FOOD FOR THE SOUL AND MIND

I found this small article while going through a locally published women's magazine and it stroke a thought in me. I couldn't stop but thinking about the way our world has turned out to be. With all the technological advancements and innovations together with the shrinking and disappearance of human frontiers, things are not getting any better. This article probably portrays the reasons for this: we only make efforts as long as we benefit ourselves directly. In most instances we invoke other peoples' welfares as if we care about them but it is ourselves first.
The article is thus:
It's so easy to forget about others and not see the bigger picture, when you're just struggling to hold your head above water in daily life. Ultimately, though, we need the support of others to improve our own world. The following story illustrates the connectedness of life;
There once was a farmer who grew award winning corn. Each year, he entered his corn in the state fair, where it won first prize. One year, a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learnt something interesting about how he grew it. He discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors.
"How can you afford to share your best seed with your neighbors when they're entering their corn in competition with your's each year?" The reporter asked.
"Didn't you know?" Asked the farmer. "The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from the field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow food corn."
The farmer's corn could not improve unless his neighbors' corn also improved. So it is with our lives. Those who choose to live in peace must help their neighbors live in peace. Those who choose to live well must help others to live well. And those who choose to be in happiness must help others find happiness, for the welfare of each is tied to the welfare of all.
- Marijcke Dodds