THE WINO
There were five colleagues sitting on a park bench, one of the five had experienced a brain injury. All had experienced disappointment and heartache throughout the course of their lives. There were birds surrounding the five as they relaxed in the park. The TBI colleague asked his friends if they recognized the noise surrounding them. They all answered emphatically Yes, it is chirping! The TBI colleague said No, youre wrong, that my friends, is the beautiful sound of singing. A mother and child walked by, hand in hand, talking to each other non-stop. The TBI colleague asked his friends Do you recognize the noise surrounding you? Again they answered emphatically Yes, that is incessant chattering. The TBI colleague said No, you are wrong again, that is the beautiful sound of communication. As they sat a little while longer on the bench a wino came by asking for money. The TBI colleague refused to give the wino money. The other four colleagues reached into their pockets and gave the man all their spare change. The TBI colleague asked his friends what they saw when they encountered the wino? The friends unanimously agreed that they had seen poverty. The TBI colleague, said No, that was not poverty that they had seen, that was self-pity. The four colleagues were outraged at their TBI friends reaction. The TBI colleague gently gazed into the eyes of his friends, and said This world can be very harsh, it can be full of heart-wrenching disappointments and it can take a tremendous toll. But if everyone gave into self-pity, the world would be full of nothing but winos. There would be no food, there would be no shelter, there would be no medical care, there would be nothing but people drinking wine and wishing their lives had turned out differently. You just enabled that man to spend another worthless day in his life. Then what will happen when the wine runs out? by: Debbie Wilson 4-13-96
|