Every day, people suffer from miseries. Not because of having a time that nations declared wars against one another, but because people build up walls inside their hearts under material life and skyscrapers in Hong Kong. Apart from the desire for fame and wealth, what we simply need is “love.”
I once had a feeling that the generation gap was tearing my parents and I apart. The distance between us has been lengthened even if the transportation and accessibility have been improved so much. Conversations are decreased day by day even there is a huge amount of gossips in the offices. As a result of lack of communication, we argue on minor problems and built misunderstanding.
“Why don’t they care a little bit more about me instead of my school results?” I wondered and my confusion grew. I went to my grandpa’s house and aired my grievance. “So you think they don’t understand you, right?” asked grandpa, watering hyacinths in his garden. “That’s right. They know nothing about me except for my school results.” I replied coldly. “I see. But be honest, how much do you know about your parents?” asked grandpa, adding fertilizer to the plants. Feeling ashamed, I remained silent.
“There is no generation gap between you and them, darling. We are very good examples.” said grandpa with a loving smile. I nodded. He then showed me a pot of hyacinth which blossomed gloriously. “We need to give flowers plenty of sunlight, water and fertilizer so that they can grow and blossom. However, the growth of flowers means nothing to us unless you can appreciate and let the beauty of the blossoms stay inside your heart. Life is just the same. It doesn’t matter how much people give you. What really matters is that you know how to give out love, and to let it come in.”
I left my dear grandpa’s house with my hands holding a pot of hyacinth. I would never forget this brilliant gift from him. And the great lesson in my life. The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in. I walled back home in a light-hearted mood, having the faith that I would be able to get along well with my parents.
Six years ago, I did a really regretful thing. However, it makes me understand I should treasure life, no matter it is the life of an insect.
It was a rainy day. While I was eating my palatable lunch, my classmate Kay put something wrapped by tissue on my desk. It was moving. At first, I wondered it was a bee. After she opened that thing, I saw it was just an insect, snail. She picked it from soil. Although the snail was ugly, the body was full of mucus and it was smelly, it was very fresh for me as I had never seen the snail so closely before. I requested Kay to let me keep it, she let me but she wanted me to keep it well. I promised her without thinking.
When I arrived home, I picked it from my lunch box carefully and looked at it for a long time as I loved watching it moving and eating. On the first few days, I fed it on time. But later, I started to feel the snail was boring and didn’t want to look after it anymore. So I just wrapped it by a towel and put it in the mahjong box. After few months on the same date that I put the snail in the box, I watched an animal documentary. A baby tiger was running and playing with his friends happily, but suddenly he was eaten and attacked by the lion. I felt very angry as the baby tiger’s life should not be controlled by the lion. Suddenly, I thought of something. The snail! Was it still alive? I opened the box and the towel quickly, but it still stopped moving no matter I rolled it or pushed it. I felt very hurt, why didn’t I look after it? I repented. My tear was falling down onto the snail. It suddenly moved, it was still alive!
After this incident, I realized that I should treasure life. I understand we should respect other people’s or animal’s lives as their lives do not belong to us. We should respect them, we shouldn’t hit them even they are bad. Besides, it makes me understand why the advertisement always says that ‘stop and think before you keep a pet!’ as the keepers have to spend some time to look after and take care of their pet well. Also, they have to be patient when they take care of the pet too. Last, no matter the pet is naughty or sick, they have to love it and respect their life – don’t kill it, don’t hurt it or neglect it.
Two years ago, I participated in a competition aimed at choosing top students in Hong Kong. As what my classmates told me that our school was not a famous college in which clever and talented students could win the competition. Actually, I didn’t believe what he said although I am not a brilliant student. Just as a famous English saying goes, ‘where there is a will, there is a way.’ I tried my best, showed my confidence and exerted my effort to perform well in the competition.
The result was surprising. I was chosen as the most excellent student in North District. After that, I realized success only belongs to those who can grasp every opportunity. Some people claim that opportunities are rare and only the luckiest people can get them. As far as I can say, opportunities are abundant for everybody in Hong Kong.
In fact, preparation is very important. In spite of the fact that I could not guaranteed I could win in the competition. I felt that it was a good chance and I practiced with my teacher. Finally, as a result, I fully prepared before the competition and won the first prize.
As a proverb says “opportunities are only for the prepared minds.” When an opportunity comes, you can grasp it or not. However, it totally depends on you. This is the lesson that I really learned in my life.