Once
we start seeing through the eyes of our heart, things start to transform dramatically. To those of us who sometimes feel married to the wrong
person, here's a food for thought inspired by the writing of an unknown
writer.
As the story
goes, at the end Priya and Hitesh's wedding party,
Priya's mother gave her a
newly opened bank saving passbook, with Rs.1000 deposit amount (Rs.
stands for rupee a monetary unit
in India).
Mother: "Priya, take this
passbook. Keep it as a record of your marriage life. When there's
something happy and memorable happened in your new life, put some money
in. Write down what it's about next to the line. The more memorable the
event is, the more money you can put in. I've done the first one for you
today. Do the others with Hitesh. When you look back after years, you can
know how much happiness you've had."
Priya shared this with Hitesh when getting
home. They both
thought it was a great idea and were anxious to know when the second
deposit can be made. This was what they did after certain time:
- 7 Feb: Rs.100, first
birthday celebration for Hitesh after marriage
- 1 Mar: Rs.300, salary raise for Priya
- 20 Mar: Rs.200, vacation trip to Bali
- 15 Apr: Rs.2000, Priya got pregnant
- 1 Jun: Rs.1000, Hitesh got promoted
.... and so on...
However, after years, they
started fighting and arguing for trivial things. They didn't talk
much. They regretted that they had married the most nasty people in the
world.... no more love...
Kind of typical nowadays, huh?
One day Priya talked to her Mother: "Mom, we can't stand
it anymore. We agree to divorce. I can't imagine how I decided to marry
this guy!!!"
Mother: "Sure, girl, that's no big deal. Just do whatever
you want if you really can't stand it. But before that, do one thing
first. Remember the saving passbook I gave you on your wedding day? Take
out all money and spend it first. You shouldn't keep any record of such a
poor marriage."
Priya thought it was true. So she went to the bank,
waiting at the queue and planning to cancel the account. While she was
waiting, she took a look at the passbook record. She looked, and looked,
and looked. Then the memory of all the previous joy and happiness just
came up her mind. Her eyes were then filled with tears. She left and went
home.
When she was home, she handed the passbook to Hitesh,
asked him to spend the money before getting divorce. The next day,
Hitesh gave the passbook back to Priya. She found a new deposit of
Rs.5000. And a line next to the record: "This is the day I notice how
much I've loved you thru out all these years. How much happiness you've
brought me."
They hugged and cried, putting the passbook back to the
safe. Do you know how much money they had saved when they retired? I did
not ask. I believe the money did not matter any more after they had gone
thru all the good years in their life.
If you can't be a
pencil to write anyone's happiness, try at least to be a nice rubber to
erase everyone's sorrows...
By Tim Pedrosa
The
difference between great people and everyone else is that great people
create their lives actively, while everyone else is created by their
lives, passively waiting to see where life takes them next. The
difference between the two is the difference between living fully and
just existing. “The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer
somebody else up. ~Mark Twain |