#89: Honey or Ketchup?

It has been centuries since the last time I wrote something on this page. 

While waiting for the rain to stop, why dont I share with you something that I got during the cuti raya. 

One evening while visiting relatives at my kampong, one uncle asked me what was I doing now, whether I was still studying (Oh, did I look that young? Thank youu uncle :p) or have I started working. 

I told him that I have been working for about three years. 

He nodded. 

That is life, he said. Everyone experienced the same cycle.  20 years ago you were born and then you went to study. Now you are working & later you will start to worry about having family & kids. Then you are going to retire and die. 

Life look so simple when he put it like that. But what he said after that made me thinking & remember the whole conversation until today. It was the highlight of the day. 

Everyone experience the same cycle in life, but what makes one different than that of others?

He took two empty ketchup bottles besides him and showed them to me. 

"These are two identical bottles, were made of the same materials and from the same company, with similar physical appearance and of the same capacity; to contain liquid. If I were to sell this two bottles, they are supposed to be of the same value, given the identical features am I right? "

Yep. I agreed. 

Then he continued, "But what if, I fill one of the bottle with honey and the other with normal ketchup, which one do you think will sell for a higher price?"

Of course the one filled with honey I answered. 

He nodded. Exactly. Its the content in the bottle that sets the different between the two identical bottles. 

I was quick to comprehend his analogy. 

Similarly with life, when everyone is busy keeping pace with every day life which will, one day, come to an end, what makes the value of your life and the rest different?

Its what you fill your life with & the content of your life. 

If entertainment & fun is the content of your life, then entertainment is the value. 

But if you fill it with taqwa & seeking the truth, those are what you are going to get and will be the value of your life. 

That conversation kept me wondering whether my life is filled with honey or ketchup. And  how different am I than that person that is living the life just for the sake of living. 

Regards,

brothersayed

23 July 2015