Inspirational Short Story

Appreciation This is a powerful message for our modern society. We seem to have lost our bearing and 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. 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 laundry woman."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 young man.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's 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 hands and also finished cleaning all the remaining clothes."The Director asked, "Please tell me your feelings."The youth said:I know now what appreciation is. Without my mother, there would not have been the successful me today.By working together and helping my mother, only now I realize how difficult and tough it is to get something done.I have come to appreciate the importance and value of family relationships.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.Something to think about:A child, who has been protected and habitually given whatever he wanted, will develop an "entitlement mentality" and will always put himself first. He will be ignorant of his parent's efforts. When he starts work, he will assume that every person must listen to him, and when he becomes a manager, he will never know the sufferings of his employees and will always blame others.For this kind of a person, who may be good academically and maybe successful for a while, eventually he will 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 our children instead?You can let your children 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. 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 things are that your children learn how to appreciate the effort and experience the difficulty and learn how to work with others to get things done.