Do you have something you treasure?

Saion, the sage-reformer of the ancient Ryukyu Kingdom (present-day Okinawa in Japan) told a story about an elderly man who helped a young boy learn what is truly worth treasuring.

One day, a young boy said proudly to an old man: “I have a sword that has been handed down in my family for generations. I polish it every single day, without fail!”

The old man asked the boy: “Do you have any treasure other than this sword?”

“No, I don’t.”

“That sword is just a small treasure,” the old man said quietly. “You actually have the most wonderful treasure of all. It is you, yourself.”

The old man wanted the boy to understand that he needed to polish his life with the same dedication and vigour with which he polished the sword. Because:

If you don’t polish your life it will tarnish. ~ Masaaki Morinaka