THE HAPPIEST MAN IN THE WORLD(adapted)

One day, a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the province with the purpose of showing his son how poor people can be. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from the trip, the father asked his son. “How was the trip?”

“IT was great Dad!”

“Did you see how poor people can be?” asked his father.

“Oh yes”, said the son.

“So what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father.

The son answered. “I saw that we have one dog and they have 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 own food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them.”

With this, the boy’s father was speechless. Then his son added, “Thanks Dad, for showing me how poor we are.”

Editorial blog:

Many times, people forget what they have and thus fail to appreciate these because they concentrate so much on things that they do not have. Sometimes, they feel that they are deprived just because they see others who seem to have so much. Or, they feel superior over the rest because they seem to have so much than the others.

It’s all a matter of perspective, of how they look at things—just like how the young son in the story learned to look at the life from a beautiful perspective.

Speaking of perspective, you can also look into your own family life from another angle. In your family, you learn about living with one another, where each family member learns to interact. It is also in the family where you acquire attitudes, behavior, values and traditions.

In the story that you read, you saw how the young adolescent had a valuable learning experience with his father, and how, in return, the son was able to make his father see life from a more realistic perspective. Indeed, sharing moments with family members can make you discover a treasure of learning experiences that can give you a true happiness.

Things to Ponder:

You have to work for things that you want in life. But if you cannot have them, keep in mind that you cannot have everything. Oftentimes, you forget about what you have and concentrate on what you do not have. Instead of worrying about wanting more, be content with what you already have. If you can learn to be thankful and satisfied with what you have, then you can be the happiest person in this world.