LET CHILDREN EXPERIENCE THE PAIN OF HARD WORK, IT WILL STRENGTHEN THEM

A teacher and an insurance agent lived as neighbours. Both of them at the same time planted different plants in their garden. The teacher gave it adequate amounts of water and gave it just the amount of attention it required; while his neighbor gave it a lot of water and looked after it too well.

The teacher’s plant was simple, while the insurance agent’s was fuller and greener. As time passed, to the delight of both the teacher and agent, the plants grew to become trees.

Once, after a stormy night, when both the trees were inspected, it was seen that the insurance agent’s tree was totally destroyed, while the teacher’s tree was standing firm. The agent, much surprised, asked the teacher, “We both grew the same plants; I actually paid more attention to mine; I looked after it more than you did, but my tree fell exposing its roots. Yours is still standing tall. How is that possible?”

The teacher said: “You gave your tree more attention; so they didn’t work for themselves. But, I gave my tree just an adequate amount of water and let its roots search for more. Since the roots went deeper in search of water, they made their position stronger and my tree survived.”

This is true for our children too. If you give everything that a child needs on a platter, he will not work for himself, and will not even respect the labour that goes behind an achievement. Teach him how to walk, but let him follow his path.

(Inner Voice comprises contributions from our readers. The views expressed are personal)