President Xi Jing Peng of China in one of his speeches narrated the following inspirational story:
“When I was a small child, I was very selfish. I always grabbed the best for myself. Slowly, everyone left me and I had no friends. I didn’t think it was my fault but I used to push the blame on others instead.
My father gave me 3 sentences to help me in my life. One day, my father cooked 2 bowls of noodles and put the 2 bowls on the table. One bowl had one egg on top and the other bowl did not have any egg on top. He said ”My child, choose the bowl you want”.
Eggs were hard to find those days! Without hesitation, I chose the bowl with the egg! As we started eating, I congratulated myself on my wise choice/decision and I walloped up the egg. But to my surprise, as my father ate his noodles, there were TWO eggs at the bottom of his bowl beneath the noodles! I regretted that decision! And scolded myself for being too hasty in my decision.
My father smiled and said to me, ”My child. You must remember that what your eyes see may not be true. If you intend to take advantage of people, you will end up a loser!”
The next day, my father again cooked 2 bowls of noodles: one bowl with an egg on top and the
other bowl with no egg on top. Again, he put the two bowls on the table and said to me, ”My child, pick a bowl of your choice”
This time I was smarter. I chose the bowl without any egg on top.
To my surprise, as I separated the noodles on top, there was not even a single egg at the bottom of the bowl! Again my father smiled and said to me, ”My child, you must not always rely on experiences because sometimes, life can play tricks on you. But you must not be too annoyed or sad, just treat this as a lesson. There are some lessons you cannot learn from textbooks.
The third day, my father again cooked 2 bowls of noodles, again one bowl with an egg on top and the other bowl with no egg on top. He put the 2 bowls on the table and again said to me, ”My child, choose the bowl you want”.
This time, I told my father, ”Dad, you choose first. You are the head of the family and contributed the most to the family. ”My father did not decline and chose the bowl with one egg on top.
As I ate my bowl of noodles, the impression I had was that there was no egg inside the bowl. But to my surprise, there were TWO eggs at the bottom of the bowl.
My father smiled at me with love in his eyes and said, ”My child, you must remember, that when you think for the good of others, good things will always naturally happen to you!
