Tales & Traditions

Grandmaster Tao’s Lesson on Thankfulness

Grandmaster Tao was a martial arts expert, both physically and philosophically. The primary tenet in his school was the motto, “Thankfulness and appreciation lead to joy.”

One day, a student asked, “Grandmaster Tao, why do you always seem to be so happy and have the ability to make other people happy?”

He paused for a moment, then replied, “I have learned the lesson of being thankful.”

Puzzled by his answer, the student asked, “What do you mean?”

Grandmaster Tao said, “I had to learn the way of thankfulness because it is like a balm.”

Once again the student questioned, “You’re saying thankfulness is like a medicine.”

He answered, “That’s right. It can heal the person who is thankful and the ones he expresses thanks toward.”

“Wow. I didn’t know that, Sir.” The student replied.

“When I was young, I trained hard, but did not enjoy myself. I traveled the world competing and saw many things, but didn’t take the time to appreciate it. I taught many students in a harsh way and never was thankful.” Grandmaster Tao said.

The student looked in amazement and asked, “What changed you?”

Again Grandmaster Tao said, “I learned the way of thankfulness. My health became poor because I was depressed. I stopped traveling and competing. I also lost all of my students. Then, one day, it hit me: I was not grateful for all that I had. From that point on, I began to reflect on my past with thankfulness for all of the experiences and people that came my way.”

The student said, “You hit a low in your life.”

Grandmaster Tao said, “Exactly. Sometimes it takes falling from the mountain to see that we should be thankful for each aspect of the climb to the top. Now, I am happy with myself and travel the world for tournaments with the many students I currently have. I owe all of this to becoming thankful. The joy that comes from thankfulness is contagious.”