I have read the words of great thinkers and studied the acts of heroes, but none of them taught me acceptance, the most important thing in life. From my father, I learned how to accept life as it is. However, he did not teach me acceptance when he was strong and healthy, but rather when he was weak and ill.
In fact, my father was once a strong man who loved being active, but a terrible illness took all that away from him. Now he can no longer walk, and he must sit quietly in a chair all day. Even talking is difficult.
One night, I went to visit that quiet man with my sisters. We started talking about life, and I told them one of my beliefs. I said that we must constantly give things up as we grow-our youth, our beauty, our friends-but it always seems that after we give something up, we gain something new in its place. Then suddenly my father spoke up. He said, “But, Curtis, I gave up everything! What did I gain?” I thought and thought, but I could not think of anything to say. Surprisingly, he answered his own question: “I gained the love of my family.” I looked at my sisters and saw tears is their eyes, along with hope and thankfulness. As for me, though, I disagreed. I thought to myself, “You are wrong, Father. You always had our love. What you really gained was the power to say those words; even in your pain, you think of others first.”
I was touched by his thoughtfulness, his words of acceptance. After that, when I began to feel irritated at someone, I would remember his words to become calm. If he could replace a great pain with a feeling of love for others, then I should be able to give up my small irritations. In this way, I learned the power of acceptance from my father.
Sometimes I wonder what other things I could have learned from him had I listened more carefully when I was a boy. For now, though, I am grateful for this one gift.