There was a small child who was flourished by his father. His
father was a successful and extremely bright business man. He was about 50
years old with dark brown hair and deep brown eyes. He was a very neat man but
he rarely smiled. He was strict, impatient, quick with anger and very
passionate. These attributes all contributed to his great success in business
life, but at the same time the same qualities led him become a not very
pleasant father. He drove the newest Mercedes and had the fanciest suits. He
was incredibly wealthy. As he traveled a lot he didn't spend a lot of time with
his son. But this boy was compensated with expensive presents and private
schooling. This was the way his father expressed his love for him. The son had
everything he wanted.
When he turned 21 he was getting ready to graduate college. For
many months he had admired a beautiful black sports car in a dealer's showroom
and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he
wanted. He went to see the car everyday for weeks. He took the car for a test drive.
He smelled the leather seats, imagined buying it and taking it home for the
first time. He took pictures of it and put them all out on his wall.
As graduation day approached, his father agreed purchase that
car. He was full of excitement like a little child. He had absolutely no doubt
of getting what he wished for. Finally after days of waiting impatiently, on
the morning of his graduation his father called him into his private study. He
sat him down on a designer brown leather chair and looked deep into his
son's eyes and said: "I am very proud to have such a fine son and for the first time he
said: "I love you". His son not even hearing the words waited
impatiently for his present. After all, he was used to expensive presents but
his father expressing his feelings were unknown for him. Finally, the father
handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box. The son held his breath back while
quickly opening the box. He had his dream car floating before his eyes. As he
opened the box he found a book called "Put Your Dream to the Test".
He was disappointed almost shocked. He threw the book on the floor. Angrily he
raised his voice at his father and said, "With all your money you give me
a book?" and left the house, leaving the book behind. He moved out of the
house immediately and went on his own way.
Many years passed and the young man was very successful in
business just like his father. But business was not all he took after his
father. He was as strict and impatient with his own children as his father was
with him. He had a beautiful home somewhere in the countryside.
One day the man realized his father was very old and thought
perhaps he should go see him. He had not seen him since that graduation day.
They hadn't even spoken a word since then. The father hadn't even met his
grandchildren. Although the son decided to contact his father he kept putting
it off. Many times he walked to the phone, took it up, sat down on the white
leather sofa in his living room, looked at his wife for support and dialed
holding his breath back and shaking all over. But before the phone could ring
he hung up. This went on for weeks until one day he received a telegram telling
him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to him. He
needed to go home immediately and take care of things.
When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret
filled his heart. He went into his father's study where they last spoke and
thought about the last words he heard from his father. He began to search his
father's important papers and in one of his drawers he found the book his
father gifted him, still as new as it was, just as he had left it years ago. He
sat down on the same chair he was sitting those years before and recollected
his memories of the situation that had separated them. With tears rolling down
his face, he read the title: Put your
dreams to the test. Then he opened the book and began to turn the pages.
After the third page he saw a hole in the book with a car key in it. It had a
tag with the dealer's name, the same dealer who had the black sports car he had
desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words…
"WITH LOVE TO MY PRECIOUS SON WHO MADE ME SO PROUD
TODAY."
Many times we prejudge people we meet and things we experience
in life because they are not packaged as we expect them. We make drastic
choices based on misunderstandings or simple ignorance and let the emotions
resulting from these guide us. Why don’t you stop for a
moment and think before you make overall conclusions of a person or a situation
and most importantly learn to forgive yourself and others!
