(Clearwidom.net) There is a story entitled "The Nail" in Grimm's Fairy Tales.
A merchant had done well at the fair. He had sold all his wares, and filled his moneybag with gold and silver. He now wanted to make his way toward home, and to be in his own house before nightfall. So he loaded his duffel bag with the money onto his horse, and rode away. At noon he stopped at a rest stop in a town. When he was about to continue on his way, a servant brought him his horse and said, "Sir, a nail is missing from the shoe on your horse's left hind hoof." "Let it be," answered the merchant. "The shoe will certainly stay on so that I can still ride. I am in a hurry." That afternoon, when he dismounted once again and had his horse fed, a servant came into the inn and said, "Sir, a shoe is missing from your horse's left hind hoof. Shall I take it to the blacksmith?" "Let it be," answered the man. "The horse can manage for the few miles that I still have to ride. I am in a hurry." He rode on, but before long the horse began to limp. It did not limp long before it began to stumble, and it did not stumble long before it fell down and broke a leg. The merchant had to leave the horse where it was, and and unbuckle the duffel bag, load it onto his shoulder, and walk home on foot, not arriving there until very late that night. "All this bad luck," he said to himself, "was caused by that cursed nail!"
This story caused me to think of a Dafa disciple's cultivation practice. When we are busy doing the three things well, at the same time, we cannot neglect giving up our attachments and upgrading our character, our xinxing. Otherwise, the attachments will be expanded and developed from the relaxation in our care if we slack off, which may then end up affecting our doing the three things. The merchant in the story, who thought that time was so tight that a broken nail did not matter, illustrated how a small "problem" became bigger and bigger, and finally it totally disrupted his travels. The difference between this story and our cultivation path is that while repairing a nail takes time, giving up an attachment does not take extra time. We only need to pay attention to it in our minds.
From my own experience, when the things I am attached to are removed, I have a feeling of being suddenly enlightened. When I achieve a higher level, my innermost feelings are purer, my thoughts are more open, and wisdom pours out like spring water. The result is that I do the three things much better. I get twice the results with half the effort!
Reference: The Nail, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm184.html
