Once upon a time, there was a king who was in great distress due to an eye problem. Despite visiting many places, he couldn't find a solution to improve his eyesight.
Later, the king discovered a hermit living in the forest of his kingdom, who was believed to have the power to solve any problem.
The king went to the hermit and requested him to fix his eye problem. The hermit looked at the king and said, "I have understood your problem, Your Majesty."
"You need to do one thing from now on," the hermit continued, "only look at red things. Focus solely on the color red. Then, you will see that everything is alright." The king agreed and said, "Alright, I will do as you say."
Upon returning to his palace, the king painted everything red, including the entire royal court. After a few days, the king's eyesight began to improve gradually.
Delighted with the results, the king instructed his soldiers to bring the hermit to him. When the hermit arrived, the soldiers blindfolded him and soaked him with red dye.
When the hermit reached the king, the king asked him, "How are you?"
To which the hermit replied, "You can see for yourself," he said in an irritated tone, "Why did you ask me to paint everything red?"
The king then explained, "But you told me to focus on the color red. If I didn't paint everything red, then when you saw me, my eyes would have had problems."
To this, the hermit said, "But, Your Majesty, couldn't you have just worn red-tinted glasses?"
The king realized his mistake and felt embarrassed.
Then the hermit said, "See, Your Majesty, when we encounter a problem, we often try to change everything around us, but we fail to notice that the solution to our problem lies within ourselves."
"We don't need to go to great lengths or distant lands to change ourselves. If I change, my family will change, my society will change, and if my society changes, my country will change."
The Lesson of Stories: We have the power to address many of our own problems by making small changes within ourselves.
