In no time at all, thousands of people gathered at his estate for the funeral and celebration of his life. When the gathering was over, Hamid's Chief Executor sat down with the camel merchant's three sons for the ritual reading of the will.

The boys were stunned by the size of their inheritance, but of all the treasures bequeathed to them, the most precious were their father's prized camels -- 17 of them, which he requested be divided in the following way: one-half to his eldest son, one-third to his middle son, and one ninth to his youngest.

But since 17 cannot be divided up equally in this fashion, the three sons began arguing, then pushing each other, then wrestling on the ground . Realizing they needed help to resolve their disagreement, they called for the local wise man.

After listening to each of the three sons make their case, the wise man explained he needed some time to think about the matter and would return, God willing, in an hour.

Sixty minutes later, the three sons, in the middle of yet another argument, look up and see, off in the distance, the wise man, riding a very large camel, approaching them.

"Boys," he exclaimed, upon dismounting, "I have so much respect for your father that I've decided to donate one of my own camels to your inheritance. Now you have eighteen.

"Let's see..." he said, stroking his beard. "Half of 18 is nine... so the eldest of you will inherit nine camels. And... hmmm... one third of 18 is six, so the middle son will inherit six... and one ninth of 18 is two which means the youngest of you will inherit the remaining two.

Then he looked up at the sky, paused, and spoke again.

"Based on my calculations, 9 + 6 + 2 = 17 -- which is the exact number of camels your father bequeathed you. That leaves one camel left over -- mine -- so i guess I'll just get back on top him and continue on my way. May Allah be with you, oh sons of Hamid. Enjoy this fine day!"

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Every problem has a solution, even if the solution may not be immediately obvious. Your challenge is to think about your problem differently than you usually do. It's possible. It is. You just need to let go of some old assumptions, go beyond the status quo, and look at things from a fresh perspective.

What pressing problem of yours, these days, do you need to approach differently? To begin with, you might want to frame your problem as a question, beginning with the words "How can I?"

20 elegant solution-sparking questions

Storytelling for the Revolution
MitchDitkoff.com
Storytelling as the 18th camel