Monday, February 20, 2006
living my dull life in a colourful world**
Suddenly, my heart ached. all of a sudden, in the midst of tiring day at work. The memories just keep coming back. It just keeps coming back. And my heart ached. The people i met today made my heart ached even more. I couldn't control it. So i closed my eyes.
My teacher shared a very meaningful story with us. Shall share it with you guys. HOpe it knocks some sense into those who feel they're really in a very pitiful state. So i shall rejoyce.
Here's the
true story....
After a conversation with one of my friends, he told me despite
taking 2 jobs, he brings back barely above 1K per month, he is happy
as he is. I wonder how he can be as happy as he is considering he
has to skimp his life with the low pay to support a pair of old
parents, in-laws, a wife, 2 daughters and the many bills of a
household.
He explained that it was through one incident that he saw in India
that happened a few years ago when he was really feeling low and
touring India after a major setback.
He said that right in front of his very eyes, he saw an Indian
mother chop off her child's right hand with a chopper. The
helplessness in the mother's eyes, the scream of pain from the
innocent 4-year-old child haunted him until today.
You may ask why did the mother do so; had the child been naughty,
had the child's hand been infected?
No, it was done for two simple words - - - TO BEG! The desperate
mother deliberately caused the child to be handicapped so that the
child could go out to the streets to beg.
Taken aback by the scene, he dropped a piece of bread he was eating
halfway. And almost instantly, a flock of 5 or 6 children swamped
towards this small piece of bread that was covered with sand,
robbing bits from one another. The natural reaction of hunger.
Stricken by the happenings, he instructed his guide to drive him to
the nearest bakery. He arrived at two bakeries and bought every
single loaf of bread he found in the bakeries.
The owner was dumbfounded but willingly sold everything. He spent
less than $100 to obtain about 400 loaves of bread (this is less
than $0.25 per loaf) and spent another $100 to get daily
necessities. Off he went in the truck full of bread into the
streets. As he distributed the bread and necessities to the children
(mostly handicapped) and a few adults, he received cheers and bows
from these unfortunate. For the first time in his life he wondered
how people can give up their dignity for a loaf of bread which cost
less than $0.25.
He began to tell himself how fortunate he is. How fortunate he is to
be able to have a complete body, have a job, have a family, have the
chance to complain what food is nice and what isn't nice, have the
chance to be clothed, have the many things that these people in
front of him are deprived of.
Now I begin to think and feel it, too! Was my life really that bad?
Perhaps no, I should not feel bad at all... What about you? Maybe
the next time you think you are, think about the child who lost one
hand to beg on the streets.
The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of
everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along
their way.
The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past, you
can't go on well in life until you let go of your past failures and
heartaches.
so cheerios.
' Fly Away
Monday, February 20, 2006
