Theme: Optimism

A good look

Matthew was traveling by car with his family. He loved going to Grandma's house, but she lived far away, and the trip took too long.

Before getting into the car, Matthew was super excited. But after an hour in the car, Matthew got tired and began to complain. Every ten minutes he asked how much time was left to arrive.

Matthew's mother, then, had an idea and began to tell him a story:

“Once upon a time there was a very wise master who was walking along a dirty road with his disciples. At one point, they began to smell a strong and unpleasant smell. As they walked, the smell increased.

One of the disciples quickened his steps and discovered that there was a dead dog in front of the path. He should have been dead for a long time and that's why he smelled so bad.

The disciple returned to the group and explained what was causing the horrible smell. He asked the master to deviate from the path and take another route, even if it took longer, so they wouldn't have to see the dead animal or breathe that smell that got worse and worse.

The wise master, however, with the same calm as always, continued walking along the same road until they saw the dead animal. While the disciples tried to stay away, with disgust, the master approached and began to observe:

- What a beautiful animal! What a beautiful fur! When alive, he should have smooth, shiny fur.

- What beautiful teeth this animal has. Though he's been dead for days, his teeth are still white and strong. When alive, this animal had perfect teeth...

- What beautiful eyes this dog has... although lifeless, the eyes have a beautiful color... when alive, this animal had beautiful and bright eyes.

The disciples, one by one, approached and, focused on what the master pointed out, they realized that his observations were true.

They kept walking and making only positive comments. So, they moved away and the dead animal, with a bad smell and bad appearance, stayed behind. And they managed to get through that path more easily.”

- The end! - said the mother, ending the story - did you understand Matthew?

- I don’t think so! - replied the boy - are we going to pass some dead and stinky animal up ahead? It was just what we needed it!

- No son! The story means that we choose where to put our attention. Everything has its good and bad sides. If we value more the bad side, things get more difficult. If we focus on what's good, it gets easier. Only that!

And, to make it very clear, the mother also explained:

– Matthew, if you remember that we're going to grandma's house, that it's great that we have this opportunity, that we have a car, to go more easily, that you can sleep, read, listen to music, talk, have a snack that mom has prepared, see the landscape, have fun playing to look at the license plates of other cars and a lot of other things, you'll have a much better trip than if you keep complaining that it's far away. You choose the glance you want to have for the same situation. I think it's best if you strive to take a good look at this trip, don't you?

The boy thought for a moment and saw that his mother was right.

– Okay, Mom! Let's play guessing then? – he proposed.

The mother agreed and they played guessing. Then Mateus read the comic books he had taken with him, laughed, ate, slept a little, and so... the trip came to an end.

When he got out of the car and hugged Grandma, he felt a great joy and saw that, even though it was a long journey, it had been very worthwhile.

Translation:
Larissa Martine - larissa_am@hotmail.com

marcelapradacontato@gmail.com