the wiseman.

so today, i was talking to my coworker about his favorite topic. 

girls.

he was asking me what i like in a guy and then told me that i should be more open, so that if i am interested in a guy, he will know.

he also told me to climb a mountain with the boy i'm interested to know if he's the one to marry.

and to give him chocolate if i want him to know i am interested.

and to play with his hands when he's sitting next to me.

i laughed and told him that i didn't think i would, that it was too forward. not my style. that was too scary. he asked why, and i told him i'd been hurt pretty badly in the past and was worried that if i opened myself up again, the same thing would happen.

and this is what we said:

"jane, i'm going to tell you a story."

"ok," i laughed. we were walking through the snow to the next building and he began.

"once, there was a boy who lived in a village that felt like no one loved him. he couldn't understand why, so he went to the local wiseman to get his problem fixed.

"'wiseman, no one likes me. all the people avoid me. can you help me with my problem?'

"'yes, i can, but you in turn must help me with a problem i have.'

"'anything!' the eager young man said.

"'i have this ring that i need to sell,' the wiseman held up a simple band. 'take it to the city over there and sell if for no less than two gold coins.'

"the young man decided that sounded easy enough and went off on his journey. he approached the city and tried all day to sell the ring. people offered two silver coins, one gold coin, a bronze coin, but never two gold coins and the boy went back to the wiseman disappointed.

"'i couldn't sell it,' he handed the ring back to the wiseman.

"'that's alright. i want you to try again tomorrow, but this time go to the other town and see how much they will offer for the ring. don't sell it, just ask how much they will give you for it.'

"so, the next day, the young man headed to the other town and asked the first person he saw how much he'd give him for the ring. the young man was shocked as the man said he'd give him seventy-eight gold coins right there if he'd sell it. he decided to see what other people would offer, and was surprised as he got offers for eighty, sixty-seven, even one hundred gold coins! he returned to the wiseman and asked him which offer he would like for the ring.

"'i don't want to sell my ring,' the wiseman told the boy. 'it was merely a lesson for you. right now, you see yourself as the ring that no one will buy, but someday, someone will come along and want to buy you for the price you are really worth. don't sell yourself short to those who don't recognize the value of what they have.'"

he then asked me if i understood the story. i nodded, "i get it." i thanked him and we got back to work.