Father was a hardworking man
who delivered bread as a living to support his wife and three children. He
spent all his evenings after work attending classes, hoping to improve himself
so that he could one day find a better paying job. Except for Sundays, Father
hardly ate a meal together with his family. He worked and studied very hard
because he wanted to provide his family with the best money could buy.
Whenever
the family complained that he was not spending enough time with them, he
reasoned that he was doing all this for them. But he often yearned to spend
more time with his family.
The
day came when the examination results were announced. To his joy, Father
passed, and with distinctions too! Soon after, he was offered a good job as a
senior supervisor which paid handsomely.
Like a dream come true, Father could now afford to provide his family with
life’s little luxuries like nice clothing, fine food and vacation abroad.
However,
the family still did not get to see father for most of the week. He continued
to work very hard, hoping to be promoted to the position of manager. In fact,
to make himself a worthily candidate for the promotion, he enrolled for another
course in the Open University.
Again,
whenever the family complained that he was not spending enough time with them,
he reasoned that he was doing all this for them. But he often yearned to spend
more time with his family.
Father’s
hard work paid off and he was promoted. Jubilantly, he decided to hire a maid
to relieve his wife from her domestic tasks. He also felt that their three-room
flat was no longer big enough, it would be nice for his family to be able to
enjoy the facilities and comfort of a condominium. Having experienced the
rewards of his hard work many times before, Father resolved to further his
studies and work at being promoted again. The family still did not get to see
much of him. In fact, sometimes Father had to work on Sundays entertaining
clients. Again, whenever the family complained that he was not spending enough
time with them, he reasoned that he was doing all this for them. But he often
yearned to spend more time with his family.
As
expected, Father’s hard work paid off again and he bought a beautiful
condominium overlooking the coast of Singapore. On the first Sunday evening at
their new home, Father declared to his family that he decided not to take
anymore courses or pursue any more promotions. From then on he was going to
devote more time to his family.
Father
did not wake up the next day.
Moral of the story: While working so hard to give your
Family the best, learn to also spend time with them. You can’t predict the next
moment, no one owns life.
Learn to live while you work. Balance Live and work.
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