The Most Loved Story In The Whole World

All stories knew each other well. They heard about each other's existence and accepted that there were infinite versions of them. Some of them lived together on a bookshelf, others were connected via digital sources. The stories in the bookshelf loved to feel each other's presence. Closely enough to feel their soul breathing. Gently touching each other's cover. All pointing in one direction.

As with all living communities they talked about things in life. The digital stories recorded these conversations. To listen to them at night when they could not sleep. It made them feel part of a whole. The digital fellows even organised true competitions. The stories on the bookshelf that touched the most, got awarded. The bookshelf editions did not do a thing to influence the digital counterparts. They respected their essence and were not influenced at all.

On a beautiful Summer night, a digital story replayed a bookshelf conversation. It was quite and it could not sleep. Counting the sheeps became out of fashion. Maths another practice. Drinking milk with honey was not an option, so the digital story decided to listen to the wisdom of the bookshelf generation. At first, the story did not ring a bell. The night birds were not impressed either and continued their flights to the trees of life.

Then something was said that really caught the attention of the listener. The conversation was about allowing love into all aspects of life. One story on the bookshelf said that it never loved deeply enough to make a whole series on that topic. Another one confirmed the difficulty. Soon the stories on the bookshelf all agreed that they still needed to learn some skills. They were great students and were always in to learn more.

Touching cover's did not seem to make a huge difference. Pointing in the same direction was also not sufficient. Being together on the bookshelf was a positive life experience. But on a bigger scale, it was not the way to extend the vibration of deeper love. They talked about the topic for a long time. Until the moment that the youngest story on the bookshelf made a simple but wonderful remark. 'You have to see the other story exactly as it is, without judging it or wanting to change it', it whispered softly.

The older stories were surprised how the younger story expressed his voice. They all wanted to know more. The younger story continued and added: 'When you love a flower in nature, you embrace its beauty from a distance. You respect and accept the flower as such. Taking that flower away, would have consequences for that one flower. Isn't that what love it all about? Giving the other one the room to be who he or she is?' 

The older stories listened carefully to not miss any detail of what was being said. The younger story saw that it had the attention of the audience. Perfect moment to continue its speech. 'Allowing flowers to grow in nature, is to allow love to exist just the way it is. Only then it can become stronger and stronger. The flower feels at ease and trusts that it can expand'. The older stories melted for that conclusion and hugged each other deeply. In that moment each single one of all stories felt as if they were the most loved story in the world. It did not matter if they lived on a bookshelf or existed in the digital world. The digital version ended the recorded conversation and slept as a rose ...

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By Liesbeth Leysen, MSc. International Management