This is a powerful message in our modern society. We seemed to have 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, made the
last decision.
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 clothes cleaner. 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 kid.
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 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, Number 1, I know now what is appreciation. Without my mother,
there would not the successful me today. Number 2, by working together and
helping my mother, only I now realize how difficult and tough it is to get
something done. Number 3, I have come to appreciate the importance and value of
family relationship.
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
people, 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 kid instead?*
You can let your kid 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, 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 kid learns how
to appreciate the effort and experience the difficulty and learns the ability to
work with others to get things done.
