Leaf out of my book #1

When I was in school, my father never gave me any pocket money. I was always broke. My father was going through bad times, and sometimes it was difficult even to run a family, pay for the education and meet all commitments. When I started college in 1993, my father gave me a monthly allowance of Rs.125. I felt on top of the world. But soon as I moved on to post-graduation, I felt my allowance had to graduate too. By 1999 I demanded a raise and he agreed on Rs.400. I felt like a millionaire. I got my first job in 2000 with a salary of Rs.4000. 10 times more than what my father gave me. I was on Cloud 9. Ego kicked in. I immediately bought a bike and a computer on installment, almost emptying my salary every month. So I continued taking money from my dad, shameless that I was! :-) But all this while I had not realized how much my father struggled to make that money, what pain he endured to give me and my sister a good education and life. My salary kept increasing, and I stopped taking money from my father. I started giving money to him every month. But I had still not learned what he went through for me to understand what I was trying to repay. One day he told me that I would become a great man someday but he would not be around to see it. I felt bad, but did not think of it much in the days that followed. But after I lost him in 2008, and started taking up the responsibility of being the man of the house, taking care of ftly, I really understood my father better. Ever since I have been making the effort to know him more everyday, and thinking about the fact that, even if I became the President of the US tomorrow, my father is not going to be there to relax in the White House, to smile while he rested and drank a hot cup of tea. But that's ok. Some things are meant to be exactly the way they are meant to be. He lived his life and I have no knowledge or right to judge it, to tell if he lived it well or not. But my life is in my hands. And all that matters to me now is, what legacy will I pass on by my life as an example. Everyone will find their way through the darkness by the light that shines in their mind, for this dark path is within themselves that they need to illuminate. Why do you want others to wake you up, when it is your eyes that are closed?