What do you do when you are faced with a problem that feels too big for you?
It could be something at work, at home, or something within your own mind or body. At such times, we may feel as though life is asking more of us than we can hold.
A short story attributed to Socrates carries an important reminder for moments like these.
Socrates at the Beach
One day, Socrates was walking by the sea when he noticed a young boy sitting near the waves.
The boy was scooping water into a small cup…then emptying it. Then filling it again. Then peering inside, and emptying it once more.
After a while, Socrates saw that the boy had begun to weep — yet he continued the same strange task. Curious, Socrates asked gently,
“What are you doing, my child? And why are you crying?”
The boy replied, “I am trying to fill the ocean into my cup… but I cannot.”
Socrates smiled at the child’s imagination.
“Of course you cannot,” he said. “The cup is small, and the ocean is vast.”
The boy looked up at Socrates. His tears stopped. Then, suddenly, he lifted his arm and flung the cup into the ocean.
Socrates was startled. “Why did you throw the cup away?” he asked.
The boy looked satisfied now. “I wanted the ocean in my cup,” he said.
“If the ocean cannot fit into the cup… then let the cup go into the ocean.”
A Flash of Insight
Socrates’ eyes widened. At that moment, something became clear. A young boy had offered the teacher a lesson.
Life is infinite — full of infinite possibilities, and infinite challenges.
When we think we can fully grasp life with our finite mind, we are like the child trying to pour the ocean into a cup.
And the boy’s final act carries an even deeper wisdom: If the mind cannot contain the Infinite, perhaps we are meant to surrender ourselves to it.
The Size of Our Problems
Life brings many challenges. Most of our daily problems feel manageable. But sometimes, we feel overwhelmed — as though the weight is simply too much.
This story reminds us: We are finite beings, living within the Infinity of life.
We may not always understand what is happening.
We may not be able to predict every turn.
We may not feel strong enough for what we are facing.
And yet…
Life is larger.
Larger than our worries.
Larger than our fears.
Larger than our disappointments, our limitations, even our doubts.
If we try to fit all of Life into our small sense of control, we may suffer. But when we open ourselves to the Infinite, something else becomes possible. What feels impossible today… may become effortless tomorrow.
As faith teaches: God’s plans are greater than my plans.
The Opposite Stance
Often, we carry burdens on our head. The heaviest loads are not physical —
they are the weight of our thoughts: the past, the future, the endless “what if.”
That is why many faith traditions include bowing or prostration in prayer.
The act is not only physical. It is symbolic: the finite surrendering into the flow of the Infinite.
A daily reminder: to let go of our worries and to let life carry us forward.
As the Bible reminds us:
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life—
what you will eat or what you will drink,
nor about your body, what you will wear.
Isn’t life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
Look at the birds of the sky:
they do not sow or reap or store away in barns,
and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them.
Aren’t you of much more value than they?”
(Luke 12:22–24)
These words invite us to loosen our grip on worry – and to trust that life, in ways beyond our understanding, continues to carry us.
And the same reassurance appears in Guru Nanak’s words:
नानक चिंता मति करहु चिंता तिस ही हेइ ॥
O Nanak, don’t be anxious; the Divine will take care of you.
जल महि जंत उपाइअनु तिना भि रोजी देइ ॥
He created the creatures in water, and He gives them their nourishment.
ओथै हटु न चलई ना को किरस करेइ ॥
There are no shops open there, and no one farms there.
सउदा मूलि न होवई ना को लए न देइ ॥
No business is ever transacted there, and no one buys or sells.
विचि उपाए साइरा तिना भि सार करेइ ॥
He created them in the oceans, and He provides for them as well.
नानक चिंता मत करहु चिंता तिस ही हेइ ॥
O Nanak, don’t be anxious; the Divine will take care of you.
Reflection
Have you ever moved forward on faith, not knowing what the future would hold…and discovered that life took its own unexpected happy turn?
The Sabad Project - Wisdom stories 
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