If knowledge is the answer, what is the question? Where do you hope knowledge will take you?
- Verna Allee
A certain young man went to his doctor, complaining of a great deal of boredom in his life, a feeling of restlessness, almost as if he'd been anesthetized. In essence he said, "I'm going through the motions, but I really don't care. Everything is so routine and so mechanical that there's nothing exciting in life anymore."
After examining him, the doctor wrote him out a clean bill of health physically. However, he could sense, more than he could physically diagnose, a problem deep within the man, a problem within his spiritual dimension.
"I'd like to give you some prescriptions and ask you to follow them for a day," the doctor told his patient. "First, where is your favorite place?"
"I don't know," the patient responded quickly.
"As a child, where was it? What did you really like doing?"
"I loved the beach."
The doctor then said, "Take these three prescriptions and go to the beach. One you will take at nine o'clock, one at noon, and the last one at three. You must agree that you'll follow the prescription and not read the next one until the proper time. Fair enough?"
"I've never heard of anything like this before," the patient replied skeptically.
"Well, I think it will really help you."
So the restless young man took the prescriptions and went out to the beach. He was there by nine o'clock, accompanied by no one, as instructed. There was no radio, no phone, no company. He was alone with the beach and his prescription, which he read immediately. It contained two words: "Listen carefully."
"I can't believe this," he exclaimed. "Three hours of this!" Within one minute he was bored. Having heard the seagulls circling above and the surf hitting against some nearby rocks, he wondered what he could do for three hours. "But I committed myself," he said. "I'll stay with it. After all, it's only for one day."
He began to think deeply on the idea of listening carefully. He started to listen with his ears, and soon he could hear sounds he'd never identified before. He could hear two surfs. He could hear different kinds of birds. He could hear the sand crabs. He could hear whisperings under whisperings. Soon a whole new and fascinating world opened up to him. It calmed his entire system; he became meditative, relaxed, peaceful. Almost euphoric when noon came, he was genuinely disappointed that he had to pull out the second prescription, but he stayed true to his commitment.
Three words this time: "Try reaching back." Baffled at first by the cryptic message, the man then began to reflect on his childhood as he played on the beach. One experience after another floated through his mind. He remembered clam bakes with his family. He remembered watching his brother, who was killed in War, running up the beach, joyfully exulting that school was out. A deep feeling of nostalgia enveloped him, stirring up many positive feelings and memories. He was deeply engrossed in his memories when three o'clock came. Again he was loath to read the next prescription because of the warmth and enjoyment he was feeling.
But still he pulled out the last prescription: "Examine your motives." This was the hardest; it was the heart of the matter, and he knew it instantly. He began looking inside introspectively. He went through every facet of his life - all types of situations with all kinds of people. He made a very painful discovery: selfishness was his dominant trend. Never transcending himself, never identifying with a larger purpose, a worthier cause, he was always asking, "What's in it for me?"
He had discovered the root of his ennui, his boredom, his lackluster life, his mechanical, ritualistic attitudes toward everything. When six o'clock came, he had been thoroughly peaceful, he had remembered, and he had looked deeply within himself. By following the three prescriptions, he had made some resolves about the course of his life from that moment on, and he had begun to change.
- Stephen Covey, Principle Centered Leadership
