THE ECHO

A Father and his young son were hiking high up in the mountains one day when suddenly the boy slips and falls, badly scraping his knee.  The scrape is painful and the boy reflexively screams out, “AAAHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!”

To his complete surprise, the boy hears a voice repeating, somewhere up in the mountain, “AAAHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!”

Now curious he yells, “Who are you?”

Almost immediately he receives the answer, “Who are you?”

Frustrated by this response, he screams, “Coward!”

Quickly he receives the answer, “Coward!”

Now angered, he screams out, “You’re a loser!”

Immediately he gets back, “You’re a loser!”

As his anger grows he yells out, “I hate you!”

Quickly his answer comes across the mountain, “I hate you!”

Frustrated and puzzled he looks to his father and asks, “What’s going on?”

The father smiles and says, “My son, pay attention.”

And then the father screams out to the mountain, “I admire you!”

The mountain voice answers, “I admire you!”

Again the father yells out, “You are a champion!”

The mountain quickly answers, “You are a champion!”

The young boy is puzzled, but still does not understand.  Then his father explains, “Son, people call this an ECHO, but really this is just LIFE!  Life always gives you back everything that you say or do.  Our life is simply a reflection of our actions.  If you want more love in the world, create more love in your heart.  If you want more competence on your team, improve your competence.  If you want your teammates to be more intense and committed, then you need to be more intense and committed.  If you want your friends to be honest and trustworthy, then you need to be so.”

4:13