Stories don't always have a happy ending, that's life, we don't always get what we want. The story I am going to describe is not real, but it does have moments of reflection.
Tom, a 13 year old boy who had no one but his grandmother, had to live the injustice of life, marginalized by his friends, he was very lonely, Tom had a strange disease, his size was not that of a normal 13 year old boy, it was much smaller, his disease was not so rare, it had to do with growth hormones although it was curable, his grandmother did not have the money to pay for the treatment.
Tom did not worry about his size because despite having a problem in the development of the growth of his body, he was a pretty smart kid and able to solve many problems by himself, one day like many tom, goes out to sell sweet bread, that bread was made by himself, his grandmother had taught him how to prepare the dough and how to bake bread. After selling the bread, he bought something to eat for his grandmother and himself. One day tom heard a man with a loudspeaker saying that there was some kind of raffle, tom decided to ask, sir, excuse me, what is the value of the raffle? the man answered, 25 dollars, it was quite expensive, but the price was enough to pay for his treatment. One day Tom decided to buy a raffle, it really cost him a day's work, his grandmother saw that Tom had not bought any food that day, she said to him, "Son, do you really think you need your size? Tom quickly replied, "No, but I'm sure that's how people will accept me. His grandmother on hearing her grandson's answer replied, I don't think it's right to do anything to make others accept me, but more important is to accept ourselves as we really are.
The days passed, Tom did not stop thinking about what his grandmother had told him, the truth was that he felt like his size, but he did not accept that others did not take him seriously and made fun of him, that same afternoon Tom went for a walk, while he was walking he noticed that a car that was parked had problems to park correctly, so Tom helped him to steer the car properly, After helping someone to park his car, tom leaves, but he hears someone shouting loudly, tom turns around and the person who was getting out of the car, was someone just like him when he was little, tom returns and the person says, nice to meet you, I'm John, I must thank you for helping me, Tom stares at him and without knowing what to say he answers, you are just like me, John looks at him and asks him, what do you mean? Tom replies, you're small, John replies if you mean my size, yes, I'm small but it hasn't stopped me from being who I am. The truth is a no-brainer, Tom is surprised, shocked he asks, nobody makes fun of you because of your size? John laughs, I don't think anyone should make fun of my size, whoever does probably has a brain smaller than a peanut, my size is not something to make fun of, besides, I have always fought for my dreams I have never let anyone see me higher than my shoulders, because it is not people who decide who I am, it is me who gives me a place in life. It all made sense at that moment, Tom knew what he had to do, he had to start believing more in himself, not let himself be carried away by others.
After several weeks Tom's grandmother, sick and every day that passed was much stronger, his grandmother was the only thing he had, he knew he had to work twice as hard to pay for his medicines, one day after going out to sell his bread as he usually did Tom heard that the day of the raffle had arrived, he stayed to hear the winner, Tom checked his pocket looking for that paper, but did not get it, then decided to write down the numbers of the winner and look for his raffle in the house. Tom went running home thinking of nothing but being able to pay for his treatment and cure his growth problem, when he got home, his grandmother had got out of bed, washed his clothes, cooked him food, tidied his room, so Tom asked his grandmother why did you do all this if you don't feel well, His grandmother looked at him and answered, because no matter how sick I am, you are my greatest treasure. Tom was embarrassed and didn't know what to answer, his grandmother had taught him a lesson, without being able to say anything, Tom went into his room and looked for the raffle paper, he didn't know whether to check and see if he really was the winner. After several minutes Tom decided to look. There it was, he couldn't believe it, he had a chance to do his treatment. He had that winning paper, he was probably the luckiest guy in the world at that moment. He had the answer to his problem, Tom thought his life had been hard.
He had never really thought about how hard his grandmother's life had been, having to face the world alone, raising him, being sick and still taking care of her things, he probably had before his eyes the real reason for living, Tom had understood, he knew well who needed the money and it wasn't exactly him, his grandmother was sick and her treatment was quite expensive, Maybe he didn't have an opportunity like that, but neither did he have to help his grandmother, Tom didn't have to think about it so much, the only person who had given everything without caring about anything was there in front of his eyes, Tom left the room and told his grandmother that he had how to pay for his treatment, his grandmother looked at him and didn't say a word, she hugged him so tightly that Tom could feel his grandmother crying with joy. For him everything made sense at that moment he had understood the meaning of life.
Moral of the story: we are not always going to get what we want, even when we can have something when the time comes we may not want it in the same way, everything makes sense, we will always want something, most of the time they are just things that seek to fill gaps, fictitious gaps that don't really exist, they are more in our mind than in reality, no matter how difficult you think your life is, the truth is that life is not difficult, no more than what we put it, we must understand that it will always be hard, we give it the connotation we want, on the other hand, no matter what other people may say about us, the important thing is how we see ourselves. Because in the end the only thing that matters is the level of acceptance we have of ourselves.
Happy day to you.
We don't get what we want, we get what we get by mistake.