ring

[enigma_sinai 0]

I was feeling down and very depressed when my friend passed me this motivating story
Enjoy and I hope it helps you as it helps me

The Blue Ring



Life is funny. It has it's ups and downs.

In my opinion, these ups and downs make it more interesting. It gives us the opportunity to learn and grow, if we let it.

About
20 years ago, I lived in Greenwich Village NYC, yes, the big apple. It
was many years ago and feels lifetimes away. I met many interesting
people during this time.

One of them was Carla. She also went
by the name Nakhla (her islamic name, given her by her sheik, after her
conversion to Islam). I met Carla in the laundromat. Laudromats are
great places to meet people. We became friends while waiting for our
clothes to dry.

I was about 25 and Carla was about 40 (probably
more, but she never told). She was a thin, dark, mysterious person,
always wearing long, flowing skirts and shawls wrapped around her
shoulders and head. She had a pallid complexion and always had too much
black pencil around her eyes, adding to her mystique. She was, if I
remember correctly, half Mexican and half Hungarian -- or soemthing
like that. This too was a mystery.

She was, by profession, a
dancer. She found a profitable niche in belly dancing. It wasn't so
popular back then, we're talking 1985! She made all her costumes by
hand, magnificent ones.

Most of her work was in Middle-Eastern
and Turkish night clubs (obviously), and this is how she met her
husband. An apparently-nice Turkish man. They were married, but she was
miserable. As it turns out, he was a gambler and had another wife and
family in New Jersey.

She turned to her sheik, her religious leader, who tried to save the doomed marriage. He told her a story, "The Blue Ring."

I,
also, was going through difficult times. As we sat in her dimly lit
apartment, discussing life's difficulties, she told me this story...


The Blue Ring


Once upon a time, long, long ago ... good stories always start like this ... there was a very good man.

He
was wealthy and had a large, healthy family. Four handsome sons and
three pretty daughters. His wife was so beautiful and always true to
him. He loved all of them and thanked God daily for his blessings.

He
also had a very large house and expansive fields where wheat, fruit
groves and many profitable crops grew. He had large herds of cows,
goats and sheep, not to mention the countless chickens.

Life was so good, and he was so thankful.

One
day, he arrived home from a week-long business trip, to find that his
house had been burned down. A neighboring tribe, in jealous hatred, had
come during his absence and ravaged his home and family.

His
wife had become terribly ill from this trauma, and was near death by
the time he arrived. His daughters had been captured and taken hostage!
The vicious neighbors had either taken or killed all their livestock
and they burned down the orchards and wheat fields. His wife told him
that their sons had gone to find and save their sisters from a life of
slavery and shame.

The man was broken!

He did not know what to do.

He
remembered that in a neighboring village, there was a wise sheik whom
had helped others. In desperation, the man went to visit him, hoping to
receive advice.

He arrived and the sheik greeted him with a smile. The man told the sheik his tragic story.

The
sheik, reached behind his cushions and pulled out a small satin bag.
Inside the bag was a small box. He handed the box to the man.

The man opened the box and saw two rings: one red ring and one blue ring. He asked what the meaning of them was.

The sheik said to him, "Put the red ring on your finger."

"When
you feel that things could not be worse, that you have reached the end,
that there is no hope left, you must open the ring."

The sheik
continued, "There is a message inside the ring, but you may not read it
until you feel that there is absolutely no hope left."

The man put the red ring on, thanked the sheik and returned to his barren home.

Time
passed, the man barely had strength to gather wood to keep the house
warm. His wife was getting sicker every day and one day they realized
that the food stores had finished.

"This is surely the end!" he thought to himself.

The
man fell on the floor and just began to sob. Through the tears, he saw
the ring on his finger and remembered what the sheik told him.

He opened the ring.

Inside the ring, there was a small piece of parchment. He took it out and read what was written on it.




















































"THIS TOO, SHALL PASS"


















These simple words seems to be enough to give him the strength to get up.

He
went to sit beside his wife, to tell her of the ring. They sobbed
together at their sorrows, but somehow, after reading the sheiks
message, felt that things would change.

As they sit in the cold and dark room, wondering their fate, they heard a noise from outside.

Suddenly, the door burst open.

Their sons had returned!

Not only that, the sons had found and rescued their lovely daughters!

Now sobbing with joy, they listened to how the sons had rescued their sisters and also the livestock!

Yes, things would finally be better again.

Within a few days, the man's wife was feeling better.

Within a few weeks, the crops had begun to grow again.

Within a few months, two of his daughters had married and grandchildren were on the way.

The man was overjoyed!

He
remembered the sheik and went to visit him, to thank him for the
message, which gave him the strength to carry on when there was no hope
left.

He arrived and the sheik greeting him with a smile.

They sat, smoking nargila and drinking coffee, as the man told the sheik his story.

The sheik asked him, "Do you still have the box which I gave you?" The man, remembering, said, "Yes. It is here in my pouch."

The sheik told him to open it. As he did, he saw the blue ring, which he had forgotten about.

The
man said, "Take the blue ring, since my troubles are over and I'm sure
that there will be someone else who needs it more than I."

The sheik said, "No, the blue ring is also for you. In this case, however, the situation will be different."

"Put
the blue ring on your finger. When you feel that your happiness can no
longer be contained and that God has given you all you desire, this is
when you will open the blue ring."

The sheik continued, "There
is a message inside the ring, but you may not read it until you feel
that you are happier than you ever dreamed of."

The man thanked the sheik again, and went on his way with the blue ring on his finger.

Time passed. Days, weeks and months.

Three
of his sons had found good and healthy wives. His daughters had given
birth, and now he and his wife had healthy, happy grandchildren,
bringing them joy at every moment.

Things could not be better,
God had smiled upon his family once again. The man was so thankful that
he sat on his bed, his eyes welling with tears of joy and gratitude for
his good fortune.

There, through his tears, he saw the blue ring on his finger, and remembered what the sheik told him.

"Now is the time." he said to himself. "I am truly blessed."

The man opened the ring.

Inside the ring, there was a small piece of parchment. He took it out and read what was written on it.





















































"THIS TOO, SHALL PASS"


















This is the story that Carla told me.

I will always remember it. The message has helped me through some very difficult times, of which I have had many.

It is not meant to be ironic nor tragic.

It is simply true.

It
is the nature of life. Light and darkness, kindness and cruelty, health
and sickness, prosperity and poverty ... good and bad.

It is about learning to appreciate that all things pass with time.

It is a never ending lesson.

The only true tragedy, is if failing to enjoy the beauty of it.

Enjoy every moment.

Live, learn and always remember that This too, shall pass