There once was a man who people always dismissed as being crazy. In a way he was - as he was afraid of his own shadow. Every day he would run from his shadow. In the morning, running East, in the evenings, West - always keeping his shadow behind him. He wasted many years of his life doing so.

Then, one day, he was frantically running East when he found a man hurt on the road. He forgot his fears, gave the man water, and helped him up to health. When the sick man was better again, he said to the man afraid of his shadow, "Thank you for helping me. I have lived a long life and felt it had been long enough, so I left myself to die in the middle of the road. But now that you have helped me, I see every day as more precious than any I had blindly lived before. But why were you, a man so young, on those barren and desolate roads?"

The man afraid of his shadow replied openly with his story, speaking only of the shadow that relentlessly follows him everywhere. The old man replied, "You fool. The sun will rise in the morning and set in the evening. Countless lost souls seek the new day and flee the weight of the present out of fear. You must detach yourself from the yoke of man-made measurements of success, failure, and time. Again, the sun will rise, everyday - no matter who is watching."

The man afraid of his shadow, so confused by his condition and not understanding how the sun caused his shadow and troubles, said, "But this rising of the sun, and setting of the sun, what does it have to do with me?"

"Nothing" said the old man. "Nothing."