A story of happiness and sadness

[Little Willow]

This is a story from my religion (Judaism), but I think a lot of you will find comfort in it. This is in my own words, so it may differ a bit from what others may have heard, but oral tradition is very symbolic to my family.

Solomon was the king of the land of Israel. One day, he sent one of his advisors to find him a magic ring. The ring should have the power to make a sad man happy and a happy man sad. King Solomon knew that no such ring existed, but wanted to find what the wise advisor would do. After much searching, the advisor came across an old man in the market. The old man showed the advisor a ring with three letters engraved in it. The letters were in Hebrew: Gimmel ("g" sound), Zayin ("z" sound) and Yud ("y" sound). The letter symbolized the words "Gam Zeh Ya'avor". The wise man knew that he had found the ring King Solomon had been looking for.
When the advisor came back to Jerusalem, he showed the ring to King Solomon. Solomon looked at the ring and knew he had found the ring.
Solomon had been searching for a cure for depression, and he had now found it.
Gam Zeh Ya’avor translates into the words “This too shall pass”. Whenever a sad man would look at the ring, he knew that the sadness would pass and he would find happiness again. When a happy man looked at the ring, he would realize that even the happiest moment must pass eventually, but that it will come again.

[Neptunus]

Beautiful story. Thanks for sharing!

[Spangles Muldoon]

I love these words:

Originally Posted by Little Willow

Whenever a sad man would look at the ring, he knew that the sadness would pass and he would find happiness again. When a happy man looked at the ring, he would realize that even the happiest moment must pass eventually, but that it will come again.

Thank you for sharing this story.