Thursday, September 2, 2010
"If I didn't manage to make the mark this time, remind me that I exchanged the valuable for the invaluable"
I'm stubborn, that i admit. Yet i'm surprised at the amount of truth and wisdom an elderly have, that could turn my stubbornness into tameness. It was a tough decision to make. Y'know when you are put in a situation where you could decide to do what is right, yet suffer a disadvantage to yourself, or just drop all your responsibilities for your own benefits? Hell yeah i was put in that situation today, and me being the selfish, stubborn old me, was set on doing the latter. It wasn't until half an hour ago, when i posed a rephrased question, "would you do things for your own benefit or for others benefit?" to a security guard of my condo, that totally changed my perception and mind.
I'm back to blogging after 4 months to dedicate this post to the experience and i would say wisdom he shared, so that it would not be lost nor forgotten. And his answers were:
There isn't such a thing as who benefits. If its a true benefit, all party would benefit from it. What seems beneficial in my eyes may not seem beneficial in another's eyes. An he quoted an example. "If someone doesn't have cigarettes and i spared him a stick, maybe in my eyes and in his eyes it may be beneficial, but looking at another point of view, am i doing him more harm than good?
Benefits comes with value. From one perspective, you can have all the benefits(physical) you want. You may bring home many items at a clearance sale, thinking it actually benefited you from the slashed prices.
But does it have value to you? Are you going to use it, or are you going to leave it aside, letting the items lose value over time? Yet keep in mind, that leaving these items around the house are taking up space, and space is money.
Do not be too stingy/ ji jiao over who benefits more or who benefits less, when in the first place, it isn't supposed to benefit you. And he quoted an example, a resident may bring to the guardhouse a basketful of fruits to be shared among the guards, but a particular guard took more than his own share. Do not be bothered by it, for in the first place, the fruits wasn't supposed to be there for grabs. By thinking too deeply into it, you're just adding frustrations for yourself. Be content with what you have(duo na ye hao, shao na ye hao, mei na ye hao).
Give up your benefits for those who need it more than you. It is good to do others a service, it is a blessing; that shows that you are capable enough to help.
Disclaimer: The actual conversation was in chinese and the above is the translated form of it. Accuracy of the conversation is substantial, with points added in from myself as well as possible points being missed out. This conversation was held with the security guard in his 50's known to me as Uncle Lee (:
Luke 12:15 "Be on guard against greed, for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."The End
-KeNeS|s- Out
|Kenrick| 3:26 AM|
