What It Means To Be Poor..

Chandan Kumar Nandy

What It Means To Be Poor...

One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the
country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people can be.
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 can be?" the father asked. "Oh Yeah" said the son. "So 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." With this the boy's father was speechless.
Then his son added, "Thanks dad for showing me how poor we are."

Too many times we forget what we have and concentrate on what we don't
have. What is one person's worthless object is another's prize possession.
It is all based on one's perspective. Makes you wonder what would happen if
we all gave thanks for all the bounty we have, instead of worrying about
wanting more.