Life has so many kinds of entertainments.
There are sinful entertainments, and there are noble ones. However, we should be realistic and not play too much. Xuân Diệu, a poet, once said: "Bread and butter don't play with artists."
A BACKPACKER
After being pulled out of the mud hole, the scooter was damaged so severely that it would take a few days to repair. Hớn seemed to be an honest guy, so Mr. Sang, the farmer, offered him a place to stay overnight. Otherwise, how could Hớn find a motel on this mountain trail, in the middle of nowhere? This curve was known by only local people who would slow down while passing this path. Most strangers would fall into the mud hole.
They came to Mr. Sang's home, had dinner, and took a shower. When they finally sat down by the fireplace, Mr. Sang asked:
"Where do you come from? And why did you choose this deserted area?"
"Sir, I have a love of adventure, which I inherited from my father. I'm passionate about far-off areas. I love to discover new lands and their pastoral culture. I guess I was born to be a backpacker. This time I was unlucky and fell into the mud hole, but I'm a very skilled driver. Still, without you, I wouldn't know how to manage."
"Where is your father, now?"
"My father is disabled. He's paralyzed and is taken care of by my mother."
"Do you ever think that maybe because he loved backpacking tours, now he's paralyzed?"
Hớn was surprised:
"Why would backpacking lead to old-age sickness? Every old person gets ill."
"How old is your father?"
"He's 69 years old. He got married very late."
"I'm 75 years old, and still healthy."
"It's because you work on the farm."
"No, it isn't. I'm healthy because, for my whole life, I've used my health reasonably, and used it to benefit society."
Hớn stared at the old man. It sounded so weird to him. Mr. Sang continued:
"There's nothing incidental in the world. Everything happens for a reason. Some reasons are easy to see, while the others aren't. You may not notice, but just to satisfy his passion, your father went on too many tours. He didn't think about using his youth to contribute to life. Now that he's old, he can't even walk around his own house. Do you see some kind of law at play here? How long has he been paralyzed?"
"It must be around 10 years. At first, he could still go to the bathroom by himself, but now he can't."
"You will be like that if you don't stop taking tours in time. Today, the hole you fell into is a serious warning from the Universe."
Hớn was totally bewildered.
Mr. Sang added:
"Maybe because of the debt in her past life, your mother has to work very hard to take care of your father. And you, you don't help her take care of your father. You abandon your parents and go on tours whenever you have money. To family, you bear no responsibility. To society, you have no contribution. If your life has no use, how can you expect a happy and peaceful life later?"
Hớn fell into deep thought. After a while, he asked:
"I don't mean to offend you, but please let me ask you a question. If you've done so many good deeds, why are you alone here? Why is your home not fully-furnished? Why is nobody living with you?"
"Haha, this is only a cottage for me to stay while planting trees in a forest. This region has been deforested for so long that floods happen very frequently now. I plant trees as a blessing to my descendants. My whole family lives in town, my children have become successful, and my grandkids are all intelligent. After handing my business over to my children, I come here to enjoy old age by taking care of the forest. Tomorrow they will come and drive me home."
"Sir, please give me some advice. What should I do?"
"Throw away your scooter, take a bus home, take care of your parents, and work to feed your family. Try to work hard to make up for the days you've lost. Taking a backpacking tour seems like real fun, but it's useless and time-wasting. Time is money. Why don't we use that money to buy something more useful? I've seen many foreigners taking backpacking tours like you, and they look exhausted because they're broke, but they just continue to travel for their passion. You should stop..."
"Thank you so much for your advice, I'll stop. But... How about people who take luxury tours?"
"Whoever has blessings can enjoy it. But if they enjoy their blessing too much, it will soon be gone. That's all."
Backpacking tours seem like a noble, fun, harmless hobby, but it can take away our time, energy and money. Touring a little is still acceptable, but too much of that can be a problem. The youth should use their time and energy to cultivate morality, to improve themselves, to serve and contribute to society, instead of travelling on adventures.
Livelihood is not a romantic story, but a practical and fair one. Whoever contributes themselves to life will live comfortably later. Whoever contributes nothing to life won't have a good living.
People can go here and there on business trips, so because of work, they can discover new areas. However, if we just go for fun, not for work, we're wasting our blessing. It's very dangerous.
Life has so many kinds of entertainments. There are sinful entertainments, and there are noble ones. However, we should be realistic and not play too much. Xuân Diệu, a poet, once said: "Bread and butter don't play with artists."
Written by:
Janna
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