One day a professor entered a classroom and asked his students to prepare for a surprise test. They waited anxiously at their desks for the test to begin. 

The professor handed out the test papers with the text facing down as usual. Once he handed them all out, he asked his students to turn the paper and begin. 

To everyone’s surprise, there were no questions — just a black dot in the center of the paper. The professor, seeing the expression on everyone’s faces, told them the following. 

“I want you to write about what you see there.”

The students were confused and began to write their answers.

At the end of the class, the professor took all the answer sheets and started reading each one of them aloud in front of all the students. All of them, without exception, described the black dot, trying to explain its position in the middle of the sheet, etc., etc. After all the answer sheets had been read, the classroom was silent.

The professor began to explain. “I will not grade you on this. I just wanted to give you something to think about. No one wrote about the white part of the paper. Everyone focused on the black dot and the same happens in our lives. We have a white paper to observe and enjoy, but our focus is always on the dark spots. 

“Our life is a gift given to us with love and care and we always have reasons to celebrate — nature renewing itself every day, our friends around us, the job that provides our livelihood, a home, etc. 

“However, we insist on focusing only on the dark spots — the health issues that bother us, the loss of someone close to us, some financial constraints, the complicated relationship with a family member, the disappointment with a friend, etc… 

“The dark spots are very small and few compared to everything we have in our lives. But they are the ones that pollute our minds.

“Take your eyes away from the dark spots in your life. Enjoy each one of your blessings, each moment that life gives you and be grateful for it.”

This gives a few things to think about in our lives. Sometimes it is the simplest of stories that make us ponder the most.  

Out of the thirty-two teeth, if we lose one tooth, our tongue tends to go constantly to the vacant space of the missing tooth, ignoring the remaining thirty-one perfect teeth. Similarly, we may have many things in our lives, which millions of others may not be fortunate enough to have, but our focus will be on a few things that we may lack.    

We should value and be grateful for all the caring people and all the things that we already have in our lives, instead of constantly cribbing and complaining about a few things we may lack. 

Let us learn to be content and enjoy what we already have with utmost gratitude.