The Duck and The Bottle

A friend told me a version of this story.  I checked it out via an Internet google, found another version and then edited it.  So, here is my edited version of someone's wonderful story.

                                                            The Duck and the Bottle        

Frank went to a wise person in search of wisdom. The wise person sent him on a journey, “Climb to the top of that mountain in the distance. At the peak, you will find a cabin, and in that cabin you will find a bottle, and in that bottle you will find a duck. Get the duck out of the bottle without harming the duck or the bottle, and in that process you will find wisdom. I will come to visit you in a week!”

Frank set off on his search. Indeed, he made it to the top of the mountain and found a cabin.  Inside the cabin was a bottle, with a duck inside. But how to get the duck out of the bottle without harming either was puzzling to say the least.  Days of worry and confusion begin turning into frustration and anger. By the end of one week, Frank was stressful and anxious.

The wise person stopped by and noticed the duck was still in the bottle. “I will give you another week. Then I will come to check on you,” he informed Frank.

But a week later poor Frank was full of his worry, anxiety, stress and anger. He had even begun to doubt his abilities.  A seemingly impossible puzzle was sitting beside him, quacking at him and no answer remotely in sight. The duck was still in the bottle.  The wise person stopped by, saw Frank`s situation, asked about wisdom.  Frank said he still hadn’t figured out what to do about the duck and the bottle.  The wise person realized that Frank needed more time to figure out the puzzle.

When the wise person returned the end of the third week, Frank was sitting outside, humming and enjoying the view from the mountain top.  He was peaceful and content as he could be.
The wise person noticed the duck was sitting by his side and still inside the bottle, so he asked Frank what he had learned.  Frank looked him in the eye and replied, “I’ve learned that wisdom knows that this is not my duck, not my bottle, not my problem!”

We often have to remind ourselves that while we care for other people, some of their problems are not ours no matter how much they want to give them to us.