Take What You Get, Not What You Don't Have...

    “There is no such thing as right and wrong, there’s just popular opinion.”  As a young child I was taught lessons that shaped the person I am today.  Don’t touch that, wash your hands, say please and thank you, clean your room, etc., are all lessons that pierce my ears in pain.  Was it all a joke or was it for the good of me as a person?  Yes, I could have neglected to partake in any of those examples, but I believe that without the guidance or my parents, I would not be the respectful man I am today.  Of course, as a child you want and want and will do whatever you can to get your way.  It’s a part of growing up, learning the word ‘no’ was quite hard to intake.  Part of life is being pure pressured or facing temptations.  You know you might be in the wrong for partaking in something you know is not right, but it is so hard to be the best without finding shortcuts to come out on top.  Yes, we all have lied, cheated, cussed, possibly stole, and yet before we think of what could happen we look past that and think to ourselves, this could make me that much better than the next person in line.  It’s hard to say no, and unless we get caught it’s even harder to stop what we know is wrong.  Like the saying goes, ‘the grass is always greener on the other side.’  It’s up to ourselves to make the right choice and be able to wake up the next morning with a good conscience.

    In the Novel East, West, written by Salman Rushdie, we were given the opportunity to read one of his short stories called, ‘A Prophets Hair.  This novel is exactly what I started to talk about in the previous paragraph, that of greed.  In this short story a man by the name of Hashim is a wealthy man whom makes much of his money off the mistakes of others.  Why Is the short story called, A Prophets Hair?  Well one day Hashim came across a jar that had the strand of Prophet Mohammads hair, he knew it was stolen from the stories he had heard.  Yet, Hashim didn’t think twice about returning it rather he thought once and his decision was to keep it.  We call this greed.  He knew the consequences would be very bad if he were to get caught but believing that he was the rightful owner because he found it made him even more blood thirsty for the value of the hair.  Little did he know the hair would put a curse on him that he couldn’t rid of.  Sadly, the greed of this strand of hair caused him to withstand family problems with his wife, son, and worst of all choosing to disown his daughter.  Greed is like a drug, once you have it you know nothing else better, you want, want, want. 

    What can one do to make a situation as so, better?  Leave it up to Hashims daughter, Huma.  Huma decides to take matters into her own hands and believes the only way to save her father is to hire ‘the thief of thieves,’ to steal the hair from Hashim.  All turns out bad during the burglary; first of all Atta goes into a coma and worst of all Hashim is awoken by loud noises and runs out in the halls with his sword, not able to see, he swings and kills his daughter Huma in the action.  In turn Hashim feels grief and misery and takes the sword and kills himself as well.

    Saldy, “We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.”  Unfortunately, Hashim didn’t believe he had all he needed just with his family and the greed came back and bit him in the butt.