A man was asked to paint a boat. He brought his paint and brushes and started painting the boat in an intense blue as the owner asked him.
While painting it he noticed that the boat had a hole and repaired it calmly. When he finished, he received his money and went away.
The next day the owner of the boat went to the one who had painted his boat and gave him a check, with much more money than the payment for the work he had done.
The man was surprised and said: `You have already paid me for painting the boat, sir.`
`But this is not for paint. This is for repairing the hole from the boat.`
`Yes, but it was such a small thing…surely it`s not worth paying me such a big sum of money for something so insignificant.
`My dear friend, you don`t understand. Let me tell you what happened: when I asked you to paint the boat, I forgot to mention the hole. When the boat dried up my children took it and went fishing. They didn`t know there was a hole in it. In this time I was not at home. When I returned I noticed they took the boat and I was desperate because I remembered the boat had a hole and worried for them. Imagine my ease and joy when I saw them coming back from fishing. I examined the boat and saw that you repaired the hole. Do you see now what you have done? You saved the life of my children. I don`t have enough money to pay for your small good deed.`
Always put a drop of love and care in all the things you do, maybe that plus of mercy can save someone`s life…
No matter whom, when and how go on sustaining and supporting and wiping tears and listening and fixing carefully all the holes you find in the boat of the soul. Start with the boat from within yourself. Usually there is the biggest failure. Repairing yourself you repair what is outside you. Nobody knows when somebody needs us. In time it is possible to have repaired many boat holes for different persons without being aware how many lives you saved.
