True Riches – A Matter of The Heart

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, a Swiss-American psychiatrist and a pioneer in near-death studies, has been observing people in near-death for a few decades and asked them what the most memorable moment in their life time was.  Surprisingly, most of these were often ordinary and mundane.

Generally speaking, what do people view as important in their life? From business, jobs, degrees, honour, wealth, and more; interestingly, people recalled the moments in life that were of satisfaction, rather than the aforementioned ‘important’ aspects of their lives in the moment of near-death. Some remembered moments shared with a loved one, whilst others those of being around natural beauty.

From the results of the research, we should assess on what aspects are important in our life. We shouldn’t have to regret in the moment of near –death, that we worked too much for not unimportant issues. Instead, we should aim to be one who can make many such “ordinary moments” into those which bring us true satisfaction and joy.

Reflecting on this, we can find happiness in many trivial and common things which exist in our daily life: feeling peace of mind by taking the Sacrament, riding a bicycle on the sunny day, the moment of waking up from a short nap in the tired afternoon, having a good dinner with parents, and so on. In our life, such ordinary moments are numerous. The problem, however, is that we make the mistake of placing importance on events and factors that are truly less significant. Thus we often spend time on “ordinary moments” only when we have spare time. From these insights, I believe every day of our lives should be lived such that until our last moments, these “ordinary moments” reflect God’s way. One who can appreciate many such moments can truly be a happy person.

Not long ago, I read a book that regarded the happiness of men and women.  According to the book, men are normally inclined to be happy with women who are easily impressed. That is because the women’s capacity of acceptance satisfies the men’s desire for recognition.  On the other hand, women are more inclined to feel happiness with men who can communicate well, the reason being that the men’s active listening satisfies the women’s “desire for communication”.

At first, I thought that such views were acceptable.  Upon further reflection however, I believe that all people, not just men and women, seek such partners or friends. Truly, do we not want those who are easily impressed by my actions and listen well? By displaying no reaction to others’ actions and indifference to one’s concerns, is it not more difficult to integrate and coexist with our neighbours?

Yesterday I was on my way to the city by train and saw an elderly foreigner who was asking for directions.  None of those they asked gave a sufficiently adequate answer, and seemed more engrossed with their mobile phones.  Such an event made me reflect on whether we live in a world where we selfishly ignore the concerns of others.  We live in a world which increasingly makes us become selfish, arrogant and indifferent to our neighbours.  For this, we must ask ourselves: is such behaviour truly what God want us to show and follow?  How important are our relationships with our neighbours?  Upon reflection, I believe that we need to understand and realise these issues: such selfishness must be abandoned as we live in our communities.

Today, we will meet many people around us. As such, we should not ignore, and instead assist and accompany by supporting, listening to and showing warmness to our neighbours.  By practicing these values with our neighbours, we will see the wishes and desires of God manifest in our world.

By Elizabeth (Woon Sook) Koo
Cred. B.Soc ,  Adv.Dip, Grad.Cert.CFT, Cert.IV.TAE