Lovely lesson in gratitude

I VISITED my regular barber recently. He was on a video call when I got into the chair and it felt awkward being on the screen (although in a mask) for a few seconds as he told the other person he had a customer to attend to and had to go.

In the next three minutes or so he received two more video calls and on both occasions I understood the word “customer” while he spoke in his mother tongue to the other person to cut short the call. I appreciated that he was hanging up but I was wondering if it would have been easier to just go on silent mode or not answer.Later on during our conversation, I found out the reason for those calls when he told me, “Boss hari ni saya punya engagement (Boss, today is my engagement day)”. I went “Apa?!”

So he explained that he and his family went through the matchmaking process and the girl was getting engaged to him via video call.

While he was giving me a hair cut, the reception had just started – ie, the guests had just arrived in his hometown in another country and started eating! Soon after the ceremony would start and then he would be dialled in for one of the biggest ceremonies of his life.

Wow! So many things we go through each day comparing ourselves (knowingly/unknowingly) with others and here was someone who, on one of the biggest days of his life, was busy doing his job with his (one) colleague and seeing to his customers while his soon-to-be fiancé and his entire family were together, celebrating.

It certainly gave me a wake up call about gratitude and being thankful for the many blessings I have in life. As imperfect as things may be, I am so much more blessed than him simply for being so much closer and accessible to my family and loved ones. And he cut my hair while in the best of moods and was even cheeky enough to point out “Boss banyak rambut putih, sudah tua lah (Boss, you have a lot of white hair, you are getting old)”.

Lessons learnt from him: Find the joy in everything regardless of the limitations we have/experience. Give your best and strive to maintain the best energy with whatever little you may have even if it may not be your ideal situation. Make the best of every moment, celebrate it (you really don’t know how much more fortunate you are than some people).

I am absolutely grateful for the many human beings I am surrounded by who give selflessly, and even more blessed to learn just how much more some give back (even if it is just their energy and honesty) despite having so little.

If everyone of us wakes up and goes to sleep every day spending a moment to be grateful for what we have, it certainly will not only make a huge difference to our days but also to those around us whom we interact with.

Blessed day, Malaysia!

MITHRAN BALAKRISHNAN , Subang Jaya, Selangor