| Of all the people who enjoy healthy lives, how many truly appreciate
their good health? Unless you experience a toothache yourself, you can't feel any gratitude for not having one, and you cannot understand the suffering of others who have a toothache. Often, the personalities of people who have passed through serious illnesses become greatly refined. People who haven't experienced illness somehow take things too easily because they only know one side of human existence. The same thing can be said of children who grew up in the comfort and security of their parents' care. They tend to take things easy because they can only see one side of life. They sometimes fail in life for this reason. If you are living life blessed with the kindness and protection of other people at home and at work, you may get used to happiness. You might then take such kindness for granted and end up feeling no gratitude for it. Later, this condition will develop into a fearful sickness, called arrogance. The feeling of joy will disappear, and you will become increasingly dissatisfied with other people. People tend to lose sight of happiness after they have become happy.It's too late if you start appreciating the value of happiness after you've already lost it. Only when you know the true value of the important things in life, can you generate the desire to attain them. Unless you start to recognize the smallest acts of kindness as being of great importance, you will miss precious chances in life. |