Gratitude

There was a blind girl who hated herself because she was blind. She hated everyone, except her loving boyfriend. He was always there for her. She told her boyfriend, 'If I could only see the world, I will marry you.'

One day,
someone donated a pair of eyes to her. When the bandages
came off, she was able to see everything, including her
boyfriend.

He asked
her,'Now that you can see the world, will you marry me?' The
girl looked at her boyfriend and saw that he was blind. The
sight of his closed eyelids shocked her. She hadn't expected
that. The thought of looking at them the rest of her life
led her to refuse to marry him.

Her
boyfriend left in tears and days later wrote a note to her
saying: 'Take good care of your eyes, my dear, for before
they were yours, they were mine.'

This is
how the human brain often works when our status changes.
Only a very few remember what life was like before, and who
was always by their side in the most painful situations.

The above email was sent to me by Pradeep, a toastmaster friend. I was very moved when I read the story and tears filled my eyes. I remember Pastor Derek Hong had mentioned in one of his sermons about the perversity of man. "You can do nine good things for someone, but when you fail the person once, he somehow remembers only the one time you have failed him. He absolutely forgets the nine good things!"

I am sure many of us can identify with the above. However, it is important that we get over our disappointment with people fast, forgive them, and get on with life. To avoid being disheartened, now, I tell myself that whatever good I do for others, I do it as if unto the Lord. God's blessings and grace are sufficient for me.

Being the hopelessly optimistic person that I am, I always look at the bright side of things. Recently I failed badly, and it is through this failure that I realise who my truly good friends are. I am full of eternal gratitude to the people who have stood by me and who continue to believe in me.

Hence, now that I have picked myself up again, I remember these people with gratitude and am thrilled with having the opportunity of returning my favour and blessings to them.

Papa was very wise when he constantly reminded us to be grateful to God and to man. Gratitude always puts us in the right perspective of things; it makes us humble and contented, and the realisation that we owe our success to God and people around us.

Gan Chau