Giving The Right Help

At a rotary leading up to a major highway one Friday morning, Xi-Jang battles for space on the crowded road. He hears a loud horn directed at him but irritably ignores it. He pushes forward to get on the less busy highway on his way to work. Five miles into his commute on the interstate, he hears an unusual sound. Slowing down to better discern the cause of the noise, he finds its origin in his vehicle. A flat tire! The horn at the rotary, which tried to draw his attention to his tire, now makes sense to him.

He takes the next exit and finds the nearest gas station. Within ten minutes, the mechanic at the gas station replaced the flat tire with a spare and Xi-Jang was again on his way to work. With the much smaller spare tire, he had to proceed cautiously and could not drive as fast as he normally does. “Why doesn’t my car come with a standard full-sized spare tire,” he asked. He began thinking of re-arranging his upcoming busy weekend in order to accommodate a trip to his local tire store to buy a new standard tire.

Arriving late to work, he relays his experience to his boss and vents his frustration at the unplanned expense of buying a new tire. “The temporary spare tire forces you to always have a spare … it prevents you from being stranded,” his boss responds. “I don’t understand, Xi-Jang replies” Elaborating further, his boss continues-  “if your spare tire had been a standard full-sized tire, would you have the same urgency to replace it so you have a spare the next time your tire goes flat?”

…

In the desire to help oneself or a loved one, care should be taken to provide the right help. The right help is often inconvenient because it forces one to develop dormant abilities in order to overcome a given adversity. The abilities sharpened in overcoming the adversity prepares him against future adversities. He is strengthened with spare energy and will not be stranded in the face of future troubles.