The Empty Cart
I was accompanying my friend on one of her long shopping sprees. She picked up products, placed them in her cart, then put them back again in endless indecision. To escape the slow torment of watching, my eyes wandered...and I noticed an old hunched man moving quietly through the aisles.
He pushed an empty cart, covering every corner of the store with calm determination. Unlike my friend, he never lifted a single product, never even paused to touch one. His searching was different.
Curiosity overcame me, and I approached him.
“Did you find what you’re looking for?” I asked.
The old man gave me a faint smile.
“No,” he said, “because what I seek is not sold here. But I am too old to roam the world outside, where it may truly be waiting. Still, I search where I can, because searching itself keeps me alive. Somewhere, what I long for exists, in all its elegance and truth.....for the seeker who dares.”
He pushed his empty cart onward.
I glanced back at my friend, still wrestling with trivial choices. And then at the old man, who carried nothing yet seemed to hold more than anyone else in that crowded hall.
In that moment, I understood: the value of seeking does not lie in what we collect, but in what we dare to keep searching for.....even if the cart remains empty.
He pushed an empty cart, covering every corner of the store with calm determination. Unlike my friend, he never lifted a single product, never even paused to touch one. His searching was different.
Curiosity overcame me, and I approached him.
“Did you find what you’re looking for?” I asked.
The old man gave me a faint smile.
“No,” he said, “because what I seek is not sold here. But I am too old to roam the world outside, where it may truly be waiting. Still, I search where I can, because searching itself keeps me alive. Somewhere, what I long for exists, in all its elegance and truth.....for the seeker who dares.”
He pushed his empty cart onward.
I glanced back at my friend, still wrestling with trivial choices. And then at the old man, who carried nothing yet seemed to hold more than anyone else in that crowded hall.
In that moment, I understood: the value of seeking does not lie in what we collect, but in what we dare to keep searching for.....even if the cart remains empty.
