By Dr Paul Bundi Human beings are endowed with remarkable resilience, which can only be broken when they choose to give up. Says Viktor Frankl in his seminal book, Man's Search for Meaning; ''it is a peculiarity of man that he can only live by looking to the future-sub specie aeternitatis. And this is his salvation in thd most difficult moments of his existence, although he sometimes has to force his mind to the task.'' Man's life is primarily driven by the desire for future, the unshakable belief that the future holds promise. We invariably cease to live when we think we have hit a dead end, or that there's nothing more to be had by living. Theoretically, there is no limit to man's achievement, and that is what drives men to wake up and strive day after day. The opposite is spiritual, psychological death, which manifests way ahead of physical death. Lesson? Losing today doesn't mean losing always. You can lose 10 times and win the 11th time. Or, you
When I was a small child , I was very selfish, always grab the best for myself. Slowly, everyone left me and I had no friends. I didn’t think it was my fault but criticize others.
My father gave me 3 sentences to help me in life.
One day, my father cooked 2 bowls of noodles put the 2 bowls on the table. One bowl has one egg on top and the other bowl does not have any egg on top. He said ”My child. You choose. Which bowl do u want”. Eggs were hard to come by those days! Only get to eat eggs during festivals or New Year. Of Cos I chose the bowl with egg! As we started eating. I was congratulating myself on my wise choice/decision and wallop up the egg. Then to my surprise as my father ate his noodles, there were TWO eggs at the bottom of his bowl beneath the noodes! I regretted so much! And scolded myself for being too hasty in my decision. My father smiled and said to me, ”My child. You must remember what your eyes see may not be true. If u intent on taking advantage of people, u will end up losing!”
The next day, my father again cooked 2 bowls of noodles: one bowl with an egg on top and the other bowl with no egg on top. Again, he put the two bowls on the table and said to me, ”My child. You choose. Which bowl do u want?” This time I am smarter. I chose the bowl without any egg on top. To my surprise, as I separated the noodles on top, there was not even a single egg at the bottom of the bowl! Again my father smiled and said to me, ”My child, you must not always rely on experiences cos sometimes, life can cheat u or play tricks on u. But u must not be too annoyed or sad, just treat this as learning a lesson .You cannot Learn this from textbooks.
The third day, my father again cooked 2 bowls of noodles, again one bowl with an egg on top and the other bowl with no egg on top. He put the 2 bowls on the table and again said to me, ”My child. You choose. Which bowl do u want?”. This time, I told my father, ”Dad, u choose first. You are the head of the family and contributed the most to the family. ”My father did not decline and chose the bowl with one egg on top. As I eat my bowl of noodles, Sure in my heart that there is no egg inside the bowl. To my surprise! There were TWO eggs at the bottom of the bowl.
My father smiled at me with love in his eyes, ”My child, u must remember!When u think for the good of others, good things will always naturally happen to u!”
I always remember these 3 sentences of my father and lived and do my business accordingly. True enough, my business was a roaring， success.
Xi Jing Peng
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