05 February 2011

The Potato Game

A Kindergarten teacher has decided to let her class play a game. The teacher told each child in the class to bring along a plastic bag containing a few potatoes. Each potato will be given a name of a person that the child hates, so the number of potatoes that a child puts in his/her plastic bag will depend on the number of people he/she hates.

So when the day came, every child brought some potatoes with the name of the people he/she hated. Some had 2 potatoes, some 3, while some up to 5 potatoes. The teacher then told the children to carry with them the potatoes in the plastic bag wherever they go (even to the toilet) for one week.

The days passed by and the children complained about the unpleasant smell let out by the rotten potatoes. Besides, those having 5 potatoes also had to carry heavier loads. After one week, the children were relieved because the Potato Game finally ended.

The teacher asked :
"How did you feel while carrying the potatoes with you for one week?"
The children let out their frustrations and started complaining of the trouble they had to go through having to carry the heavy and smelly potatoes wherever they go.

Then the teacher told them the hidden meaning behind the game. The teacher said :
"This is exactly the situation when you carry your hatred for somebody inside your heart. The stench of hatred will contaminate your heart and you will carry it with you wherever you go. If you cannot tolerate the smell of rotten potatoes for just one week, can you imagine what it's like to have the stench of hatred in your heart for your lifetime?"

Moral of the story :Throw away any hatred for anyone from your heart so that you will not carry the burden for a lifetime. Forgiving others is the best attitude to take! Love others even if you dont like them. True love is not loving a perfect person but loving an imperfect person perfectly.

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