I've been stressed up lately with some financial troubles, and kept blaming it on not being paid enough. Of course in a way that's true actually seeing how expensive everything are in KL these days.
Anyway last week, the soles of my shoes were finally worn out until there's a hole that small stones can fit through. And my socks will get wet if it rained too. Since I don't have the extra money to just drop into Pedro and get a new one, I decided to just go get it repaired during lunch on Monday.
So I went to this pakcik where I usually repair my shoes, the same pakcik that I wrote about before. I took off my shoes, slipped on the flip flops that he has ready for the customers to wear while waiting and waited while he got to work on my shoes.
He's a chatty fella, so we chatted a bit about this and that. I then noticed he's been using his thighs as base when he has to hammer the new soles in place, so I asked him about it.
"Nak buat macam mana, besi tuh kena curik malam tadi. Sakit tuh memang sakit tapi kena cari rezeki jugak", he said with a shrug of the shoulders and smiled.
"Tak apalah, bukan rezeki saya".
I felt like I was hit by a truck. There I was begrudging my salary when I earned it in the comfort of an air-conditioned office, sitting in an ergonomical chair and at most I'll get a headache from the stress; while this is a man who works on a sidewalk with the dust and exhaust fumes around him, cutting, pulling, hammering (now on his thighs since the anvil-like thingy he normally used got stolen) yet he seemed more at peace with his life.
I realised then that I have not been as thankful for all the things that I've been blessed with. We often focus on the have-nots rather than the haves. Sure I might not get my Audi next year, but at least I already have a decent car to get me around. I might not have the cash for that nice property that is sure to skyrocket in value, but I already have a comfortable place to live. So I might feel a bit underpaid, but compared to his life I got it way easier. So many things I should be thankful for rather than go through the truckloads of complaints that I have accumulated.
That day I walked off not only with repaired soles but just maybe, with a repaired soul too.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Sole Searching
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4 comments:
Your post reminds me of this quote I once read either at FB or Twitter, "I complain that I have no shoes, until I met a boy who has no feet." :(
Since I'm running a family business now, I can't help but to feel really emotional issuing a RM2000 salary cheque for the past couple of months to one of my staffs, whom I know - has 4 kids from 17 to 11 years old (3 of them taking UPSR, PMR & SPM this year), her useless husband only visits her once every couple of years.
Sometimes over lunch she'd overhear my rants over the phone with my boyfriend about not getting flights for our holiday in Bali and London over the (actually this) weekend.. and she responded, "Untungnya Cik, saya passport pun tak pernah ada.."
How do they do it, man.. At age of 40, they make a friction of what we yuppies do and still can support a big family and yep, they live in KL too.
I guess we should just count our blessings and lead to inspire. It's hard to not feel bad about others but that keeps our feet on the ground too, I guess.
P.S. Forget Audi, get a Twitter first!
it's easy to get lost when you look at people who are (seemingly) financially better off, but when you look at folks who are less fortunate then you'll quickly saw that you are in fact the one who are seemingly financially better off to them.
P.S. still can't find a reason to twit, if it's gonna be short then i'll just stick to fb status instead =P
P.P.S. enjoy the holiday away!
omg.. mmg menginsafkan baca ur entri ni.. i just ranted about my crappy work in the office during lunch tadi with my friends and baca entry u ni mcm a wake up call pulak.. yes, we have to be thankful for every blessings that we have.. jgn dok complaint je
glad that it gave u something :)
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