One of my dear friends shared this story with me that I’d like to share with you.
It’s about a mother who asked her child “What is the most important body part?”
When the child was younger, they thought sound was important, so they replied that it was their ears.
The mother said, “No, many people are deaf. But you keep on thinking about it and I will ask you again soon."
Several years passed before she asked the child again.
The child told her, “Since my last attempt I contemplated a correct answer.”
The child continued, “Sight is very important to everybody, so it must be our eyes."
The mother looked at the child and said, “You are learning fast but the answer is not correct because there are many people who are blind.”
Stumped again, the child continued the quest for knowledge and over the years asked the mother a couple more times and always the same answer "No. But you
are getting smarter every year my young child."
Then one year, the child’s Grandpa died.
Everybody was hurt.
Everybody was crying.
Even the child’s father cried.
The child remembered that especially because it was only the second time they saw him cry.
The child’s mother looked down at the child when it was their turn to say their final good-bye to Grandpa.
She asked the child "Do you know the most important body part yet my child?"
And the child was shocked she asked now.
The child always thought this was a game.
Their mother saw the confusion on their face and said, “This question is very important.
It shows that you have really lived in your life.
For every body part you gave me in the past I have told you that it was wrong and
gave you an example why.
But today is the day you need to learn this important lesson."
She looked at the child like only a mother can as the child saw her mother’s eyes swell up with tears and say these words…
“My dear child, the most important body part is your shoulder."
“Was it because it held up my head?” The child asked.
The mother replied, “No, because it can hold the head of a friend or loved one when they cry.
Everybody needs a shoulder to cry on sometime in life my child.
I only hope that you have enough love and friends that you will always have a shoulder to cry on when you need it."
Then and there the child knew the most important body part was not selfish.
It was sympathetic to the pain of OTHERS.
People will forget what you said.
People will forget what you did.
But people will never forget how you made them feel.