What a Woman Thinks of Herself ...

Perhaps you've heard the story of Johnny
Lingo, a man who lived in the South Pacific. The
islanders all spoke highly of him. He was strong,
good-looking, and very intelligent. But when it came
time for him to find a wife, people shook their
heads in disbelief. The woman Johnny chose was
plain, skinny, and walked with her shoulders hunched
and her head down. She was very hesitant and shy.
She was also a bit older than the other married
women in the village, which did nothing for her
value.

But this man loved her. What surprised
everyone most was Johnny's offer. In order to obtain
a wife, you paid for her by giving her father cows.
Four to six cows was considered a high price. The
other villagers thought he might pay two or even
three cows at the most. But he gave eight cows for
her!!

Everyone chuckled about it, since they
believed his father-in-law put one over on him. Some
thought it was a mistake.

Several months after the wedding, a visitor
from the United States came to the Islands to trade,
and heard the story of Johnny Lingo and his
eight-cow wife. Upon meeting Johnny and his wife the
visitor was totally taken aback, since this wasn't a
shy, plain, and hesitant woman, but one who was
beautiful, poised, and confident.

The visitor asked about this transformation,
and Johnny Lingo's response was very simple. "I
wanted an eight-cow woman, and when I paid that for
her and treated her in that fashion, she began to
believe that she was an eight-cow woman. She
discovered she was worth more than any other woman
in the islands. And what matters most is what a
woman thinks of herself."