Father and Son Conversation
One day, a father was doing some work around the house and his son approached him asking, "Daddy, can I ask you a question?'
The father replied, "Yes. Of course, what is it?"
Son asked, "How much money do you make in an hour?"
The father felt this was a personal question and was a little frustrated but he answered, "That's none of your business. But if you feel you really must know, I make $10.00 and hour."
"Oh", said the son, with his head down. Then he looked up and asked, "Daddy can I borrow $7.00?"
The father furious with the boy said, "If the only reason you asked about my pay is so that you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself to your room and go to bed. Think why you are being so selfish. I work hard every day and don't have money to give out for foolish and wasteful things."
The son quietly went to his room and shut the door. The father sat down and started to get even angrier about his son's questions. "How dare he ask how much money I make" he thought to himself. But after a little more than an hour, the father had calmed down and started thinking, "Maybe there was something important that he really needs to buy with that $7.00. After all, he doesn't really ask for money very often."
Feeling guilty for getting upset with his son, the father went to his son's room and entered. "Are you asleep, son?" He soflty asked.
"No, daddy. I'm still awake." replied the son.
The father sat on the edge of his son's bed and humbly said, "I've been thinking maybe I was too hard on you earlier. It's been a long day and I took my aggrevation out on you. I'm really sorry. Here's the $7.00 you asked for."
The son sat straight up, smiling he yelled, "OH, THANK YOU, DADDY!" Then he reached under his pillow and he pulled out three one dollar bills.
When the man saw that his son already had money he became curious and slightly frustrated at the thought of his son having money yet, asking for more.
The son slowly counted all his dollar bills then looked up at his father.
"Why did you need the $7.00 if you already had money?" The father grumbled.
"Because I didn't have enough, but now I do." His son stretched out his hands offering all the dollar bills to his father and said, "Daddy, here's $10.00. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you."
INSIGHT: This story is a reminder to those who are devoting a majority of your time to your job and are working so hard in life!
We should never let time slip through our fingers without spending some time with those who really matter the most to us, those close to our hearts. If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days with another employee. But the family and friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.
Be sure NOT to give more of yourself to your work than to those who mean the most to you!