Are you the type of person who always delays your tasks instead of doing them right away? Did you just think, “I’ll read this story later”? If so, then this is exactly the story you need to read right now.
Once upon a time, in a small village far away from the big cities, there lived a boy named Jake. He lived with his parents, younger brother, and his wise grandfather, who was well respected by the villagers for his wisdom.
But Jake had a big problem—he was extremely lazy. He always postponed his tasks until they piled up, and then regretted it. This bad habit hurt his school life too, leaving him constantly behind his classmates.
Despite his father’s scoldings and punishments, Jake never changed. So, his father asked the wise grandfather for help. The old man thought hard about how to cure Jake of his laziness. One day, he came up with an idea.
He called Jake and handed him a small black stone. He told him, “This is no ordinary stone. It’s a magic stone that can turn iron into gold when rubbed against it. With this, you could become rich. But remember, tomorrow evening I will take the stone back. Be careful—you only have until tomorrow evening.”
Jake was overjoyed. He imagined himself becoming wealthy and believed he had plenty of time. The next morning, he planned to buy some iron and turn it into gold. But since it was already evening, he thought, “I’ll just eat dinner and sleep now. Tomorrow I’ll start everything.” That night, he dreamt of a golden future.
The next morning, Jake thought, “There’s still so much time until evening.” He decided to eat breakfast first. After breakfast, he felt sleepy and thought, “I’ll rest a little before going to the market.” He ended up falling asleep.
When he woke up, the sun was already setting. He rushed to the door, only to see his grandfather standing there, ready to take the stone back.
The old man took the black stone and said, “Your time is up.” Jake begged for a little more time to make at least some gold. But his grandfather shook his head and replied, “For the lazy, there is no second chance.”
He explained, “You had a full 24 hours to use this stone, but you wasted it with laziness. That’s your punishment. In life, those who don’t value time can never succeed.”
Jake bowed his head in shame. He realized that because of his laziness, he had lost the golden opportunity. He promised his grandfather, “I’ll never be lazy again. From now on, I will use my time wisely.”
This story teaches us that Jake had more than 24 hours to do a task that would only take 30 minutes. Yet because he kept delaying, he lost everything. Time waits for no one. That’s why this story reminds us: if you have a task, do it immediately. If you don’t value time, time won’t value you.
Set deadlines, or promise yourself to at least start small—because even a little beginning can lead to a complete ending.
