Gratitude in life
When I was a kid, my older brother loved Coke and Red Bull. Every time he brought home a few bottles of Coke, my dad would peel the labels off right away and throw them out. See, my dad worked in the soft-drink business too, just not making Coke. So his rule was: if you like it, fine, drink it, but don’t advertise for them. It was his way of staying loyal and grateful to his own company. “Have a grateful heart,” he used to say.
Later on, I picked up the same habit. Ever since I moved away for school and work, whenever I buy a drink, by the roadside or anywhere else, if it isn’t made by my dad’s company, the first thing I do is peel off the label and throw it away. (My friends sometimes ask, “Dude, what’s wrong with you?”) Anyone who’s known me for a while has probably noticed.
But that habit turned out to be a good thing: it taught me gratitude. I stopped caring what people said or thought about me; I had enough on my plate. What I really cared about was how to live well and pay back the people who’d helped me. I also try to go all in when someone comes to me needing a hand, sometimes so much that they get suspicious: “Wait, why is this guy so keen? What’s he after?” And then they just walk away, lol.
People will think what they think. Everyone has their own opinion, and you can’t please everybody. There have been misunderstandings, conflicts, plenty of tension, but I just keep my mouth shut, do my job well, and help people as much as I can, as a way of paying back everyone who’s been kind to me along the way.
Que sera, sera: whatever will be, will be. Who knows what the future holds?
But the biggest benefactors in my life will always be my parents.
Inspired by “Ăn cháo quý bát” by Tony Buổi Sáng.