One Blind Girl - A Lesson for Many Blind Managers

Board rooms are not nice places to be these days. The meltdown of the credit market, stock market, and the markets for goods and services has left many in fear -- employers and employees alike. And, when we are fearful, we have a tendency to stop talking to each other, to withdraw, which ironically only causes others to assume the worst case, that something is being hidden, that the Armageddon scenario is upon us.

So, talk. No one expects, or even appreciates, life shot through rose colored glasses, especially not at this point in time. What they expect and deserve is the truth -- all of it. What's more they need guidance. They need to be mentored, to put things into perspective. No, it is not enjoyable to see one's retirement account decimated by 50%. And, it is difficult to go to work each day and stay focused, not worrying about whether and how long one's job will last.

But, in the biggest picture these are small issues and the caring, compassionate and concerned employer will be straight and will remind employees that Spring will follow Winter as it always does.

You may have seen this story before but it is a beautiful metaphor about what is important and what is not, about the importance of truth and of giving, lessons that are always timely, but perhaps never more than now.

There was a blind girl who hated herself because she was blind. She hated everyone, except her loving boyfriend. He was always there for her. She told her boyfriend, 'If I could only see the world, I will marry you.'

One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her. When the bandages came off, she was able to see everything, including her boyfriend.

He asked her,'Now that you can see the world, will you marry me?' The girl looked at her boyfriend and saw that he was blind. The sight of his closed eyelids shocked her. She hadn't expected that. The thought of looking at them the rest of her life led her to refuse to marry him.

Her boyfriend left in tears and days later wrote a note to her saying: 'Take good care of your eyes, my dear, for before they were yours, they were mine.'

The truest expression of love and the cruelest expression of ungratefulness.

This is how the human brain often works when our status changes. Only a very few remember what life was like before, and who was always by their side in the most painful situations.

Life is a gift.

Today before you say an unkind word - Think of someone who can't speak.

Before you complain about the taste of your food - Think of someone who has nothing to eat.

Before you complain about your husband or wife - Think of someone who's crying out for a companion.

Today before you complain about life - Think of someone who was taken too early.

Before whining about the distance you drive - Think of someone who walks the same distance with their feet.

And when you are tired and complain about your job - Think of the unemployed, the disabled, and those who wish they had your job.

And when depressing thoughts seem to get you down - put a smile on your face and think: You're alive and still around.