Einstein was a very playful boy. His mother was often worried about this and told him repeatedly what he should do, but it fell on deaf ears. One morning, when he was 16 years old, his father stopped Einstein on his way to the river to go fishing and told him a story that would change Einstein’s life. The story goes like this.
“Yesterday,” Einstein’s father said, “our neighbor Uncle Jack and I were sweeping a big chimney in the factory to the south. The only way to get up that chimney was to step on the steel treads inside. Your Uncle Jack was in front, and I was behind. We grabbed the handrail and finally climbed up one step at a time. When we came down, your Uncle Jack still walked in front. I still followed him. Later, when I got out of the chimney, I noticed a strange thing: your Uncle Jack’s back and face were all blackened by the soot, but I didn’t even have any soot on me.” Einstein’s father continued to smile and said, “I saw your Uncle Jack’s appearance, I thought I must be the same as him, dirty face like a clown, so I went to the nearby creek to wash and wash. And your Uncle Jack, he saw me out of the chimney when clean, so he thought he was as clean as I was, so he hastily washed his hands and went out into the street in a big way. As a result, the people in the street laughed and thought that your Uncle Jack was a madman.”
Einstein listened to this and could not help but laugh with his father. Father finished laughing and solemnly said to him, “In fact, no one else can do your mirror. Only yourself is your mirror. Take others as mirrors. Idiots may illuminate themselves as geniuses.”
Einstein listened to this and was filled with shame.
Einstein left the naughty children from then on. He used himself as a mirror to look at and reflect on himself and finally reflected on the glory of his life.
Blindly comparing yourself with others, thinking that you are smarter than those around you is satisfying, or you are depressed because you feel inferior to others. How foolish this is! Each person has a different life goal and way of living, and they are the most reliable guide in their life.
