The Fragrance of Beauty - Contentment

Once upon a time, there lived a King who, despite his luxurious lifestyle, was neither happy nor content. One day, the King came upon a servant who was singing happily while he worked.

This fascinated the King; why was he, the Supreme Ruler of the Land, unhappy and gloomy, while a lowly servant had so much. The King asked the servant, "Why are you so happy?"

The man replied, "Your Majesty, I am nothing but a servant, but my family and I don't need too much - just a roof over our heads and warm food to fill our tummies."

The king was not satisfied with that reply. Later in the day, he sought the advice of his most trusted advisor. After hearing the King's woes and the servant's story, the advisor said, "Your Majesty, I believe that the servant has not been made part of The 99 Club."

"The 99 Club? And what exactly is that?" the King inquired. The advisor replied, "Your Majesty, to truly know what The 99 Club is, place 99 Gold coins in a bag and leave it at this servant's doorstep."

When the servant saw the bag, he took it into his house. When he opened the bag, he let out a great shout of joy... so many gold coins!

He began to count them. After several counts, he was at last convinced that there were 99 coins. He wondered, "What could've happened to that last gold coin? Surely, no one would leave 99 coins!" He looked everywhere he could, but that final coin was elusive. Finally, exhausted, he decided that he was going to have to work harder than ever to earn that gold coin and complete his collection. From that day, the servant's life was changed. He was overworked, horribly grumpy, and castigated his family for not helping him make that 100th gold coin. He stopped singing while he worked. Witnessing this drastic transformation, the King was puzzled. When he sought his advisor's help, the advisor said, "Your Majesty, the servant has now officially joined The 99 Club."

He continued, "The 99 Club is a name given to those people who have enough to be happy but are never contented, because they're always yearning and striving for that extra 1 telling to themselves: "Let me get that one final thing and then I will be happy for life." We can be happy, even with very little in our lives, but the minute we're given something bigger and better, we want even more! We lose our sleep, our happiness, we hurt the people around us; all these as a price for our growing needs and desires."
That's what joining "The 99 Club" is all about!

The above story was emailed to me by an ex-customer of Rialto, Chin Shan. I am sharing with readers because it is indeed a good illustration of how easily dissatisfied and uptight with life we can get, when we miss out on the simple joy of contentment. Perhaps this discontentment is so obvious that it has inspired Jack Neo to come up with the comedy, "Money, no enough".

Perhaps one of the reasons why I am always so cheerful in the face of adversity is contentment. I am contented with wearing clothes costing below $10/- and shoes below $15/-. I do not have to have that branded dress or bag to feel or look good. I guess the joy in me will already enhance my facial expression and quicken my spirit, so that those around me will forget that I am defintely not one of the most glamorous around. My joy will uplift their spirit. A student in River Valley High once commented, "Madam, when you first came to class I thought you were so fat. But now, I find you actually look quite pretty and charming!" :-)

I am contented to give some of my precious time to whip up a delicious meal for my toastmasters' club members and friends. As I cook, I sing - a habit. Once Devagai Sanmugam did a program with me at Rialto and she called me "The Singing Chef"!

Being human, I may sometimes have my failings. Whenever I start to become unhappy and murmuring, I will remember the above story on the 99 Club and will start to count my blessings and name them one by one.

Perhaps the Apostle Paul had put in succinctly when he wrote in 1 Timothy Chap 6:6 - 8, "Yet, true religion with contentment is great wealth. After all, we didn't bring anything with us when we came into the world, and we certainly cannot carry anything with us when we die. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content."