MOST of us go through life, thinking we are God’s gift to mankind or is it woman kind? We strut around, swagger and feel we are indispensable to home or company. “What would my family ever do without me?” we wonder, little realizing that they could manage pretty well without us.
A little boy went into a drug store, reached for a soda carton and pulled in over to the telephone. He climbed onto the carton so that he could reach the buttons on the phone and proceeded to punch in seven digits. The storeowner observed and listened to the conversation on the extension. The boy asked, “Lady, Can you give me the job of cutting your lawn?
The woman replied, “I already have someone to cut my lawn.” “Lady, I will cut your lawn for half the price of the person who cuts your lawn now,“ replied the boy. The woman responded that she was very satisfied with the person who was presently cutting her lawn. The little boy found more perseverance and offered, “Lady, I’ll even sweep your curb and your sidewalk, so on Sunday you will have the prettiest lawn in all of North Palm beach, Florida.”
Again the woman answered in the negative. With a smile on his face, the little boy replaced the receiver. The store owner, who was listening to all this, walked over to the boy and said, “Son I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation. I like your attitude; I like that positive spirit and would like to offer you a job.”
The little boy replied, “No thanks, I was just checking my performance and the job I already have. I am the one who is working for that lady, I was talking to!” Ha! That must have been one happy boy! Two things struck me with this little story: One, that he must have obviously put in a lot of hard work to get that kind of response from his employer and two, that here was a little fellow who was ready to learn about himself. It must take a lot of guts to put your neck on the line and do what the lil’ boy did.
Do we have the courage to make an appraisal of ourselves? To really ask ourselves how much we contribute to home or job or community? The other day in my neighbourhood an old Sardar passed away. We spent the whole of a conversation the next day, trying to figure out who he was. He had hardly made any impact to anyone around and was hardly known though I was told he had been living here for more than a decade!
What about you when your time comes? Will your neighbours wonder who you were? Or will men and women from all over come and tell your family what a good, great person you were? Do you have the guts to stop a moment and make an appraisal of yourself?
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