Well, let me tell you a story first - you may have heard it and you may have come across it.
Sadly I do not know who the author is. I will share it with you the way I remember it ( I may have altered the story a bit as it is more than 10 years after I first heard it ;) )
I was told this story at the most dark period of my teen years and it helped me learn something very, very important.
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So, there was once an old lady that had lots of things in the attic. She decided one day to get rid of them as they were sitting there for a long time and were old and useless.
The lady organized a garage sale so she dusted the items off a little and tried to make them look nice for the buyers. She had put a label with price on each item so the potential customers could decide for themselves.
On the day of the sale there were many people who bought different items from that lady. However, by the end of the day there were few items left that nobody seemed to like. Among them there was a solid wooden table that was badly damaged by time and use. It was placed in the very back and looked like it was going to fall any minute ad the legs were not securely attached to the body.
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Just as the woman decided to call it a day one man approached the unhappy table. He picked up the price tag to make sure he understood the price. It said $100. The men looked at the table then at the lady seller then at the table again. He then said:
"I offer you $10 for this useless pile of wood".
"Useless?! " the lady was very angry with him. "Old maybe, yes. It may need some mending, that's true but it has still more life in it! "
The man smiled. "OK, you are sentimental, I get it. So I offer you $20 if this will make you feel better but I tell you, it is broken beyond repair. Nobody will want that old thing in their home. The only useful thing about it is that it will burn bright in my fireplace..."
"You want to burn it? But, sir, come and have a look!" and she literally made him bend to have a close look "See - this pattern is very rare, it is sourced from a very specific type of tree. Actually, this table was given to my late husband and me as a wedding gift from one very rich relative and it was very, very expensive, now I remembered that... Hmmm, why did I ever put it in the attic..." And the lady continued remembering sweet details about this table and her family.
The man listened for a while then he interrupted her and said:
"Well, alright, I may have underestimated you - you are very good negotiator, I must admit! Even though I wanted to buy the table so I can burn it now I see that it may be put to some use in my garage or basement. However, just because you are very fond of it, I will let you have $50 for that poor old thing. What do you say about it?"
The lady answered immediately: "I say NO!"
"No? Why not? After all it is an old table that has broken legs and needs much repair. It has dents all over the top, it has some mold here and there... If you were so keen on it why did you let it get so damaged in the first place?"
The lady thought for a moment. The she said: "You know what? You are absolutely right!"
" So you will sell it for $50"?
" No I will not sell it for $50 or $100, I will not sell it at all..." said the woman quietly not taking her eyes off the table.
The man started laughing loudly. "I have never met a seller like you before, you know! You are great at selling - you made me like this old thing, I admit it. I want to buy it. I will pay the $100 you want!"
"You were not listening, sir, I will not sell it at all. After you tried to show me the table's flaws you made me realize how unique it were. I will keep it in my home and will appreciate it's beauty just the way it is!"
"So even if I offer $200 you will still won't sell it? After you kept it in the attic for nearly decades?" the man asked a bit irritated at the lady but also at himself.
"Well, sir," the lady spoke " the thing is that I had forgotten how precious this old wooden table was. I had forgotten that it got all it's dents because my kids played on it all the time when they were little. I had forgotten that my husband served me coffee on it every afternoon when he was alive. I had forgotten about all the wonderful memories I have with it.
To be honest I am so thankful to you for reminding me of that. Now with my kids all grown up and gone and my husband dead, my precious little old table is still reminding me of them. I won't sell it, sir, not for $200 or $1000 or for all the money in the world for that matter.
Sorry to have wasted your time but this table is not for sale."
And as she spoke she started cleaning the table again and the man walked his way.
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I got inspired by this story so much that I wanted to share it with others. Long time ago in another blog of mine ( currently non-existing) I posted just the story. People read it and that was all.
Now, I want to go a bit further.
I invited two of my best friends in the whole world to contribute to this blog.
We want to make it more that just a story-sharing place.
We want it to help you - wherever you are, whatever you are doing - to realize how unique you were made and how precious you are.
We will not tell you the right way to dress so you can be liked by others ( even though we will share some advice on this matter), nor will we ask you to look like someone else to be considered pretty.
Our goal for this blog is to make you like yourself - just the way you are.
Like the 100 dollars table ;)
Zhanina
p.s. If you liked this post, please, please comment below. We are still working on the blog and every advice will be so very helpful!
p.p.s We will run this blog both in Bulgarian and in English ( which is not our native language, so please, please, forgive us if we make mistakes )
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