The Winner

Life's Lessons - Joseph Mattappally

The whole of humanity is on a mad race, to be always the first or the best. The present day market economy and its’ corresponding trends have made us slaves to such a blind race. Unfortunately, our curriculum also is designed to generate competency in every phase of life. The sad truth is that we compete not with our own files but with that of others, on a false assumption that success is being at least an inch ahead of many others.

I have heard the story of a race-crazy boy who always wanted to win the applause of the public. In every competition, the boy dug deep and called on his determination, strength and power. He used to finish first. The boy had a wise father, who took him to a running competition organized in a nearby school of physically handicapped children. The father thought of showing his son some unexplored areas of human life. But that day he could demonstrate something more. As the race at the school began, one of the contestants fell down. The boy who had gone much ahead of all others heard his friend’s cry; he turned back and helped the boy stand up and further continued the race together with him all the way holding his hand tight. This simple gesture of love and compassion moved the crowd. There came up a long and loud applause which the race-crazy boy had never heard. The wise man said to his son, “A person is a person because of another person.”

I think, this is truly the great knowledge the present world misses. There is definitely a difference between knowledge and wisdom. It is said that if knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit not a vegetable, wisdom is knowing not to include it in a fruit salad. A knowledgeable person always walks to the optimum at his level but how far others go is not his concern. What the world asks for is hearts filled with compassion; the problem is that each one wants others to be compassionate considerate but not oneself.

Once a farmer found an abandoned eagle's nest, with an egg in it. The egg was hatched and a baby eagle came out. It grew up along with the other chickens, the farmer grew. It spent its life pecking within the farm yard and rarely looked up. One day it lifted up its’ head and saw above it an eagle soaring high above in the sky. The farmyard eagle sighed and said to itself, "If only I'd been born an eagle". We appreciate charity and all acts of empathy not knowing who we are and our purpose here. We keep lamenting, ‘If I had been a human being!’

Read more issues from Life's Lessons - Click here