One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"
"It was great, Dad"
"Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked.
"Oh yeah," said the son.
"So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.
The son answered: "I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.
We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them."
The boy's father was speechless.
Then his son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are."
Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't.
America has so much to be thankful for in spite of the current state of our economy. We complain because the unemployment rate is at nine percent in our country. We are seeing more people losing their homes. The homeless rate is continuing to grow because of the lack of jobs. The schools have noticed that the only meal that some children may eat is the food offered in school. Yet we still have more resources than other countries that struggle to feed their population. If we took time out of busy schedules and reflected on what we have instead of what we do not have, and effectively learn how to manage the resources we have, instead politicians fighting over who is right and who is wrong. We may avoid eventually become like other countries that never learned how to manage funding. Your post makes me put thing in perspective instead of looking at the glass as a half- empty I see it as half -full. I am grateful…
ReplyDeleteFirst I would like to say these pictures are phenomenal! The massage I get from this is that kids should appreciate what they have and not take it for granted. But my thoughts sway me into being the aposing arguer and say that how could a parent send a child to a place to "watch" how another person lives and aspect them to learn the experience of that person? it cant be done, because we are only expose at a distance,whereasthough they know that they have a good shelter and clothing. Unless the child lives that life first handingly, they will never understand what its like to live under those conditions.
ReplyDeleteOlaitan Okusaga
ReplyDeleteThanks guys! I must say I almost cried when putting this together because since I came into this country, things they take for granted here are what most people in other country cherish. Anyway, the main message of this blog is to be content with what you have and always give thanks to GOD no matter the situation or position you might be "Be Content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you" Lao Tzu.
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ReplyDeleteIqmat Adediran
ReplyDeleteThis is sensational and insightful. Its the truth that people have more than enough and are still unappreciative. Some have more than enough and are still complaining about not having anything. We should really be grateful to God for giving us everything we have as of today. Everyday more than a million people die cause of hunger. We have the ability to provide three square meals a day for ourselves so why are we still complaining?
Michelle De'Brue
ReplyDeleteI just want to say Olaitan Okusaga you did an excellent job with your blog! It was knowledgable and very informative for the have's and the have's not. I have always been blown away by how I see us as people/individuals in todays society in America. The way we act and respond to the things we have and the things we wish we did had, instead of us actually being grateful for just having some of the issues we have, rather they are good or bad, we need to recognize how people in other countries wish that they could walk a mile in our shoes for one day! While they suffer and struggle day to day we live selfishly and appear to be ungrateful in the eyes of those who have nothing but who live to except the things they have and do not have. But, even with us still knowing the issues the other countries are suffering from the question still remains the same that everyone ask why are "WE" still complaining?
THIS BLOG AS MADE ME TEARY-EYED (must be my hormones going crazy) lol.....here i am complaining about this big pile of clothes that needs to be washed, when all i have to do is take them to my laundry room DOWNSTAIRS. Here i am catching an attitude about me not wanting to cook minute steaks for dinner because my brother didnt take anything out of the freezer for dinner. Here i am being negatively verbal about me buying tokens to get to school for MY higher education(that i had the nerve to pay for using my credit card, hey dont judge me, lol)
ReplyDeleteTHE POINT?? Who do i think i am to complain about anything?? I have ALL my needs and most of my desires meant every single day.
After reading this, i was forced to re-evaluate the things i so easily take for granted. The next time i brush my teeth at my sink and let the water run, or get rattled because I cant decide on which nail color to wear, or grab the bar of soap to take a quick shower, it will all be appreciated to a much higher power than ever before!
Ms Olaitan Okusaga, every now and then i get a 'slap-me-in-the-face' moment and this was one of them.......great work, inspiring also!!!!!
Kardia Rowe
ReplyDeleteThe first thing I did when I saw this post was look at the pictures. When I saw them, tears came to my eyes. Then I read the post, it made me think about how this morning I was complaining about how I don't have no clothes to put on, when I have 6 draw and a closet full of clothes. It make me think that there is a lot of people in the world that only have one suit of clothes to their name. Now every time I see myself complaining I am going to stop and thank God for all the things I have. Great job on your blog, it should have other people thinking about why they are complaining.
I have always thought of using this tactic in teaching my daughter to appreciate the things that she has. I feel like American children in this generation have such superficial and selfish priorities and no appreciation for anything they have.
ReplyDeleteAs a first generation Chinese-American I learned about appreciation early in life. First, my parents always told me that I was lucky to be an American because I have so many more opportunities here. Also, if i was born in China, as the third child and also a girl, I would likely be an orphan or not even alive. I always helped my parents when I could because they worked hard day and night to pay the bills because they hardly spoke English. I have a younger brother who was 8 years younger than me. When growing up I never questioned why I had to stay home and baby-sit my brother. Why I had to feed him and take care of him like he was my child. When my parents told me to do something, I never asked "Why?".
I think an eye opening experience like visiting another country and seeing how other people live is a great way to give a person a new perspective.
The difference of the two farmers seen from the son's point of view is that the poor family was not as poor as the father thought. They seem to have all they need and more. They seem to be a humble family as they serve others and they grow there own food from an endless supple of water from a creek with no end. There fieids reach beyond the horizon out of sight. In short who really was the poor family? I agree. We should not think that we are better than others or we mite find ourselves in the fathers shoes.
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