For years his boat was docked. With the gangway down, many came and went as they pleased. His ship became a beautiful tourist attraction and he thought all was well until he noticed something that troubled him. This once beautiful ship was now littered with garbage and his once pristine furniture was now worn from overuse. You see, some that came and went never bothered to show enough respect or appreciation to even clean up after themselves or fix anything they had broken.
In dismay, he pulled up the gangway, untied the mooring lines and decided to sail a mile out while he restored his ship to a condition of beauty that superseded anything it had been before. In solitude, he created something new...something more. Yet throughout this endeavour, something else happened. He began to really appreciate the value of his vessel and he came to the conclusion that his position a mile away from shore was good enough to keep those would do his ship damage at bay. He decided to place a small boat with oars on the shore that was tied to his ship that was anchored a mile away. On this little boat, he left a sign: "If you want access to my vessel, all you have to do is get in this boat and row a mile out". If those that he knew would do his vessel no harm wanted to come aboard, all they needed to do was get in the boat and he would pull them onto his vessel. Everyone else would have to row themselves.
At no surprise to him...no one came ;-)
You want to know who understands your value? Make it hard (not impossible) for people to get close to you. Those that will row one mile for you understand it and may just be worthy of it. Those that don't? Train your mind towards their indifference...they will do you no good anyway...
~Apollo
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