Find your salt

My mother was a gifted storyteller. For years, my sister and I were told stories at bedtime. One of them was about a king and his three daughters. The king loved his children and decided to pick one of them as the heir. He went to each of their palaces for dinner. At the end of the dinner, he asked them to describe how much he was loved. He made up his mind to hand over his kingdom to the one who valued him the most.

All his children welcomed him with great affection, and had scrumptious meals prepared. The oldest daughter said she loved him more than the biggest diamond in the kingdom. The middle daughter declared she loved him more than all the gold in the kingdom. The youngest daughter replied that she loved him more than salt. The king was very pleased with his two older children, and livid with his youngest’s response. He decided to divide his kingdom between the older children, and he banished his youngest child. He was hurt and disgusted that the youngest one cared so little for her father.

Years later, the king fell on hard times. His daughters drove him out of the kingdom. Heartbroken, he wandered from place to place. One day he arrived at a small kingdom tucked away in the Himalayan mountains. There appeared to be a feast set up for all the people to enjoy. Soon he was seated at a table with a huge plate heaped with a variety of food. He began eating and realised none of the food tasted good at all. In fact, hungry as he was, he was unable to eat any of it. He pushed his food away and got up to leave. Standing by the door was his youngest daughter. She took him by the hand and led him inside the palace. She explained how she had come to this kingdom after being banished, and made it her home. The king of that kingdom, impressed by her wisdom, had adopted her. Her father was very happy to hear about the good life his daughter had made for herself. He regretted deeply that he had driven her away, but her answer to his question still bothered him.

They talked for a while, and then her father asked about the feast being served to the people of the kingdom. Why was the food so tasteless, he asked. How was anyone meant to eat it? The young girl smiled and offered her father the same food again. “Try it now”, she said. To his surprise, it now tasted very good. “We can live without diamonds and gold, but can we really live without salt? I recognised you and had them serve you food with no salt in it”, she said. The old man realised his mistake and realised how deeply his daughter valued him.

Salt. A simple compound, so essential for a flavourful life. I’m extremely fortunate to still have a variety of salt to enrich my life. But the depth and flavour my mother provided to my life is irreplaceable. We argued all the time, often disagreed, but still talked every day. She was my salt.

At the end of the day, that’s what makes for an enriched life. Find your salt. And may it forever flavour your lives.