A man was about to compete in a long race with several other competitors. Everyone else was wearing well-fitting shoes, loose shorts, and lightest t-shirt. He couldn’t afford that, so in his old shoes, he struggled to keep up.
He needed ten thousand rupees to enroll in his studies, so he hoped to win the ten-thousand-rupee prize.
“You look like you’re in trouble,” one man said while waiting in line for the race. “Maybe you shouldn’t have entered the race in these circumstances.”
“My problem is my lack of it, and that’s what prepared me for this race,” he said.
The man looked at his old shoe and said, “Running is too far. How will you run with such an old shoe? Your ankle will hurt, and you’ll have to stop in the middle of the road. This way, you’ll have to stay away from being successful.”
He took courage and reaffirmed his faith, saying, “The pain in the legs is temporary, but success is permanent. I’m only thinking about myself being victorious in this race. I can’t think of any other pain, burning, fatigue, fear, or defeat.”