Are you in The 99 Club

Once upon a time, there lived a King who, despite his luxurious
lifestyle, was neither happy nor content. One day, the King came
upon a servant who was singing happily while he worked. This
fascinated the King; why was he, the Supreme Ruler of the Land,
unhappy and gloomy, while a lowly servant had so much joy in his
heart?

The King asked the servant, "Why are you so happy?"
The man replied, "Your Majesty, I am nothing but a servant, but my
family and I don't need too much - just a roof over our head and
warm food to fill our tummies."

Later in the day, the King sought the advice of his most trusted
advisor. After hearing the King's woes and the servant's story, the
advisor said, "Your Majesty, I believe that the servant has not been
made part of The 99 Club."
"The 99 Club? And what exactly is that?" the King inquired. The
advisor replied, "Your Majesty, to truly know what The 99 Club is,
place 99 Gold coins in a bag and leave it at this servant's
doorstep."

When the servant saw the bag, he took it into his house. When he
opened the bag, he let out a great shout of joy... so many gold
coins! He began to count them. After several counts, he was at last
convinced that there were 99 coins. He wondered, "What could have
happened to that last gold coin? Surely, no one would leave 99
coins!" He looked everywhere he could, but that final coin was
elusive. Finally, exhausted, he decided that he was going to have to
work harder than ever to earn that gold coin and complete his
collection.

From that day, the servant's life was changed. He was overworked,
horribly grumpy, and castigated his family for not helping him make
that 100th gold coin. He stopped singing while he worked. Witnessing
this drastic transformation, the King was puzzled. When he sought his
advisor's help, the advisor said, "Your Majesty, the servant has now
officially joined The 99 Club."

He continued, "The 99 Club is a name given to those people who have
enough to be happy but are never contented, because they're always
yearning and striving for that extra 1 to round it out to 100! We
can be happy, even with very little in our lives, but the minute
we're given something bigger and better, we want even more! We lose
our sleep, our happiness, we hurt the people around us; all these as
a price for our growing needs and desires. That's what joining The 99
Club is all about."

Dear Shanvy
I am actually the founder member of the 99 Club! Only thing is I did not know the name of my Club. Thanks for pointing it out to me now!
That elusive single coin has been troubling my life all through my 64 years and even after hearing your story, I wonder if I am going to cease my pursuit and be happy with what I have!
sri

Dear sri,

True. even i and my husband are in the same club. Recently we were dicussing about olden days, when we had a meagre salary not enough for committments, but looks like we were more happy. It is not that we are not happy now, but looks like the struggle to get the missing 1 coin is never going to end until we consciously think i am satisfied and contented with what i have.

Contentment should come from within. cyclelah poravanukku, scooterla poga asai, scooterla poravanuuku marutila poga asai, maruthila poravannukku bmw la poga asai.... human is caught in the viscious cycle of the 99 club.

Dear Shanvy,

That was a great one.........

I joined that club in 1994...... That is the day I got married...... Till such time, I was enjoying life, never bothered about higher salaries, career growth etc and telling everybody that I will become a sanyasi one day.....

Alas, I got married......that too a cinematic one.... Now i have responsibilities..........Family commitments and all.... So, now i am struggling hard for that one coin......

Veda

PS. I still have plans for that one day....