so where's your focus?

By my standards, I haven't posted anything thought-provoking for a really, really long time. Seriously. So here's something I received as an email forward. Good story. Really short story, too. It's all about perspective, yo.

Once upon a time [okay, so I added that part myself, but pay attention], there was a very wealthy family. One day, the father took his son on a trip, with the firm purpose of showing him how the poor lived. They spent the next several days and nights on a farm, living with a family far out in the countryside.

Upon their return, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"
"It was great, Dad."
"Did you see how poor people can be?" the father asked.
"Oh, yes," said the son.
"So what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.

The son answered, "I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.

"We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us; they have friends to protect them."

The boy's father was speechless. Then his son added, "Thanks, dad, for showing me how poor we are."

And since we're on the subject of thought-provoking posts, go visit brother Jabir. Masha'Allah, he always has beautiful, calming posts. Short, to-the-point, and soothing. If there's one blog that's very instrumental in fixing my perspective, his would be it, alhamdulillah. Go visit for a while.