story of appreciation

One young academically excellent person went to apply for a managerial position in a big company.

He passed the first interview, the director did the last interview, made
the last decision.

The director discovered from the CV that the youth's academic
achievements
were excellent all the way, from the secondary school until the
postgraduate research, 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 a
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, happy but with mixed feelings, she showed her
hands to the kid.

The youth cleaned his mother's hands slowly.
His tear fell as he did that. It was the first time he noticed that his
mother's hands were so wrinkled, and 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
everyday 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, asked: " Can you tell me
what have you done and learned yesterday in your house?"

The youth answered, " I cleaned my mother's hand, and also finished
cleaning all the remaining clothes'

The Director asked, " please tell me your feelings."

The
youth said, Number 1, I know now what is appreciation. Without my
mother, there would not be the successful me today. Number 2, by
working together and helping my mother, only I now realize how
difficult and tough it is to get something done. Number 3, I have come
to appreciate the importance and value of family relationship.

The director said, " This is what I am looking for, to be my 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. You are hired.

Later
on, this young person worked very hard, and received the respect of his
subordinates. Every employee worked diligently and as a team. The
company's performance improved tremendously.

A child, who has
been protected and habitually given whatever he wanted, would develop
"entitlement mentality" and would always put himself first. He would be
ignorant of his parent's efforts. When he starts work, he assumes that
every person must listen to him, and when he becomes a manager, he
would never know the sufferings of his employees and would always blame
others. For this kind of people, who may be good academically, may be
successful for a while, but eventually would not feel sense of
achievement. He will grumble and be full of hatred and fight for more.
If we are this kind of protective parents, are we really showing love
or are we destroying the kid instead?*

You can let your kid live
in a big house, eat a good meal, learn piano, watch a big screen TV.
But when you are cutting grass, please let them experience it. After a
meal, let them wash their plates and bowls together with their brothers
and sisters. It is not because you do not have money to hire a maid,
but it is because you want to love them in a right way. You want them
to understand, no matter how rich their parents are, one day their hair
will grow gray, same as the mother of that young person. The most
important thing is your kid learns how to appreciate the effort and
experience the difficulty and learns the ability to work with others to
get things done.