Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! This year we had a really big turkey (18 lbs) from HEB. While enjoying the roast Turkey, I’m grateful to all of those who made it possible – the poultry farmers, the transport workers, the grocery staffs… It’s the power of co-operation.
When thinking about what I’m thankful for, the list can be long. Besides my family, friends, those who helped me grow, who inspired me, who encouraged me, who made me laugh… one thing always pops into my head – it was an experience started with extremely dangerous situation, but ended with a miracle.
Our story occurred on the Christmas day (December 25) 2000. At dusk, we encountered the ice rain (freezing rain) when entering Little Rock, Arkansas. Our car lost control, sliding and spinning 360 degree on the highway. Fortunately, there was no vehicles around us at the moment. After we moved a little further, we saw ambulances and several cars lying in the ditch. So we decided to leave the highway and take the service road. Pretty soon, the road was all covered with ice. Cold, dark and slick. Our car could fall into to the ditch any time. To make things worse, the road became more and more steeper – there was a slope ahead of us! Since our car was heavily loaded, it refused to go any further after slowly moving a little while. (very unfortunately, I was sick that day and wasn’t able to do anything). Seeing some people were pushing their cars, my husband got out of the car and joined the (self organized) help team. Soon, they came to help us and pushed our car to the top of the slope. Finally, at that night, we were able to reach to the closest hotel (Holiday Inn), safe and sound. This is the time I witnessed how people co-operate and help each other to get out of the difficult situation. Without that, it’s hard to imagine what we would end up with at that night. It was a miracle. I’m so grateful.
Speaking of co-operation, long time ago, I heard this story. A priest asked God what is the difference between heaven and hell. God let him see two rooms. in one room, a group of people gathered around a hot pot of broth but starving and unhappy. Why? Each one held a long-handed spoon. The spoon’s handle was so long that they couldn’t feed themselves. In the second room, another group of people held the same long-handed spoon, gathering around the a hot pot of broth but laughing and singing. They were happy and well fed. God told the priest that the first is hell, while the second one is heaven. In hell, everybody is greedy, all they care about is themselves. In heaven, everybody co-operates with each other. They use the long-handed spoon to feed each other. The moral of the story is that we can choose to make our world either miserable or full of happyness.
“United we stand”. Co-operation and teamwork are essential to the success in the modern society. While we appreciate all the new technologies we’re possessing, we know that, in essence, they are the fruit of co-operation and teamwork.
