I was recently having lunch at a friend's place and as usual the talk turned to some of our colleagues at work. One friend was complaining that certain people having an attitude problem at work. One of my friends reacted, saying, that many people have an attitude problem, especially some girls and that too, those, who are working in a male dominated sphere, such as construction or engineering, to keep themselves away from guys who become interested in them, if they talk to them. I agree with her point. I am a journalist, sometimes, if you are talking to many people, some people take it in a wrong way, even if your own intention was completely innocent or neutral. I am not saying this is a norm , but that it does happen. I am sure, all of you have come across this at some point in your lives. A colleague that you regularly talk to, albeit normally, feel that because, you talk to him, you are probably attracted to him. This generally happens to us, women...

Now there are also people, who just have an attitude problem. Yes, its true. There are many out there who feel, they are superior than most... even if they have absolutely no reason to feel so... so have you ever come across someone, who you thought, had too much attitude, and also nothing substantial to show off... I am sure, a lot of you must have... These are the people suffering from vanity...

I really feel pity for the above mentioned types. It's these people who have vanity or attitude, whatever you call it, who end up being the most loneliest in the world.

Today, as we were talking about this attitude problem, a story long heard came to my mind. I find it extremely inspiring and humble each time I think about it.

Let me share the story with you...

Long time ago, in a farwaway kingdom, there lived a very powerful king. This king was much loved and respected by his subjects as also by his contemporaries, for being a wise and benign king. This king had a royal dog, who was very dear to the King.

Every morning, before attending his court, the king used to go to a room at the far end of his palace, spent some time there and then go about his work. No one else was allowed inside, not even the King's royal dog. Therefore, the dog was very suspicious as to what was there in the room. Every morning, it followed the king to the room, and tried to get inside, when the King went in, but the King never allowed it. One morning, the King forgot to lock the door after his morning routine and went away.

Seeing the door unlocked, the dog was extremely happy and entered it, eager to know what was inside.

He was utterly surprised.

The room was full of other dogs, hundreds, may be thousands of them. The dog barked at them, they all barked back, he gnarled at them, they gnarled back, he rushed to them and scratched with his paws, he was deeply hurt.

Meanwhile, the King was sitting in his court, when he suddenly heard, the frantic yelps and barks coming from the end of the palace. He immediately understood, what had happened. He rushed towards the room and flung the door open to enter it.

Inside, he found his royal dog, lying in a pool of blood, grievously injured...

So what was inside the room, what had the dog found, and why the king who had been entering the room daily wasn't hurt as the dog was?

My dear readers, the room was a room of mirrors. There were hundreds, maybe thousands of mirrors inside. That is the reason the dog saw hundreds and thousands of his own image reflected in them. Foolish as the dog was, he probably thought, that these were other dogs. Had he wagged his tail in front of them, instead of trying to fight with his own image, he would not have been injured.

The room thus reflects the world around us. It is basically our own reflection. The king, being wise, understood this.

Unfortunately, most of us behave in the same manner as the dog did, and that is why, when we are hurt, or injured, we blame the world, instead of our own selves.

Many of us, who suffer from false ego or vanity, or have an "attitude problem", as mentioned above, act like the dog did.

This world that we live in and the people around us, are nothing but an image of our own selves. How we behave with them, they will behave with us. That is why I pointed out in the beginning, that people who have an attitude problem, end up being the loneliest people.

Therefore, it's best to treat people the same way that we want to be treated ourselves. If we treat others with disdain, and arrogance, all we'll get back, is disdain and arrogance... if we treat people with love, respect and care, we'll receive love, respect and care.

There's a saying that goes, "smile and the world smiles back at you"... this is extremely true. I am not much of a religious person, though I do believe in a higher power. But all the religions of the world state this... behave with others, as you desire to be behaved with....

This world is a really simple place to live in... we often forget this, and surround our self with false egos and perceptions. Most of the time, we don't smile at the other person, because we are afraid that we might not get a smile back. But we should remember, the world is a mirror, if we smile, we'll get a smile back... so smile today, be happy, and you'll see the world smiling back at you...!!!