A classic proverb goes: “You do not know how to count your blessings when you’re in the middle of a blessed life.” This saying reminds people that they should be thankful for everything they own now. No matter how hard a person’s life may be, others in the world are living harder and more complex lives.
A rich man was traveling on a ship with a group of servants. One of the servants had never seen the ocean or been seasick, so he cried endlessly and was afraid of being seasick. No matter how the rich man and the others tried to comfort him, they could not calm him down.
It so happened that there was a philosopher on board who said to the rich man: “Let me try, and maybe I can calm him down.” The rich man gladly handed him over to the philosopher, who immediately had the servant thrown into the sea, where he sank and floated up and down several times and then had him brought up again.
And when he had brought him up, the servant stopped crying and was very quiet. The rich man asked the philosopher: “What is the secret of your method?”
The philosopher said: “Originally, he did not know the pain of drowning or how lucky he was sitting safely on a boat. After experiencing the misery of nearly drowning, he realized the blessing of being safe.”
Sometimes, you might forget you are amid blessings, complain about this and that, and live a miserable life. If you thought about those refugees in poor countries who want to eat, but have nothing to eat, and those who live in war-stricken countries where it is even more challenging to eat and sleep peacefully, you would not complain anymore. Therefore, you should be thankful for what you have and appreciate your blessings.
The secret of staying young
Many years ago, Rose, a small, wrinkled, 87-year-old woman who was still attending college, was invited to speak at a dinner party at the end of her semester about life, and she said the following:
“We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor every day. You have to have a dream. When you lose your goals, you die.
“We have so many dead people walking around, and they don’t even know it! There is a difference between growing older and growing up… Anybody can grow older. That doesn’t take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunities for change and have no regrets. Older people usually don’t regret what they did but rather what they did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets!”
The value of a drop of water can save a life
A drop of water can penetrate the soil and collapse a mountain; a drop of water can gather into a stream and form a river or an ocean.
There is a story about a Zen master in Japan who washed his master’s feet with a bucket of water. When he was done washing, the water was not used up.
He poured it out casually, and the master rebuked him, saying: “You’re spoiling the value of water. Water can save a life, nourish thirst, become an ocean, and flow into infinity. How can you so easily sacrifice and waste half a bucket of water that has not yet been used?”
The Zen master was sweating profusely after hearing his master’s teaching, and to remember his master’s education, he changed his name to “Dripping Water” to reflect it. Zen Master Dripping Water eventually became a great household name in Japan.
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