Two travelers were on a journey together for the first time. One traveler was older and had a small backpack while the younger one was loaded down with many suitcases. At one point in their journey they had to travel many miles on foot. The traveler with the single backpack found this part of the journey easy, while the traveler with many suitcases found it very difficult. The traveler with the many suitcases became very frustrated. He finally sat down in a huff and said, “I have many suitcases while you have only that backpack. It isn’t fair.â€
“It is fair for each of us to carry what we brought.†He said calmly.
“Why do you only have that one backpack?†he whined.
“I have traveled this way many times. When I first started taking this journey I brought a lot with me. As I have traveled I have realized many times that I was carrying too much. Whenever it became too much for me I had to admit I could go no further with such a heavy load. I would look long and hard and then decide what to keep and what to leave behind. I knew that once I left it behind that I might never see it again. When I was young I had to give up a lot of things. Now I only carry with me everything that I know that I will need. I found out that I only need a few things on this journey, so now it all fits in this backpack.â€
The other traveler thought about this and then he thought of something clever, “You must have traveled alone. If you had traveled with a kindly companion maybe he would have carried your extra things for you, and you would have lost nothing.â€
The old traveler looked at the young traveler and replied, “If I had a companion to carry things for me, then I would have never learned what was really important.â€