Today, I want to talk about my father and how he guided, mentored, and inspired me from his life wisdom.
At age 16, I started secondary school. I was successful in academic grades and had a group of close friends. I felt my future was so bright until one night, during the summer holiday, it changed my life. I helped my mum to sell the food at the military campus at night and was about to go home. During that time, we had a curfew in Kinmen County, so the island had to shut down the lights. It was pitching dark riding the scooter on the road. Halfway home, the battery of the scooter’s front light was fad out; we could barely see the road.
The next moment, when I woke up that night, I was inside the ambulance, next to my mum. I felt enormous pain in my face and my knee. The next time I woke up was three nights later, I was lying on the military hospital bed. I asked my uncle where my parents were, and he said the night of the accident, your mum got a severe injury to her skull, so your dad had to accompany her flu to Taiwan mainland hospital immediately. My uncle then told me what happened that night. My mum’s scooter hit the 20-foot container truck, and we flew out. And that incident nearly caused the death of my mum and me.
Because of the serious injury to my face and my knee, I had to drop out of secondary school for one year to start the recovery process. After six months, my dad decided to pay the money for my plastic surgery and recovery for my jaw and my teeth. He took some time off work, and we went to Taipei to proceed with the surgery. The surgery was successful, but for three weeks, I could only drink liquid for my bone to regrow and rebuild. I was 41 kgs and always felt hungry and tired because I lacked nutrition.
One night, I begged my dad to buy a soft noodle soup from the street market because I had enough to drink water, milk, and protein shakes. I just wanted to try some food with the flavour. My father came back with delicious noodles in the bag. When I tried to eat, the noodles stuck in the plastic plate in my mouth. I kept trying, but I couldn’t swallow. I was nearly choked.
Suddenly, this frustration brought back all my anger, my sadness and my pain about this scooter accident and how it had impacted my life mentally and physically. I threw the bag of noodles on the floor and shouted, “Why has this happened to me? Why have I had to go through this pain again and again? I hate my life!” My dad calmly looked at me and waited until I released all these emotions. He looked at me and said, “Strawberry, have you ever heard me complain during this time?” I said no.” Have you ever seen me express my anger and tiredness when I had to fly in and out between Kinmen and Taiwan to look after you and your mum, plus three more children at home, a full-time job and a mortgage to pay?” I started to have tears in my eyes. “No, Dad, you never show that side to me; why?” He replied, “No one wants to see this happen to you and your mum, especially me. But I am just grateful you and your mum are still alive. We cannot change what happened to our life but can change what happened to us.” he spoke.
“And you should be grateful you are still alive. You should be grateful when the accident happened, our family members and neighbours went to the hospital and tried to help. Your grandma, uncle and aunt took turns looking after you when I could not be there for you. You should be grateful for their love and support.” he said. “But how can I still be grateful when all of these pain and challenges for body and mind?” I couldn’t understand. My father continued to guide me, saying, “Real gratitude is to seek fortune in unfortunate situations and remain positive so we have the power to keep moving forward.”
That wisdom of life woke me up and touched my heart. My father taught me to begin searching for positive things from the experience and started showing gratitude toward others. I listened to my father’s suggestion and thanked the doctors and nurses who cared for me. I thanked the stranger who gave me the seat on the bus when I had my crutches. I appreciated my 70-year-old grandma, who cooked for me daily during my recovery. And I thanked myself as a courageous girl for transforming this experience into a positive learning lesson.
Gradually, I noticed that I was not angry anymore; I began to feel joy, love, and peace in my heart. All the resentments melted away into a warm-hearted feeling when I expressed my gratitude. This wisdom from my father and practising gratitude have helped me move forward through my life. It strengthens my resilience and courage. I always show my appreciation to others when I can. So today, I would like to pass this wisdom from my father to you and hope he can inspire you in your heart. So tomorrow, when you wake up, touch your heart, take a deep breath, and say out loud, “Yes, I’m still alive. Yes, I’m grateful. Yes, today is another beautiful day!”
