One day, the father of a very wealthy family
took his son on a trip to the country
with the express purpose
of showing him how poor people live.
They spent a couple of days and nights
on the farm of what would be considered
a very poor family.
On their return from their trip,
the father asked his son,
"How was the trip?"
"It was great, Dad."
"Did you see how poor people live?"
the father asked.
"Oh yeah, " said the son.
"So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.
The son answered:
"I saw that we have one dog and they had four..
We have a pool that reaches to the middle
of our garden and
they have a creek that has no end.
We have imported lanterns in our garden
and they have the stars at night.
Our patio reaches to the front yard
and they have the whole horizon.
We have a small piece of land to live on
and they have fields that go beyond our sight.
We have servants who serve us,
but they serve others.
We buy our food,
but they grow theirs.
We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them."
The boy's father was speechless.
Then his son added,
"Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are."
Isn't perspective a wonderful thing?
Makes you wonder what would happen
if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have.
Appreciate every single thing you have,
especially your family and friends!
Pass this on to family and friends
and help them
refresh their perspective and appreciation. | 
+1I always felt bad that we had to raise our kids on a shoestring. When my kids grew up I apologized for not being able to provide very well for them. One of my daughters looked at me like I was crazy. Mom, she said, we were the richest kids in the valley. We had chickens and goats and bunnies and ducks and geese as well as dogs and cats. We had fresh vegetables and berries. Dad would work for hours scrounging together old dirt bikes and booney cars and repair them so we could ride all over the trails. We always had something fun to do.reply
