There was a family that had two strong, intelligent, well-mannered,
and well liked boys. The family was
wealthy and well respected in their village.
They owned a very nice home and had many beautiful possessions. One night, while the family lay asleep, there
was a big explosion and the house burst in to flames. After much confusion and chaos, all of the
family members were able to escape safely without harm however their home and all
of their precious possessions were destroyed.
Without a home, the family was resigned to living in a tent. After the terrible accident, one boy in this
family immediately gave thanks to the heavens that he was still alive and while
living in his tent he became forever grateful for each new day he had to
live. The other boy grumbled and
complained and while living in his tent he became enraged and bitter. The two boys circumstances were exactly the
same yet their reactions to their difficulty in life led them to very different
places.
There are a lot of things we can learn from this story and
the two boys however there is one lesson I’d like to emphasize today that perhaps
isn’t an obvious one. The difference
between these two siblings in the story is vision. One lacked vision while the other one had
it.
When we lack vision in life, we can know and identify it
pretty easily. For example how often do
you find yourself complaining and perhaps even whining about life? I do it all of the time. “This traffic is horrible, I can’t believe my
boss expects me to do that, why do I have to eat this healthy food it is
disgusting, why is it raining outside, why won’t my child won’t behave”, etc.,
etc. When I do this, I’ve come to
realize that I completely lack vision because I am simply dwelling on the
moment rather than seeing the future.
Having vision in our life allows us to look beyond what is right in front
of us and see a better world.
So, when we complain, we lack vision. Bad things in life will happen to us all and
with blinders on, this makes life very challenging, and difficult. Somehow,
we need to take our blinders off more often and see the big picture. We need to lift our eyes to the sky and see
the whole world around us rather than only dwell on the ground beneath our
feet. Having vision in our life allows
us to overcome challenges, make good decisions that will bless our life in the
future rather than at this one single moment in time, and help us to be happy. Having vision will raise us up and help us
reach our potential.
A good example to illustrate what I am trying to share is
the child who complains about doing school work. Rather than seeing what a good education can
provide for him in his life, the child just focuses on the here and now and doesn’t
concern himself with his future. If the
child would raise his head and gain perspective, he would see that doing his school
work now would bless his life tremendously in the future.
Too many of us are like the child with school work. We fail to see beyond right now and we lack
the vision we need to be wise and find success in life. We need not be like the child, we can take
the blinders off and see what lays ahead for us. We can gain vision for our life which will
enable us to avoid complaining about our current circumstances as we will see
that they do not define our future.
Let’s not show others that we are people that completely
lack vision by complaining all of the time. Let’s be like the first boy in the
story and see our blessings rather than our difficulties and live with vision. When we do, when we can see beyond this one
moment in time, I promise we will be much more successful and happy in
life.
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