Does he deserve you???

A friend emailed me this story today and I loved it's message! Just goes to show you that you need to value what you have before you lose it and you have to love yourself enough to know when to let go.

They say that once upon a time there was a very handsome king in search of a wife. All the most beautiful women of his kingdom had visited his palace; many of them offered their beauty and charm, others offered riches as well, but not one of them was able to convince him to make her his queen.

One day a beggar lady went to the king's palace and after a lot of difficulties finally got the king to see her. "I have no material possessions to offer you, I can only give you the love I feel for you" she said to the King, "if you will allow it, I will do something to demonstrate that love." This caught the King's attention, and he asked her what she was going to do.

"I will spend 100 days on your balcony, without eating or drinking anything, exposed to the rain, the dew, the sun and the cold nights. If I can survive the 100 days, then you will make me your wife." The king, more surprised than moved, accepted the challenge. He said, "I accept. If a woman can do all that for me, she deserves to be my wife."

Having said this, the woman started her sacrifice.

The days started to go by and the woman bravely endured the worst storms, many times she felt that the hunger and cold would break her, but she was able to get through the days by imagining herself by her love's side. The King would sometimes look out at her from the comfort of his own room and give her a thumbs up sign. And time passed... 20 days... 50... the people from the Kingdom were very happy, because they thought, "we'll finally have a Queen!"...90 days... and the King continued checking on the woman's progress every now and again. "This woman is incredible" he thought to himself and again gave her a thumps up sign.

Finally it was day 99 and the entire kingdom started gathering outside the palace to await the moment when that beggar lady would become the King's bride. They counted down the hours... at midnight they'd have a Queen! The poor woman was very weak, she had lost a lot of weight, gotten different illnesses. And then it happened. At 11:00 pm that 99th day, with only one hour to go to complete the 100 days, the brave woman gave up... and decided to leave the palace.

She sadly looked at the surprised King and without uttering a single word she left.

Everyone was in an uproar!! Nobody could understand why that brave woman had given up with only an hour left for her dreams to come true. She had gone through so much! When she got home, her father had heard what had happened. He asked her, "why did you give up only moments before becoming Queen?" and to his amazement she answered, "I spent 99 days and 23 hours on his balcony, enduring all kinds of hardships and he was not capable of freeing me from that sacrifice. He would see me suffering and would only encourage me to continue, without showing even the least bit of mercy towards my suffering. I waited all this time for a glimpse of kindness and consideration that never came. Then I understood: someone so selfish, inconsiderate and blind, that only thinks about himself, does not deserve my love.

Moral: When you love someone and you feel that in order to keep that person by your side you have to suffer, sacrifice your very essence and even beg, even if it hurts you... leave. And not because things are difficult, but because someone that makes you feel unimportant, who is unable to give as much as you, who cannot have the same commitment, the same devotion... simply DOES NOT DESERVE YOU!!