Once there was a scout master who took ten boy scouts on a camping trip to test their ability to follow a map. He told the ten scouts, "I will give each of you a map, one different from the others but all has the same destination. If you are able to reach the destination, I will take you to the most beautiful camp site ever."
One of the scouts asked the master, " Is there a time limit, master"? The master replied, "No. there is no time limit. I will go first and wait to the destination, after two hours, all of you can start your own journey."
One of the scouts had a "smart" plan, and went immediately when the master went out of their sight. He spoke to the nine scouts, "I'm going to follow the master's tracks immediately so that I won't get lost." But the master was fast as he knew the forest very well. So the first scout got lost and didn't reach his destination.
The second scout to the last scout followed the master's orders to start after two hours and went on their own journeys. After 10 hours only one scout was able to reach the destination: the master's own house!
The master welcomed the scout and gather the rest of the scouts around him. The last scout in all embarassment spoke to the master, "Master, I am sorry for taking too long to reach the destination." The master replied to the scout and said, "No, son, you did well, for that I will take you the most beautiful camp site ever."
Then the master asked the nine scouts what went wrong. The first scout said "Master, I did not follow your order to start the journey after two hours, I started immediately because I thought that if I followed you as soon as you leave, I will not get lost even if I don't look at the map.
The second scout said that he went to the spot where he couldn't find the clue to the next trail so he decided to trust his own instinct and went on. He got lost in the process.
The third scout said that he couldn't really understand the writing on the clue and told himself that the master must have really meant for me not to reach the destination because he wrote something he couldn't understand, he got disheartened and went back to the camp site.
The fourth and the fifth scout said that they got hurt by the thorns on the bushes as they try to get past through them. They couldn't bear the pain so they decided to go back.
The sixth and the seventh scout got lost in the trails when they saw a man who told them that he can get them past through the trails if they give them their maps. They trusted the man, thinking that he was sent by the master to help them and gave them their maps, but the man ran away and left them in the woods.
The eighth and ninth scout said that they decided to stop their journey because the trail was becoming more difficult each passing step. They said that the trails were so dangerous that the map said jump over the cliff, they didn't trust the master enough to jump over because they thought that the cliff will bring them to their death.
After hearing the nine scouts, the master asked the tenth scout to tell how was he able to find the destination. The scout said, "Master, your map was so tricky and difficult to understand. There was a spot where I couldn't find the clue so I told myself, the master wouldn't get me lost, so I decided to dig and found the clue. There was a spot where the clue was nonsense, it took me a long time to think when I realised it was written upside down. Then there was a spot where the trail was so dangerous that I thought that I can die, but as I read through the clue you wrote, it says TRUST me and I did. So i jump over only to find out that the cliff was just knee deep. Then there was a trail where it was so hard to get past through because of the thorns on the bushes, I almost gave up because the thorns stung as they pieced through my skin, but I said I won't give up and continued until at last I got past through the stinging bushes.
I also met the man who told me that he can get me past through the trails if I give him my map. I looked at the map and saw that I was still a long way before I reach the destination and that I really like to win the prize of being able to see the most beautiful camp site ever. I almost gave in to his offer but I told the man that I won't be worthy of the prize if I accept his help so I told him that I won't accept his offer and went on.
Then I realised that the trails were leading to your house because I remembered your story that when you were young, your father made you a map from the camp trip back to your house. I realised that the trails may be similar to the map your father gave you before, so I persevered and told myself that you found your way back and finished the trail by yourself so I can as well.
The master was very pleased to the last scout and brought him to the most beautiful camp site ever while the others watch in regret.
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