There
is always a better way
A blind boy sat on the steps of a building
with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign
which said: “I am blind, please help.”
There were only a few coins in the hat.
A man was walking by. He took a few coins
from his pocket and dropped them into the
hat. He then took the sign, turned it around,
and wrote some words. He put the sign back
so that everyone who walked by would see
the new words.
Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot
more people were giving money to the blind
boy.
That afternoon the man who had changed
the sign came to see how things were. The
boy recognised his footsteps and asked, “Were
you the one who changed my sign this morning?
What did you write?”
The man said, “I only wrote the truth.
I said what you said but in a different
way.”
What he had written was: “Today is
a beautiful day and I cannot see it.”
Do you think the first sign and the second
sign were saying the same thing?
Of course both signs told people the
boy was blind.
But the first sign simply told people
to help by putting some money in the hat.
The second sign told people that they were
able to enjoy the beauty of the day, but
the boy could not enjoy it because he was
blind.
The first sign simply said the boy was
blind. The second sign told people they
were so lucky that they were not blind.
Should we be surprised that the second sign
was more effective?
There are at least two lessons we can
learn from this simple story.
The first is: Be thankful for what you
have. Someone else has less. Help where
you can.
The second is: Be creative. Be innovative.
Think differently. THERE IS ALWAYS A BETTER
WAY!
Lim
Siong Guan Head, Civil Service |
