Long ago, a small stone broke away from a great cliff beside a river.

As it fell into the water, it cried out,

"Why has this happened to me?"

The cliff remained silent. The river carried the stone away.

The next years were not easy. The current pushed it against other stones.

The floods rolled it through mud and gravel. Sometimes it was tossed and turned for days. Each time the river struck it, the stone complained.

"Why must life be so hard for me?"

But the river never answered. It simply kept flowing.

Seasons came and went.Wildflowers opened and faded. Swallows returned and departed.

Leaves turned gold and fell into the current. The winter floods rose and fell again.

And through it all, the river carried the stone. And with every year, the stone complained,

"When will the river finally leave me in peace?"

One day, many years later, a villager came to the river looking for stones.

He searched carefully among the riverbed. Then suddenly he stopped.

His eyes widened. "There you are," he whispered.

He reached into the water and lifted the stone into his hands.

The stone was confused.

Why me?

The villager carried it to the riverbank and washed away the mud.

As he did, the stone caught sight of its reflection in the still water.

For the first time, it truly saw itself.

It was no longer rough and dull.

Its surface shone like polished glass.

The sharp edges that once caused it pain were gone.

It gleamed like a precious gem.

The stone could hardly believe it.

The villager took the stone home and crafted it into a small pendant for his daughter.

She treasured it all her life.

Wherever she went, she wore it close to her heart.

And she traveled far beyond the river where the stone had once lived.

She crossed mountains, visited distant cities, and saw oceans the stone had never imagined existed.

Whenever sunlight touched it, the stone sparkled upon her chest, and people often admired its beauty.

The stone felt loved. And it felt grateful.

Once, all it had wanted was to be left alone beside the riverbank.

Yet because of the river's relentless current, it had become something precious.

Because of the river, it had seen the world.

Life, it seemed, had carried it farther than its own wishes ever could.

Sometimes life feels like a current pushing us where we do not wish to go.

Yet many of the things that seem to wound us today...

may be shaping us into something greater that we cannot yet see.