THE BLACK DOT
Manish Sharma
Partner @ Valzhi Alliance Partners | CFO, Finance Director, Board Member
One day a professor entered the classroom and asked his students to prepare for a surprise test. They waited anxiously at their desks for the test to begin. The professor walked around the class and handed the question papers with the text facing downwards.
Once he handed them all out, he asked his students to turn the page and begin. To everyone’s surprise, there were no questions, but just a black dot in the center of the page. The professor thoroughly read through everyone’s bewildered expressions and said- “I want you to write what you see there.”
The perplexed students began to do what they had been asked to do.
At the end of the class, the professor took all the answer papers and started reading each one of them aloud in front of all the students. All of them with no exceptions described the black dot, trying to explain its position in the middle of the sheet, etc. After all had been read, the classroom silent, the professor began to explain:
“I am not going to grade you on this test; I just wanted to give you something to think about. No one wrote about the white part of the paper. Everyone focused on the black dot – and the same happens in our lives. This is exactly what we tend to do with our lives. We have a white paper to hold onto and enjoy,but we are so busy contemplating about the dark spots that’s in there. Life is a special gift and we will always have reasons to celebrate. It is changing and renewing everyday- our friends, jobs, livelihood, love, family, the miracles we see every day.”
And yet we insist on focusing only on the dark spots – the issues that are bothering us, the money that we need to have, the luxuries we don’t have, complications in relationship, problems with a family member, the disappointment with a friend and so on.
You need to realize that the dark spots are very small and only few. And yet we allow these to pollute our minds.
Take your eyes away from the black spots in your life. Enjoy each one of your blessings, each moment that life gives you. Count your blessings, not your problems.
Be happy and live a life positively!