I was reluctant to throw away a pair of torn socks yesterday. Hey, it’s just a pair of socks but does it deserve to be mentioned here to everyone? Well, yes, it is just a pair of socks; in fact it’s one of those cheap ones. Yet when I saw the torn socks, I recalled the lunch conversation we had with my supervisor, who is a mother of three.“The kids will only take good care of their things if they have to work on getting them.” My supervisor made that remark speaking of her experience. “What about you?”
“I agree. I did not seem to appreciate whatever I received from my parents as well.”
Why didn’t I appreciate what I was given? They just came too easy. I remembered there was once I saw my classmates, a pair of identical twins, who were apparently my primary school classmates, were reading the Enid Blyton series of children books. I felt like I was so out of the loop. Therefore I told my dad that I had to get some Enid Blyton books too. My dad immediately agreed to get me some. In fact we went to the book section of a departmental store on the same night. Guess what? I did not end up with an Enid Blyton book, but a series of fifty books. I was all elated that night, showing off my books to my family and even chose a book with the nicest cover to school the next day to show off to my neighbors. My greed did not cease there. I requested my dad to buy the remaining from that series. In the end we bought another 30 books more. I was ten at that time. After all these years, I probably had only read 10 books out of the eighty books. No one had touched them in my family. They are now sitting at my parents’ book shelves gathering dusts.
When I was eleven, we were learning table tennis at school. The next thing I did after signing up for a competition at school was to tell my dad to get me the actual table to practice at home. Dad had always been really supportive to whatever I wanted to learn. He told my mom to get one for me while he paid for it. I only played once at home using that table tennis. Since then it’s only been utilized as a “table” when my family organizes parties at home. The story did not end there. I have a long list of being a spoilt child who did not appreciate what she was given. I am too embarrassed to illustrate further here.
Well, I am sure I am not the only one. It is certainly not difficult to figure out why some of us tend to do this. It is because when things seem to come too easy, we take them for granted. We tend not to appreciate how difficult it could be in getting them. Hence when we see something newer or nicer, we can easily throw the current ones away.
Anyway, I am thankful I no longer behave that way. It is definitely a 180 degree change. Who could imagine someone who hesitated before throwing a pair of torn socks was the same person who bought things and then threw them aside and never used them again? After leaving home, leaving the warm shelter of my parents’, I started to appreciate every little thing I own, be it a cheapo pair of torn socks or a worn out T-shirt, because I am buying it using my own hard earn money.
Damn, I am going to pass down all my eighty Enid Blyton books to my children and make them read them all. I’m going to tell them that they are gifts from their grandpa. They better appreciate the books because it’s been preserved for decades. They are antiques that worth more than a fortune. Hey, don't take things and people for granted.
♥ every page of my imagination
