The Stonecutter’s Choice: The Power You Forgot You Had

There was once a stonecutter who spent his days carving blocks from the side of a mountain. His work was honest, but demanding. Every evening he returned home exhausted, hands blistered, clothes dusty, spirit worn.

One day, while chiselling under the hot sun, he watched a wealthy merchant pass by — carried in a shaded carriage, servants guiding the horses. The stonecutter sighed.

“If only I were like him… life would be easy.”

To his amazement, a voice whispered through the wind:

“Then be the merchant.”

And instantly, he was.

Suddenly he wore fine robes, travelled comfortably, ate well. For a while, life felt perfect — until one scorching afternoon. The heat was unbearable, even inside his shaded carriage.

He gazed up at the sun.

“The sun is more powerful than any merchant,” he thought.

“I wish I were the sun.”

And again, the voice answered:

“Then be the sun.”

And he was — brilliant, blazing, mighty. He warmed valleys and oceans, commanded daylight itself.

But one day clouds drifted in, blocking his light completely.

“The clouds are stronger than the sun,” he realised.

“I wish I were a cloud.”

The wind shifted.

“Then be the cloud.”

As a cloud, he drifted proudly across the sky, dark and full of thunder. But soon, he found himself pushed, tossed, and scattered by a fierce gust.

“The wind is stronger still… I wish I were the wind.”

“Then be the wind.”

The stonecutter became a mighty force, bending trees, stirring oceans, sweeping across the world. Until one day he tried to move a mountain — and couldn’t.

The wind howled, but the mountain did not move.

“The mountain…” he whispered.

“It is the strongest of all.”

“Then be the mountain.”

And so he became a towering peak — ancient, unmoving, unshakeable.

Months passed. Seasons changed. Birds built nests in his cliffs. Rivers formed at his feet. Nothing could overpower him.

Until one morning, he felt something small… tapping at his base.

Chink. Chink. Chink.

It was a stonecutter.

Working patiently. Carving away.

The mountain realised:

The power he had been chasing was the power he already possessed.

The Lesson We Miss in Our Own Lives

We spend years wishing we were:

• more confident

• more successful

• less anxious

• more like them

Yet the thing we envy is often something dormant inside us — waiting to be remembered, not acquired.

The stonecutter thought the world had the power.

He thought strength lived somewhere outside himself.

But in the end, he discovered he was powerful all along.

So are you.

If This Resonates…

Maybe you’ve forgotten your own strength.

Maybe you’ve become convinced others hold something you lack.

Maybe you’ve been waiting for permission to step into who you already are.

But the tools are already in your hands.

The mountain is already within you.

You are far more powerful than your mind allows you to believe.

If this spoke to you, I’d love to hear what part landed.