The 99 Club

Once upon a time.......there lived a King who.....despite his luxurious

lifestyle... ..was neither happy nor content.

One day, the King came upon a servant who was singing happily while

he worked. This fascinated the King; why was he......the Supreme Ruler of the Land........ ..unhappy and gloomy, while a lowly servant had so much joy.

The King asked the servant, " How come you are so happy?"

The man replied, " Your Majesty, I am nothing but a servant, but my

family and I don't need too much........ ....just a roof over our heads and

warm food to fill our tummies ."

The king was not satisfied with that reply. Later in the day, he

sought the advice of his most trusted advisor. After hearing the

King's woes and the servant's story, the advisor said, " Your

Majesty, I believe that the servant has not been made part of The 99

Club."

" The 99 Club? And what exactly is that?" the King inquired.

The advisor replied, " Your Majesty, to truly know what The 99 Club

is.......... .place 99 Gold coins in a bag and leave it at this servant's

doorstep."

When the servant saw the bag.......he took it into his house. When he

opened the bag, he let out a great shout of joy....... wow....so many gold

coins!

He began to count them. After several counts.....he was at last

convinced that there were 99 coins. He wondered, " What could've

happened to that last gold coin? Surely, no one would leave 99

coins! "

He looked everywhere he could..... but that last coin was elusive.

Finally, exhausted, he decided that he was going to have to work

harder than ever to earn that gold coin and complete his collection.

From that day....the servant's life changed. He was overworked,

horribly grumpy, and castigated his family for not helping him make

that 100th gold coin. He felt so unhappy all the time.... he stopped

singing while he worked.

Witnessing this drastic transformation. ...the King was puzzled. When

he sought his advisor's help, the advisor said, " Your Majesty, the

servant has now officially joined The 99 Club. "

He continued, " The 99 Club is a name given to those people who have

enough to be happy but are never contented... ....because they're always

yearning and striving for that extra 1....... telling themselves: "Let me

get that one final thing and then I will be happy for life ."

We too can be happy with very little in our lives....... but the minute

we're given something bigger and better...... we need to watch out for

our monkey minds ......... which may want even more!

We lose our sleep....... .our happiness... ...we hurt the people around

us.......all these as a price for our growing needs and desires.

So my dear brothers & sisters...... ...it’s all up to us.......whether we

want to join 'The 99 Club' .........or not!