This I Believe - Final Draft
The
Gift of Life
Kenneth
S. Sisk
My mother and I walked down the corridor of the local
Salvation Army and got in line, where the more charitable were serving lunch to
the homeless. We filled our plates and looked for two seats beside each other
in the dining hall. The thought of taking handouts disgusted me, but I needed
the sustenance—besides, the occurrence was becoming commonplace, the feeling
customary. My mother urged me to go back for seconds. As I approached the line,
I saw a grizzly man with a tattered shirt and jeans with paint permanently
stuck to them. The man walked up to me and said, “You got a Union Bay shirt?
Alright!” I was confounded. I had just received the red polo shirt earlier and
thought nothing of it; it was another donation from the Salvation Army, and I
associated Union Bay with bargain stores, such as Walmart. What perplexed me
more than the man’s appreciation of the shirt was the fact that the man seemed
genuinely happy and excited for me, because somebody
managed to get what he considered to be a great thing. Despite having
absolutely nothing, the man felt joy over the good fortune of someone else—he
was happy to be alive to witness it. This event helped ignite a new moral flame
of humanity within me, which burns to this day. With seven words, that grizzly
old man taught me to truly appreciate life in its entirety; he showed me that
in the most meager circumstances, there are things to still be thankful for.
And so I carry this moral with me, and I believe I have become a better person
because of it.
After that day, I took pride in my Union Bay shirt. I
walked around with it on as if nothing was wrong, because misery is merely a
state of mind. I eventually grew out of the shirt, but as I matured, I realized
that other things could be regarded as the shirt had been regarded. Ultimately,
I came to the conclusion that life itself is a gift, and conscious perception proves
to be an even greater gift to go along with it. Life is great, but a tree has
life. As a human being with five senses, I have been given the ability to
experience my existence and influence it. I have been given active
participation in the goings on in the universe, and I feel that I am obligated
to get the most out of it. As far as is known, we only get one life in this
dimension, so I strive to make life positive, not only for myself, but for
others. Just as I have learned to appreciate the things around me, I have
learned to be thankful for my intrinsic attributes. In doing that, I have been
able to acknowledge my talents and use them to earn acceptance into college—into
a better life. As a result of learning to appreciate things, I have created
more things to be grateful for. I also committed to complimenting people and
helping them see the greatness in themselves. After all, we’re all wearing
Union Bay shirts, and I want everyone to see that.
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