“Which tree should I cut down?”
A scholar stood in his yard, axe in hand, eyeing two persimmon trees. One tree bore many fruits, but they were bitter and hard to eat. The other tree produced only a few sweet, delicious persimmons. Unimpressed with both—the bitter one for its taste and the sweet one for its low yield—he decided that at least one of them had to go.
As he stood there deep in thought, his wife came over and said, “This one may only grow a few persimmons, but they’re sweet and tasty. And that one might be bitter, but if you dry the fruit, you can make delicious dried persimmons.”
Hearing her words, the scholar realized he had been too quick to judge. He saw the value in both trees and regretted his earlier impulse. He put the axe away.
When we make judgments based only on what’s immediately visible, we may miss out on something worthwhile. Before you act, take a step back and consider what you might not have seen yet—you just might find both sweet fruit and something even better.