I knew I dropped a coin at the store but didn’t bother to find it. It could just be a dirham anyway. Two hours later, the janitor called my attention upstairs to give the coin back. It was fifty fils.
“Excuse me sir, you dropped this…”
I said he could have just kept it. It’s just fifty fils anyway. But he strongly refused to take it because it’s not his. We’re fighting for ‘fifty fils’! That’s cute!
“It’s yours,” he continued.
Thanks to him, not for returning the coin, but for having an honest heart.
The guy sees the worth of the coin I just took for granted. It may have less value to me, but that cent is so worthy for him, for others.
Manners
His sincere gesture reminds me of the “50 fils” in our lives we oftentimes take for granted – our simple manners towards others.
…saying thank you for the little things done to us – to the guy weighing veggies at the supermarket, to that stranger who opens the door for us, to that someone shares his seat in the metro.
Our manners…
…when we clean-up our mess at food courts,
…when we say excuse me,
…when we politely give way to other drivers on the road,
…when we say good things about people,
…when we smile at people.
These are pretty little things we ignore at times. For others, 50 fils is so worthy to keep. Let’s be generous to give these coins out when needed.
If you give a lot of 50 fils, it will eventually build wealth – immeasurable, heavenly wealth.
The Missing Piece
My friend shared another perspective to look at the coin. The fifty fils could represent our weaknesses or struggles. We ignore them because we believe they have no value in our lives. Oftentimes, we feel totally worthless because of our flaws, and our incapacities are dragging us down to the pit. During those times, we focus too much on the things we cannot handle or cannot control instead of looking at the possibilities that those imperfections may bring good perspective in our being.
Our fifty fils may be the missing piece for another person. We might not be aware that there are people looking around to express their life experiences and unknowingly gaining more insights and values on the faults we have experienced and the lessons we’ve learned.
The Empty Tank
Sometimes, we overlook the value of people’s presence around us…. the consistent care, patience, understanding, affection and the love of people around us. We could be too busy spending time on areas we think are more valuable than any of these. We always strive to provide more for the family.
Sometimes, we spend more time doing what we don’t really love in exchange of of recognition or acceptance from people we don’t even care much.
The 50 fils found by the janitor could represent the missing time, values and love we unconsciously seem to take for granted as we move forward. The janitor is a reminder that we can still complete what’s missing in our lives. The missing 50 fils could be the reminder that we can still fill-in the empty tank that we could’ve blindly dispensed over time.
…just my fifty fils.