Don't underestimate yourself

In a small town, there was a quiet boy. He was young. He made statues with his hands. He used stone and tools. But he did not smile. He thought, My work is not good. People do not care.

Each day, he worked alone. He hit the stone hard. But his heart was soft and scared. He said to himself, *Why try? No one sees me. No one sees my art.

One day, as he worked, someone came. It was Wise Grandpa. He walked slow. He had kind eyes. He sat near the door. The boy did not speak. He kept working.

Wise Grandpa looked at the stone. He said, “That looks like a bird.”

The boy looked up. “It is a bird. But I made the wing wrong.”

Grandpa smiled. “It is not wrong. It is just your way.”

The boy looked down. “But no one says it is good.”

Grandpa said, “Let me tell you a story.”

The boy stopped. He listened.

“There was once a man,” Grandpa said, “who carved stones. Every time he made something, people laughed. He felt small, but he kept carving. After many years, one person said, ‘This is good.’”

The boy asked, “Did more people like it later?”

Grandpa nodded. “Yes, because he did not stop. He believed in his hands.”

The boy said nothing. He looked at his hands.

Grandpa stood up. “Stone is hard. So is doubt. But stone can change. So can you.”

Then Grandpa walked away.

That night, the boy thought of Grandpa's words.

The next day, the art teacher came. She stood at the door. “I see your work,” she said. “Do you want help?”

The boy said, “I do not know. Is my work good?”

She smiled. “Art is not to be good. Art is to be true. Come to class. I will teach you how to see.”

He nodded. He joined the class.

In class, he made new things. Some broke. Some looked odd.

The teacher said, “This is how you learn.”

One boy in class liked to joke. He said, “That looks like a cat.”

But it was not a cat. It was a lion. The class laughed. The boy felt sad.

But the joking boy added, “Make it better. Next time I want it to roar.”

He smiled.

The boy laughed too. He went back to work. He carved more. He tried new things. Each time he was scared. But he said, *It is okay to try.

One week, the town had a big night. People came to the square. They sat on mats. Wise Grandpa was there. He sat in the middle.

People listened.

He said, “Let me tell you a story. There was a stone. It was rough. No one liked it. But one hand came. Then another. The stone changed. It became something great.”

He paused. Then he said, “Sometimes, we are that stone.”

People were quiet.

The boy stood at the back. He looked at his hands. He felt something move inside.

The next day, he made a new statue. He was not scared. He said, *I will make what is in my heart.

He carved a face. It looked strong and kind.

The teacher came. She said, “This is your best.”

The joking boy came. He said, “Now that looks like a lion.”

The boy smiled. He did not stop. His hands moved fast. His heart felt light.

Each statue told a story. Each shape showed his past fears. Now, they showed strength.

One old man came and asked, “Can you teach my son?”

The boy said, “Yes.”

One mother came and said, “Can we buy your art?”

The boy said, “Yes.”

He did not feel small now. He felt proud. But he never forgot Wise Grandpa. He never forgot the story of the stone. And he never let doubt win again.

And this is for all of us:

In our lives, we sometimes feel small. We think, *Maybe I am not good enough.* We hear no praise. We feel fear. Many of us stop before we even try. We think others will laugh. We think we will fail.

But the truth is this:

No one starts great. Greatness grows with time.

Doubt is like a heavy stone. It makes our hands slow. It makes our hearts weak. But when someone shares a kind word or a story of hope, it can help us rise.

That one voice — kind, wise, or even funny — can break the fear.

We must not wait for many people to say, *You are good.*

We must start even when no one claps.

The real power is not in what others say. It is in what we do.

Try. Fail. Try again.

That is how we grow.

Do not look down on your gift. It may not shine now, but it will shine later. So don’t underestimate yourself.

You are more than you think.

You are growing.

You are learning.

You are enough.