The Meeting at the Jordan
A robber chief leaped into the Jordan after a young sage and came out of the water committed to a life of Torah.
It is told that one day Rebbi Yochanan was bathing in the Jordan River. Nearby stood the leader of a band of robbers, a man of tremendous strength named Shimon ben Lakish. He caught sight of Rebbi Yochanan, and with one great leap he jumped into the river after him.
Rebbi Yochanan looked at the powerful man in the water beside him. Your strength, he told him, is fit for Torah.
The robber had a quick tongue. Your beauty, he answered, is fit for women.
Rebbi Yochanan made him an offer. If you return and give yourself to Torah, he said, I will give you my sister as a wife, and she is more beautiful than I am.
Reish Lakish accepted. Right there in the river, the robber chief took upon himself the yoke of Torah. Then he turned to leap back to the bank to fetch his clothes, as he had leaped in a moment before. But he could not. The moment he accepted the Torah, his wild strength left him, and he had to make his way out of the water like any other man.
Rebbi Yochanan kept his word. He taught him Chumash and Mishnah, gave him his sister in marriage, and made him into one of the greatest sages of the generation. The strength that had once served the robbers now went entirely into the beis medrash, where it was said that Reish Lakish learned as if he were uprooting mountains.
Source: Gemara, Bava Metzia 84a (Talmud Bavli); English: The William Davidson Talmud (Koren–Steinsaltz translation), Bava Metzia 84a. Ulla's description of his learning: Sanhedrin 24a.
Rebbi Yochanan did not lecture the robber about his past. He looked at his strength and told him what it was really for. This week, think of one person you find difficult, perhaps a stubborn child, a loud coworker or a restless student. Find the quality behind the behavior, such as energy, determination or a sharp mind, and tell them sincerely how much good that quality could do. Sometimes one sentence of belief is what lets a person leap in a new direction.