Good article. Pls take time and read. Worth reading it.
A powerful message for our modern society. Have we lost our bearing & our sense of direction?
One young academically excellent person went to apply for a managerial
position in a big company. He passed the first interview; the
director
did the last interview. The director discovered from the CV that the
youth's academic achievements were excellent all the way, from the
secondary school until the postgraduate research, never had a year when
he did not score.
The director asked, "Did you obtain any scholarships in school?"
The youth answered "none".
The director asked, "Was it your father who paid for your school fees?"
The youth answered, "My father passed away when I was one year old, it was my mother who paid for my school fees.
The director asked, "Where did your mother work?"
The youth answered, "My mother worked as laundry woman.
The director requested the youth to show his hands.
The youth showed a pair of hands that were smooth and perfect.
The director asked, "Have you ever helped your mother wash the clothes before?"
The
youth answered, "Never, my mother always wanted me to study and read
more books. Furthermore, my mother can wash clothes faster than me.
The
director said, "I have a request. "When you go back today, go and clean
your mother's hands, and then see me tomorrow morning."
The
youth felt that his chance of landing the job was high. When he went
back, he happily requested his mother to let him clean her hands.
His mother felt strange, happy but with mixed feelings, she showed her hands to the young man.
The
youth cleaned his mother's hands slowly. His tear fell as he did that.
It was the first time he noticed that his mother's hands were so
wrinkled, and there were so many bruises in her hands. Some bruises were
so painful that his mother shivered when they were cleaned with water.
This
was the first time the youth realized that it was this pair of hands
that washed the clothes everyday to enable him to pay the school fee.
The bruises in the mother's hands were the price that the mother had to
pay for his graduation, academic excellence and his future.
After finishing the cleaning of his mother's hands, the youth quietly washed all the remaining clothes for his mother.
That night, mother and son talked for a very long time.
Next morning, the youth went to the director's office.
The
Director noticed the tears in the youth's eyes, asked: "Can you tell me
what have you done and learned yesterday in your house?"
The youth answered, "I cleaned my mother's hand, and also finished cleaning all the remaining clothes'
The Director asked, "Please tell me your feelings."
The youth said:
1. I know now what appreciation is. Without my mother, there would not have been the successful me today.
2.
By working together and helping my mother, only I now realize how
difficult and tough it is to get something done. 3. I have come to
appreciate the importance and value of family relationships.
The director said, "This is what I am looking for to be my manager.
I
want to recruit a person who can appreciate the help of others, a
person who knows the sufferings of others to get things done, and a
person who would not put money as his only goal in life. You are hired.
Later
on, this young person worked very hard, and received the respect of his
subordinates. Every employee worked diligently and as a team.
The company's performance improved tremendously.
A
child, who has been protected and habitually given whatever he wanted,
would develop "entitlement mentality" and would always put himself
first. He would be ignorant of his parent's efforts. When he starts
work, he assumes that every person must listen to him, and when he
becomes a manager, he would never know the sufferings of his employees
and would always blame others. For this kind of a person, who may be
good academically, may be successful for a while, but eventually would
not feel sense of achievement. He will grumble and be full of hatred and
fight for more. If we are this kind of protective parents, are we
really showing love or are we destroying the children
instead?*
You
can let your children live in a big house, eat a good meal, learn
piano, watch a big screen TV. But when you are cutting grass, please let
them experience it. After a meal, let them wash their plates and bowls
together with their brothers and sisters. It is not because you do not
have money to hire a maid, you want them to understand, no matter how
rich their parents are, one day their hair will grow gravy, same as the
mother of that young person. The most important thing is your children
learn how to appreciate the effort and experience the difficulty and
learn how to work with others to get things done.
You would have
forwarded many mails to many and many of them would have back mailed you
too...but try and forward this story to as many as possible...this may
change somebody for the better
