Ravi’s mom had one eye. He hated her. She collected little weeds and such to sell... she was such an embarrassment for him. There was this one day during elementary school, and his mom came. He threw her a hateful look and ran out. The next day at school his friends teased "Your mom has only one eye?".
He wished that his mom would just disappear from this world so he said to my mom, "Mom, why don't you have the other eye?! You're only going to make me a laughing stock. Why don't you just die?" Mom did not respond.
That night...Ravi woke up, and went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. His mom was crying there, so quietly, as if she was afraid that she might wake him. He told himself that he would grow up and become successful, because he hated his one-eyed mom and their desperate poverty.
Then he left mom and studied really hard. He got accepted in the Seoul University, then got married, bought a house of his own and had kids, too. He was living happily as a successful man.
This happiness was getting bigger and bigger, when someone unexpected came to see him "What?! Who's this?!"... It was his mother...Still with her one eye. His little girl ran away, scared of the mom's eye.
And he asked her, "Who are you? I don't know you!!!" . He screamed at her "How dare you come to my house and scare my daughter! Get out here now!" And to this, his mother quietly answered, "oh, I'm so sorry. I may have gotten the wrong address," and she disappeared.
One day, a letter regarding a school reunion came to his house. He went down to the old shack, that he used to call a house...just out of curiosity there, he found his mother fallen on the cold ground. But he did not shed a single tear. She had a piece of paper in her hand.... it was a letter to him.
She wrote...My Son,
I think my life has been long enough now. Would it be too much to ask if I wanted you to come visit me once in a while? I miss you so much. And I was so glad when I heard you were coming for the reunion. But I decided not to go to the school.... For you... I'm sorry that I only have one eye.
You see, when you were very little, you got into an accident, and lost your eye. As a mother, I couldn't stand watching you having to grow up with only one eye... so I gave you mine... I was so proud that my son could see a whole new world for me, in my place, with that eye. I was never upset at you for anything you did. The times that you were angry with me. I thought to myself, 'it's because you love me.' I miss the times when you were still young around me.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Learning From Mistakes
This is a story about a famous research scientist who had made several very important medical breakthroughs.
He was being interviewed by a newspaper reporter who asked him why he thought he was able to be so much more creative than the average person. What set him so far apart from others ?
He responded that, in his opinion, it all came from an experience with his mother that occurred when he was about two years old.
He had been trying to remove a bottle of milk from the refrigerator when he lost his grip on the slippery bottle and it fell, spilling its contents all over the kitchen floor — a veritable sea of milk !
When his mother came into the kitchen, instead of yelling at him, giving him a lecture, or punishing him, she said, "Robert, I have rarely seen such a huge puddle of milk. Well, the damage has already been done. Would you like to get down and play in the milk for a few minutes before we clean it up ?" Indeed, he did.
After a few minutes, his mother said, "You know, Robert, whenever you make a mess like this, eventually you have to clean it up and restore everything to its proper order. So, how would you like to do that ? We could use a sponge, a towel, or a mop. Which do you prefer ?" He chose the sponge and together they cleaned up the spilled milk.
His mother then said, "You know, what we have here is a failed experiment in how to effectively carry a big milk bottle with two tiny hands. Let's go out in the back yard and fill the bottle with water and see if you can discover a way to carry it without dropping it." The little boy learned that if he grasped the bottle at the top near the lip with both hands, he could carry it without dropping it.
What a wonderful lesson !
This renowned scientist then remarked that it was at that moment that he knew he didn't need to be afraid to make mistakes. Instead, he learned that mistakes were just opportunities for learning something new, which is, after all, what scientific experiments are all about.
Even if the experiment "doesn't work," we usually learn something valuable from it. Make mistakes, you learn from them . . . .
but never repeat mistakes . . . .
He was being interviewed by a newspaper reporter who asked him why he thought he was able to be so much more creative than the average person. What set him so far apart from others ?
He responded that, in his opinion, it all came from an experience with his mother that occurred when he was about two years old.
He had been trying to remove a bottle of milk from the refrigerator when he lost his grip on the slippery bottle and it fell, spilling its contents all over the kitchen floor — a veritable sea of milk !
When his mother came into the kitchen, instead of yelling at him, giving him a lecture, or punishing him, she said, "Robert, I have rarely seen such a huge puddle of milk. Well, the damage has already been done. Would you like to get down and play in the milk for a few minutes before we clean it up ?" Indeed, he did.
After a few minutes, his mother said, "You know, Robert, whenever you make a mess like this, eventually you have to clean it up and restore everything to its proper order. So, how would you like to do that ? We could use a sponge, a towel, or a mop. Which do you prefer ?" He chose the sponge and together they cleaned up the spilled milk.
His mother then said, "You know, what we have here is a failed experiment in how to effectively carry a big milk bottle with two tiny hands. Let's go out in the back yard and fill the bottle with water and see if you can discover a way to carry it without dropping it." The little boy learned that if he grasped the bottle at the top near the lip with both hands, he could carry it without dropping it.
What a wonderful lesson !
This renowned scientist then remarked that it was at that moment that he knew he didn't need to be afraid to make mistakes. Instead, he learned that mistakes were just opportunities for learning something new, which is, after all, what scientific experiments are all about.
Even if the experiment "doesn't work," we usually learn something valuable from it. Make mistakes, you learn from them . . . .
but never repeat mistakes . . . .
No one knows the truth better than you, provided you know what it means to live with the true You
One day a disciple found a glittering object on the road. He took the precious object, showed it to the master and asked him, “Is this a genuine diamond?”
The master was supposed be very knowledgeable about gems. He instructed the disciple, “Go to the library and read all about diamonds.” The disciple went, studied everything about diamonds and returned after having acquired sufficient knowledge about diamonds.
On his return the master said, “I can now tell you that the stone you picked up on the wayside was a genuine diamond.”
“How strange”, asked the disciple. “Why did you not tell me that before? Is there any reason for that?”
The master answered, “Yes, it is my firm conviction that you should not be gullible. You have to test everything personally. Now that you have acquired the knowledge about diamonds, you can verify what I told is correct. Whether with precious gems or with life you are quite capable of being your own expert.”
The master was supposed be very knowledgeable about gems. He instructed the disciple, “Go to the library and read all about diamonds.” The disciple went, studied everything about diamonds and returned after having acquired sufficient knowledge about diamonds.
On his return the master said, “I can now tell you that the stone you picked up on the wayside was a genuine diamond.”
“How strange”, asked the disciple. “Why did you not tell me that before? Is there any reason for that?”
The master answered, “Yes, it is my firm conviction that you should not be gullible. You have to test everything personally. Now that you have acquired the knowledge about diamonds, you can verify what I told is correct. Whether with precious gems or with life you are quite capable of being your own expert.”
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