Family comes first....
Charity and attitudes with regards to spending and earning are the qualities that I need to develop not with FA in mind but with an awareness that I need to give back to the society from which I got so much.
Atleast 10% of my earnings should be earmarked for charity. That should top the list not be at the end. Charity is 'now' or 'never'. So, if one waits till one has more than sufficient to do charity that day will never come. This has already been dealt with many times - refer previous blogs for this aspect.
India in good olden days had abundance with regards to everything and still there was peace and happiness. Now, money comes with a package of tension, heartburns and what not! Why is it so? Then 'People used things but loved people' but now 'we have ended up using people and loving things'. Just a small shift has made all the difference in our lives.....
Reflect on this story....
F A M I L Y
I ran into a stranger as he passed by,'Oh excuse me please' was my reply.He said, 'Please excuse me too;I wasn't watching for you.'We were very polite, this stranger and I.We went on our way and we said goodbye.
But at home a different story is told,How we treat our loved ones, young and old..
Later that day, cooking the evening meal,My son stood beside me very still.When I turned, I nearly knocked him down.'Move out of the way,' I said with a frown.He walked away, his little heart broken.I didn't realize how harshly I'd spoken.While I lay awake in bed, God's still small voice came to me and said,'While dealing with a stranger,common courtesy you use,but the family you love, you seem to abuse.Go and look on the kitchen floor,You'll find some flowers there by the door.Those are the flowers he brought for you.He picked them himself: pink, yellow and blue.He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise,you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes.'
By this time, I felt very small,And now my tears began to fall.I quietly went and knelt by his bed;'Wake up, little one, wake up,' I said.'Are these the flowers you picked for me?'
He smiled, 'I found 'em, out by the tree.I picked 'em because they're pretty like you.I knew you'd like 'em, especially the blue.'I said, 'Son, I'm very sorry for the way I acted today;I shouldn't have yelled at you that way.'
He said, 'Oh, Mom, that's okay.I love you anyway.'I said, 'Son, I love you too,and I do like the flowers, especially the blue.'
FAMILY - Are you aware that if we died tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days.But the family we left behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than into our own family,an unwise investment indeed,don't you think?
As we are working for our comforts and our near and dear ones are we enroute making a shift unconsciously that gives importance only to our work and not to the ones for whom we are working?
We should work so that we live comfortably.....we should not live to work.....reflect on this as i do my own self-check....
