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, made the last decision. 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 clothes cleaner. 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 kid. 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 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
hand, and also finished cleaning all the remaining clothes'
The Director asked,"please tell me your
feelings."
The youth said, Number 1, I know now what is
appreciation. Without my mother, there would not the successful me today.
Number 2, by working together and helping my mother, only I now realize how
difficult and tough it is to get something done. Number 3, I have come to
appreciate the importance and value of family relationship.
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.
A child, who has been protected and habitually
given whatever he wanted, would develop "entitlement mentality" and
would always put himself first. He would be ignorant of his parent's efforts.
When he starts work, he assumes that every person must listen to him, and when
he becomes a manager, he would never know the sufferings of his employees and
would always blame others. For this kind of people, who may be good
academically, may be successful for a while, but eventually would 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 the kid instead?
You can let your kid 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, but it is because you want to love them in a right
way. 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 thing is your kid learns how to appreciate the effort and experience
the difficulty and learns the ability to work with others to get things done.
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