Thank you...
In the spirit of continuous improvement and wanting more and more out of life, we set goals and achievable targets. At times, we fall short of them – some due to our abilities and at other times due to destiny. In the process, we all experience problems and dissatisfaction.
I wish I were making more money.
I don’t have the physique I want.
Why does he not want to date me?
My boss is such a hard ass.
Yes, we become too involved in ourselves and our needs and wants- Unwilling to settle for nothing but perfect. Wealth, power, career, beauty, popularity, the works.
But then, why don’t we think about the 8 year old kid who can’t play ball because he has polio, let alone go kayaking, biking and hiking all in one weekend? Why don’t we think about the war victims in Iraq who, after having lost half their family, can barely feed themselves, let alone think of driving the glitziest BMW? Why do our thoughts not linger on the young woman who has to walk 40 kilometres a day to fetch a pail of water in remote rural India, let alone think of getting drunk on Vodka cranberry?
Think about it. All parts of your body are intact and you have a sound mind. You have a job that helps you meet and exceed the basic necessities of life – food& water, shelter and clothing. Parents, siblings, relatives and friends who are by your side, who care for you and who love you. You are indeed bleesed!
The next time you wish you had a bigger apartment with more elegant furniture, think about the Haq family in Lebanon who had their house reduced to rubble under Israeli firepower.
There is an abundance of pain and suffering on earth. God has been kind to you and has spared you the kind of agony and excruciating frustration that others have been inflicted with. Be thankful for the life you have and for the people in your life.
Thank you God. Thank you for everything!
posted by woorkeri wittynathan @ 9:40 am
8 Comments
8 Comments:
That was beautiful, heartfelt and teary! Love it!
We have been blessed & we are very fortunate. We should enjoy every minute of it and at the same time make all efforts to give back. So important to be humble, kind, and compassionate. Coz if God/nature/the supreme being wishes, we can be wiped off in no time at all.
People often ask me why/how I maintain a smile on my face and my only response is WHY NOT??
Beautiful Post :-)
My $0.02 - If we are blessed with so much, then why not strive to refine our assets further and continuously evolve towards perfection? There is a fine line between complacence and satisfaction.
Smile at the world, frown at yourself.
Areille - Danke! You seem to have the knack of taking my posts to the next logical step. :P
Being compassionate and giving back to society is something we could all be doing more.
Phoenix - You seem to have developed the knack of proposing interesting counter arguments! :P
I completely believe in self improvement and striving towards perfection. However, we all need to be realistic. In this journey towards perfection, let us not be too hard on ourself. Perfection is an ideal which is seldom, if ever, achieved. Let us not get so caught up with the idea of perfection that we lose sight of / not value what we have today. In a nutshell : Be happy with what you have, spread the joy, give back to society and keep striving for self improvement. Thoughts...?
Be happy with what you have, spread the joy, give back to society and keep striving for self improvement. Thoughts...?
Agreed.
Just to clarify my POV - Continuous improvement means understanding/appreciating what you have, and adding value by enhancing core assets. It would be stupid to lose sight of what one has today.
Awesome writing…and even better, great thought!
I experienced something similar not too long ago. I went to NYU’s epilepsy center for work 2 weeks ago. I got there earlier than anticipated, so they made me sit in the patient waiting area before I could go to their research center. I was supposed to present that morning, it was my first time, I was supposed to be nervous as heck, but none of this came to mind. I didn’t even bother picking up Time or WSJ from the magazine rack next to me. My time there was spent observing patients around me who have zero control over their lives. They experience continuous jerks and muscle or facial spasms (epilepsy symptoms), are completely in their normal state of mind, even an average IQ level, but just cannot do anything about their physical condition. It was a tear jerking situation just sitting there for 20 minutes. And what was more touching was there was a caretaker with them (a family member) catering to every need of the patient’s from moving them around to sipping water, which was a task on its own.
Bottom line: Not only do we have our healthy happy selves, touch wood, most of us are lucky to have family members who are in decent health. There is indeed a lot to be grateful for, we’re not being fair to God if we keep focusing on minute details missing from our lives. It’s just not a fair exchange!
- P
I experienced something similar not too long ago. I went to NYU’s epilepsy center for work 2 weeks ago. I got there earlier than anticipated, so they made me sit in the patient waiting area before I could go to their research center. I was supposed to present that morning, it was my first time, I was supposed to be nervous as heck, but none of this came to mind. I didn’t even bother picking up the Time magazine or WSJ from the magazine rack next to me. My time there was spent observing patients around me who have zero control over their lives. They experience continuous jerks and muscle or facial spasms (epilepsy symptoms), are completely in their normal state of mind, even an average IQ level, but just cannot do anything about their physical condition. It was a tear jerking situation just sitting there for 20 minutes. And what was more touching was there was a caretaker with them (a family member) catering to every need of the patient’s from moving them around to sipping water, which was a task on its own.
Bottom line: Not only do we have our healthy happy selves, touch wood, most of us are lucky to have family members who are in decent health. There is indeed a lot to be grateful for, we’re not being fair to God if we keep focusing on minute details missing from our lives. It’s just not a fair exchange!
-P
Phoenix - The last line in your comment, 'It would be stupid to lose sight of one has today' is precisely the point of my post. I see several people doing exactly that and losing sight of the bigger picture! Here's to happiness! :)
:-)
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