One day , the father of a very wealthy
family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of
showing him how poor people live.
They spent a couple of days and nights on
the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.
On their return from their trip , the
father asked his son , "How was the trip?"
"It was great , Dad."
"Did you see how poor people
live?" the father asked.
"Oh yeah , " said the son.
"So , tell me , what did you learn
from the trip?" asked the father.
The son answered:
"I saw that we have one dog and they
had four.
We have a pool that reaches to the
middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.
We have imported lanterns in our garden and
they have the stars at night.
Our patio reaches to the front yard and
they have the whole horizon.
We have a small piece of land to live on
and they have fields that go beyond our sight.
We have servants who serve us , but they
serve others.
We buy our food , but they grow theirs.
We have walls around our property to
protect us , they have friends to protect them."
The boy's father was speechless.
Then his son added ,
"Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are."
Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes
you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have,
instead of worrying about what we don't have.