Many people all around the world think their poverty or imperfections prevent them from enjoying precious lives on earth. Such insight usually comes from inexperienced, youthful
minds. If you allow your mind to be controlled by endless advertisements intended to stimulate
desire for certain things you presently don't have, surely you will be one of those cursing the
darkness or dipping into empty pockets in frustration.
Think about it. What do you really need ? Food, clothing, shelter, family members and/or
friends who care. And the mind also longs for knowledge, wisdom, understanding -- in order
to become intellectually richer. Each one also needs something to work on.
One community I am aware of is filled with complaints. All have cellphones. All have jobs.
Yet their focus is on things they want instead on things they should be doing in order to be
very productive in their lives. This is a typical group of anxious people. There is a saying that
nowadays, it is either you are on top of the problems or the problems are on top of you. The
truth is, looking at the situation more intently, the owner of circumstances is usually a root
cause of those problems.
Let us see the way life should be. One day, we should wake up breathing in fresh hopes,
and with precious minutes (time) within which to do the activities that have to be done in
order to advance towards a beautiful dream about ourselves. People might ask what should
be done. Those who have not yet decided ought to start with thinking about positive realities.
Assess. Who am I ? What are my blessings to start with ? How can I improve on my life ?
Who should I live with and why ? What am I hoping for ? What opportunities are available for
me ? What should I do ? How long will it take for me to complete what should be done ? Plan.
However, as we should plan, our thoughts should be aiming for whatever will be clearly good
for us, whatever will be within reach. Aiming to be a champion tomorrow without developing
skills and practicing in order to be competitive at least -- is obviously not a realistic aim.
My father used to set the poor Chinese after World War 2 as an example. There was an
abundance of junk in those days. He actually saw that man pushing a cart, picking up whatever
useful thing he found. A wasteland for him looked like a goldmine. Everyday he would make a
living out of junk materials. If the income was small, he would eat soup rice. No fish. No meat.
But he learned to save a little cash each day. When his income was bigger in a day, the poor
Chinese would add dried fish to his recipe and then save a little cash on that day.
He suffered
under the heat of the sun and even during rainy days. But it looked like he did not mind the
trouble of it all. This is like the Western story of people digging or panning for gold. They did not
notice too much dirt and sweat each day. Those who enjoyed the work kept on working. In time,
some savings in materials and cash allowed them to engage in another activity fit for their age
and health. My father no longer saw the Chinese pushing a cart, because that same Chinese became owner of a Junk Shop. Some other people pushed the carts for him. Soon he became the trader, then a capitalist and much later, the owner of other related businesses, like trucking.
Over 60 years passed. The owners of Supermarts and Department Stores in our place
nowadays are mostly Chinese. This is not to belittle other nationalities. They have a different
happy story to tell. And life is not just about material wealth.
