Once upon a time in ancient India, an emperor ruled the subcontinent. The emperor had employed many soldiers in his army, among which a soldier named 'Sukhram' always used to remain happy. The emperor felt puzzled seeing Sukhram always smiling. He asked his minister to know the secret of Sukhram's happiness. The minister sent few agents to spy the soldier's lifestyle.
After one month, the agents submitted their report. After reading the report, the minister appeared before the emperor and said, "Your highness, Sukhram spends whatever he earns. He lives only in today and does not worry for tomorrow. Each day he lives only for that day. This is the reason for his happiness."
The emperor was not convinced and asked, "He is just a soldier in my army. I have so much of wealth that I can live whole life lavishly, still he is more happy. How can this happen?" The minister said, "Your highness, wealth is not the parameter to measure happiness. The way a person perceives the life is the reason behind the emotions of happiness or sadness. I beg your pardon saying this, but you are worried of tomorrow thinking if someone attacks your empire. Even you are not living your life fully in the present, you live your life comparing it with yesterday and what can happen tomorrow. That is the reason you are not as happy."
The emperor asked if the minister could prove that Sukhram is happy because of this reason. The minister said, "I can do it, but then the life of Sukhram would be completely changed. He would never live happily thereafter." The emperor insisted. The minister agreed and then went to one of his agent and said, "Take this bag and put it under the pillow in Sukhram's bedroom." The agent did the same.
That night when Sukhdev came to sleep, he felt something under his head poking him. He removed the pillow and found the bag. He felt surprised and opened it. Inside the bag, some coins were kept. He started counting and it totaled nine hundred and ninety nine rupees. Sukhdev counted again and got same total. Now Sukhdev started thinking if it had just one more rupee then it would become a complete thousand. Sukhdev now started thinking how he could get one rupee more. Since he was spending whatever he earned, it became difficult for him to arrange that single rupee.
Next day when he reached the court of the emperor, his smile was not present. He was worried for arranging one rupee. The emperor saw his worried face for the first time. When he asked his minister for the cause of Sukhdev's worry, the minister explained everything. Now the emperor started feeling bad of his given orders. Few days passed, but Sukhdev remained worried. Now the emperor could not handle his guilt and asked Sukhdev to come.
When Sukhdev came, the emperor told him everything and how a stubborn order ruined his happy life. The emperor then offered one rupee coin to Sukhdev and asked him to become happy. Sukdev said, "Your highness, thanks for being so kind to me to offer me this rupee. However, now my life has changed forever. Now I can never become the same happy person I used to be. After this thousand rupees, I will now start worrying to get two thousand, then three, then four and it will go on. Now I have started worrying for tomorrow and I can not live happily today."
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