Gratitude Friday -- Perspective
For Gratitude Friday, thanks to my friend Joel who sends out daily emails with jokes, links, and cartoons. He recently sent this parable on perspective:One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.
On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"
"It was great, Dad."
"Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked.
"Oh yeah, " said the son.
"So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.
The son answered. "I saw that we have one dog and they had 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 food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them."
The boy's father was speechless.
Then his son added, "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are."
To read other bloggers Gratitude Friday posts link to them from Diana at Creative Structures. Be sure to read also Diana's beautiful and wise guest post on Middle-Aged Diva, Part 1 and Part 2. And have a great (and grateful) weekend...
On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"
"It was great, Dad."
"Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked.
"Oh yeah, " said the son.
"So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.
The son answered. "I saw that we have one dog and they had 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 food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them."
The boy's father was speechless.
Then his son added, "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are."
Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all were grateful for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have.
Joel has been sending out his collections for many years without ever missing a day, even when he's taking 10,000 mile cross-country motorcycle trips or working as a photographer. There are hundreds of people on his mailing list; if you'd like to sign up and see if you like what he sends just drop him a note asking to be added to the list at: joelperlish@aol.com.
To read other bloggers Gratitude Friday posts link to them from Diana at Creative Structures. Be sure to read also Diana's beautiful and wise guest post on Middle-Aged Diva, Part 1 and Part 2. And have a great (and grateful) weekend...
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