Thursday, 7 June 2012

A Story That Will Touch Your Heart...

Hello Everyone!

I saw the write-up below somewhere, and I thought to myself,  this is the kind of information I must share, I loved the lessons I was touched  by and I hope it does the same to you also. Please enjoy...

One, young, academically excellent person went to apply for a managerial position in a big company. He passed the first interview. The director who did the last interview, made the last decision. He discovered from the CV that the youth's academic achievements were excellent all the way, from the secondary school until the postgraduate research. He 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, but with mixed feelings, she showed her hands to her son. The youth cleaned his mother's hands slowly. His tears fell as he did that. It was the first time he noticed that his mother's hands were so wrinkled and that 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 every day 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 and asked, “Can you tell me what you did and learned yesterday in your house?" The youth answered, “I cleaned my mother's hands, and also finished cleaning all the remaining clothes.' The Director asked, “Please tell me your feelings."

The youth said,
  •  I know now the meaning of APPRECIATION. Without my mother, there would not be the successful me today.
  •  By working together and helping my mother, only now have I realize how difficult and tough it is to get something done- PERSEVERANCE
  •  I have come to appreciate the importance and value of FAMILY RELATIONSHIP.

The director said, “This is what I am looking for in my new 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. Son, you are hired.”

This indeed is a story about sacrifice. But I am at a loss as to how a parent can sacrifice so much, and end up producing someone who is unappreciative and inconsiderate. This young man had done so well in his short life, yet he had never taken time to consider, understand and appreciate the price paid  for the opportunities he had enjoyed so far. Even the poor can spoil their children; the rich can spoil their children; the hardworking can spoil their children. People with the best of intentions can spoil their children. So we must as a matter of legacy teach our children to be good, appreciative and considerate people... People who will never treat others less than what they are worth. Perseverance and Appreciation... they are standards which will guide us into sustainable relationships. Let them be a part of our lives, in such a way that they truly understand what it took to bring them up to the platform they ultimately will occupy in life. This my mother taught me, is the hallmark of humility, and the key to the kind of success which impacts the people around us.

Let's get on with it.

Peace... I'm out!


  1. I've read that story somewhere too. Good lessons learnt

  2. hmmmnnnnnn...............lesson learnt

  3. I appreciate my mother and all the suffer to raise me up to be as awesome as I am today... thanks for the post

  4. So true! I remember when I finished my last exam at school. I called my family and said "We made it! Finally all the sacrifices paid off"
    They are blessings, mothers esp. I'm not sure what God used to make their hearts

  5. This is beautiful with great lessons. I love my mother and I appreciate her so very much.

  6. I was very touched the first time i read that story.We sometimes forget to show appreciation to people that have sacrificed alot for us,but stories such as this jolts us back to our senses.

  7. Powerful story...I'll never see my parents the same way again.