One young academically
excellent person went for an interview for a managerial position in a
big company. He passed the first interview; BUT in that Company, the
director did the last interview, made the last decision.
The
director discovered from the CV, that the youth's academic result was
excellent all the way, from the secondary school until the postgraduate
research, never was there a year he did not score. The director asked,
"Did you obtain any scholarship in school?" and the youth answered "no".
The
director asked, " Did your father pay your school fees?". The youth
answered, "my father passed away when I was one year old and it was my
mother who paid my school fees".
The
director asked, " Where did your mother work?" the youth answered, "my
mother worked as cloth cleaner." The director requested the youth to
show his hands and the youth showed a pair of hands that was smooth and
perfect to the director.
The
director asked, " Did you ever help your mother wash clothes before?"
The youth answered," never, my mother always wanted me to study and read
more books, furthermore, my mother could wash clothes faster than I
could"
The director said, I have a request, when you go back today, go and help to clean your mother's hand, and then see me tomorrow morning.
The
youth felt that the chance of landing the job was high and when he
went back, he happily wanted to clean his mother's hands. His mother
felt strange. With happiness mixed with fear, she showed her hands to
the kid.
The youth
cleaned his mother's hands slowly and his tears fell as he did that. It
was the first time he noticed that his mother's hands were so
wrinkled, and that there were so many bruises in her hands. Some
bruises were so painful that she shuddered when his mother's hands
were cleaned with water.
This
is the first time that the youth realized and experienced that it is
this pair of hands that washed the clothes every day to earn him the
school fees and that the bruises in the mother's hand were the price
that the mother paid for his graduation and academic excellence and
probably his future.
After finishing the cleaning of his mother's hands, the youth quietly washed all the remaining clothes for his mother.
That night, the mother and son talked for a very long time.
Next
morning, the youth went to the director's office. The director noticed
the tear in the youth's eye and asked: " Can you tell what you did and
learnt yesterday in your house?"
The youth answered, " I cleaned my mother's hands and also finished washing all the remaining clothes'
The director asked, "Please tell me what you felt"
The youth said:
"Number 1, I know what appreciation is now'. Without my mother, I would not be successful today.
Number
2, Now I know how to work together with my mother. Only now do I
realize how difficult and tough it is to get something done.
Number 3, I know the importance and value of family relationship."
The
director said, " This is what I am asking, I want to recruit a person
that can appreciate the help of others, a person who knows the suffering
of others to get things done, and a person that would not put money as
his only goal in life to be my manager. 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 and the
company improved tremendously.
The Lessons from this anecdote:
A
child who has been protected and habitually given whatever he needs,
develops "entitlement mentality" and always puts himself first. He is
ignorant of his parents' efforts. When he starts work, he assumes every
person must listen to him, and when he becomes a manager, he would never
know the suffering of his employees and always blame others. These
kinds of people, may/will achieve good results and may be successful
for a while, but eventually would not feel a sense of achievement or
satisfaction.
If we
happen to be this kind of (protective) parent, this is the time to ask
the question- whether we did/do love our kids or destroy them.
-You
can let your kid live in a big house, eat a good meal, learn to play
the piano, watch a big screen TV but when you are cutting grass, please
let them experience it.
-After a meal, let them wash their plate and bowl together with their brothers and sisters.
-It is not because you do not have money to hire a maid, but it is because you want to love and show them the correct way.
-You
want them to understand that no matter how rich their parent are, one
day they will grow old, become weak and that their hair too will grow
grey,.
-The most important thing is for your kid
to learn how to appreciate, experience and learn the effort and ability
needed to work with others to get things done. They should also value,
appreciate what the parents have done and love them for who they are!
