SEASONS
There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.
The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer and the youngest son in the fall.
When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen.
The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent and twisted.
The second son said, "No, it was covered with green buds and full of promise!"
The third son disagreed. He said, "It's already full of blossoms that smell so sweet and looks beautiful. It's the most graceful thing I have ever seen!"
The last son disagreed with all of them. He said, "It's ripe and drooping with fruit. It is already full of life and fulfillment."
The man then explained to his sons that all four of them were right because they had each seen only one season in the trees life. He told them, "You cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season. The essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up. If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer and the fulfillment of your fall."
Moral: Don't judge life by one difficult season. Perservere through the difficult patches and better times are sure to come .