The Present

In the book the author tells a story about a boy and a wise old man. The young boy is striving to find the most valuable gift of all. The old man watched as the boy was cutting grass and saw how engaged he was in cutting. The boy asks the wise old man about the present and how could he get it. He had heard about how wonderful it was and how happy and successful it would make him. As the boy grows into his teens he keeps trying to find out how to attain this present. The old man tells him he already knows how to attain it, the present is a gift we all have to give to ourselves.
As the boy grows into a young man he gives up the search for The Present, and he begins running into problems at work and in his personal life. When he is passed over for a promotion at work, he goes to see the old man who advises him to spend some time in the mountains and to reflect on times when he was most happy. As he is sitting in front of a fireplace in the cabin in the mountains, he notices how well made it is, by a craftsman who must have been as engaged as he was when he was cutting the grass. He realizes he was living in The Present. The Present means focusing on what is happening right now. The author’s purpose in writing this book is to teach about how when life gets tough, don’t get down and feel as if you can’t get back up, look at the bright side in your situations and imagine what it will be like once you come out of it. Look for the good in the present, and use your vision of the future as a drive to get you there.
This book even gave me some new ideas about myself. I tend to look at the current situation I am in and allow that to bring me down and I fail to realize that it is only momentary. I don’t ever look for the bigger picture; I will always complain about the current situation and not look towards a way to change it.
If I was in a problem situation like in the book, I think I would have taken the problem and tried to correct it like the young man did at work. He