A young man was asked to paint a yacht of a wealthy man. The young man bought brushes and red paint and began painting the boat as instructed by its owner. As he was painting, he spotted an insignificant hole in the hull of the boat and quickly repaired the hole. After completing the painting the young man got the cash for his painting and went home.
The owner of the boat arrived at the painting studio the following day with an impressive check, which was far higher than the painting cost. “You’ve already paid me to paint the boat, Monsieur!” said the surprised painter. “But this isn’t to pay for painting the boat, it’s to repair the hull of the vessel.”
“But it was such a minor assistance… I don’t think it’s worth this much for something that tiny?” said the young man.
“My dear son You don’t know the significance of your actions. Let me tell you about what took place.
I did not refer to the hole in my request to for you to color the vessel. When you were finished with painting, the children went on the boat to fish once the paint had dried. They didn’t know there was being an opening. I wasn’t present at the moment. When I returned , and found that my children had gotten their boat away, I felt very upset as I remembered the boat was missing. I tried to call them several times , but I couldn’t get them to respond. Imagine my joy that I observed them returning from their fishing excursion. Following that, I closely assessed the boat and realized that you had made repairs to the hole. Now, do you see the work you performed? You protected my children’s life! I don’t have the money to pay back your kind action.”
Also, regardless of the time, place, or in what way. Be positive and assist, support the tears as you listen, and then carefully fix any leaks that you spot. Since sometimes, even the most insignificant act of kindness and consideration could be more important to others.
You could have fixed a number of “boat holes” in your travels not realizing the number of lives you could have touched. Similar to that, you might have repaired the holes on your vessel, but not realize that it was. Therefore, be thankful and continue to be kind and attentive.
