Story of 55-year-old man was suffering from depression.
His wife met with a psychiatrist and said, “My husband is severely depressed. Please help him.”
The doctor began his consultation, asked a few personal questions, and then requested the wife to wait outside.
The man said, “I am very worried. In fact, I’m overwhelmed with troubles — work pressure, the stress of my children’s education and jobs, home loan, car loan. I don’t enjoy anything anymore. The world thinks I’m crazy, but I don’t even have as much in life as there are bullets in a cartridge. I feel deeply sad and restless.”
With that, he opened the book of his life before the doctor.
After thinking for a moment, the doctor asked, “Which school did you study in for your 10th grade?”
The man told him the name of the school.
The doctor said,
“You must go to that school, find your 10th-grade class register, look up the names of your classmates, and try to find out about their current lives. Write all the information in a diary and come back to me in a month.”
The man went to his school, managed to find the register, and got it copied.
It had 120 names.
In a month of day-and-night effort, he could only gather information about 75 classmates.
Shocking!
Out of them:
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20 had died
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7 were widowed and 13 divorced
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10 were in such poor condition that they couldn’t even talk properly
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5 were so poor that they couldn’t even respond to him
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6 were so rich that he couldn’t believe it
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Some were suffering from cancer, paralysis, diabetes, asthma, or heart disease
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Some were bedridden due to injuries to their hands, legs, or spine
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Some had children who were mentally unstable, delinquent, or unemployed
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One was in prison
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One, after two divorces, was looking for a third marriage
In just one month, the 10th-grade register had narrated a story of suffering.
The doctor asked,
“Now tell me, how is your depression?”
The man realized he didn’t have any deadly illness.
He wasn’t hungry.
His mind was sound.
He had no problems with the courts, police, or lawyers.
His wife and children were healthy and loving.
He himself was in good health.
He understood that the world is full of much greater sorrows, and he was spared from many painful troubles.
Moral: Stop peeking into other people’s plates.
Accept and love the food in your own plate.
Don’t compare yourself with others.