A blind boy was sitting on the steps of a building with a sign by his feet, which said: "I am blind, please help!" There were only a few coins in the old hat. A man walking by took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words on it. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.
Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man came to see how things were. The boy recognized (认出）his footsteps and said, "Thank you, sir! How did you make it?" The man said, "I just said what you said but in a different way." What he had written was: "Today is a beautiful day but I cannot seeit! "
Do you think the first sign and the second sign were saying the same thing?
Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply told people to help by putting some money in the hat. The second sign told people that they were able to enjoy the day, but the boy could not enjoy it because he was blind. The first sign simply said the boy was blind while the second sign reminded people they were lucky that they were not blind.
There are at least two lessons we can learn from this simple story. The first is: "Be thankful for what you have. Someone else has less. Help where you can!" The second is: "Be creative. Think differently. There is always a better way! "
