Wisdom story: How big of a splash you want to make in life is in your hands

One day a young apprentice and his mentor were on one of their regular walks going through the young apprentices’ teachings when they came across a pond. At the time, they were discussing the young apprentice’s wish to make a bigger impact with his work in life when suddenly the mentor bent down and picked up a small pebble. He threw it into the water and they both watched the ripples spread.

Watching the pebble hit the lake and the ripples spread the young apprentice said to his mentor, “I want to do something that spreads influences like that to a lot of people. I want to make a difference in life, you know a big splash.”

The wise mentor responded with a smile and said, “You’ll need something bigger than that pebble if you really want to make a splash.” So the apprentice looked around, picked up a rock and threw it into the pond and with an even bigger smile asked on his face asked his mentor “Big enough for you?” The mentor said nothing and started to undress. The apprentice watched his mentor in confusion as the old man was taking off his sandals, shirt, and stripping down to just his underwear. “What’s the crazy old guy doing now?” he wondered to himself.

The mentor backed up a bit from the pond and started running towards it launching himself into the water, making an enormous splash. “Wow, that’s cold!” he said as he looked up at the apprentice.

“What the heck are you doing?” asked the young apprentice. The mentor calmly explained.

“You want to make a splash in life?  You’ve got to throw yourself wholly into your work. There is no room for compromise.”