A story for you.
One young man went to apply for a managerial position in a
big company. He passed the initial interview, and now would meet the director
for the final interview.
The director
discovered from his CV that the youth's academic achievements were excellent.
He asked, "Did you obtain any scholarships in school?" the youth
answered "no".
" Was it your
father who paid for your school fees?"
"My father
passed away when I was one year old, it was my mother who paid for my school
fees.” he replied.
" Where did your
mother work?"
"My mother
worked as clothes cleaner.”
The director requested the youth to show his hands. The
youth showed a pair of hands that were smooth and perfect.
" Have you ever
helped your mother wash the clothes before?"
"Never, my
mother always wanted me to study and read more books. Besides, my mother can
wash clothes faster than me.
The director said,
"I have a request. When you go home 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 home, he asked his
mother to let him clean her hands. His mother felt strange, happy but with
mixed feelings, she showed her hands to her son.
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 winced when
he touched it.
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 fees. The bruises in the mother's
hands were the price that the mother had to pay for his education, his school
activities and his future.
After cleaning his
mother 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, when he 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'
“I know now what appreciation is. Without my mother, I would
not be who I am today. By helping my mother, only now do I realize how
difficult and tough it is to get something done on your own. And I have come to
appreciate the importance and value of helping one’s family.
The director said,
"This is what I am looking for in a 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.”
This young person worked very hard, and received the respect
of his subordinates. Every employee worked diligently and worked as a team. The
company's performance improved tremendously.
A child, who has been
protected and habitually given whatever he wanted, would develop an
"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
people, who may be good academically, they may be successful for a while, but
eventually they would not feel a sense of achievement. They 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 our children instead?
You can let your
child live in a big house, eat a good meal, learn piano, watch on 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, but it is
because you want to love them in a right way. You want them to understand, no
matter how rich their parents are, one day their hair will grow gray, same as
the mother of that young person. The most important thing is your child learns
how to appreciate the effort and experience the difficulty and learns the
ability to work with others to get things done.
Author unknown
May your missionary experiences teach you all the time.
