Be What’s Missing

Where was that cashier? Angry, I glanced at my watch. I barely had enough time to eat my hamburgers and then dash back to the hospital where I worked.

I looked around the nearly empty fast-food restaurant but the cashier was nowhere in sight. A woman whom I guessed to be about my age stood wiping the far end of the counter with a towel. When she thought I wasn’t looking, she looked at me with sad, dark eyes.

I waited, drumming my fingers on the counter. The woman pushed the gray hair from her lined forehead and continued wiping the counter.

I glanced again at my watch. I planned to write a letter about the lack of service in this place. But just as I mentally made up my letter, I had a memory of Rosie, a former coworker of mine. I could hear her sweet voice recommend me, “Be what’s missing.”

“What do you mean, ‘Be what’s missing’?” I had asked the first time I heard her use that phrase. “Whenever you find yourself in an unpleasant situation,” she explained, “just think about what is missing.” Rosie smiled at my blank stare. “It’s really simple when you think about it. If someone is mean, then kindness is missing. If someone is inconsiderate, then thoughtfulness is missing. If someone is hateful, then love is missing. If we will be what’s missing, then we’ll provide whatever the situation needs.”

And here I was in an unpleasant situation. How was I supposed to “be what’s missing”? What was missing was service. But then the woman who had wiped the counter walked slowly toward the cash register. With deliberately paced words, she asked, “May I help you?”

I was not satisfied with her service, and I was so angry that I almost lost my temper. But again I heard Rosie’s voice, “Be what’s missing.”

I took a deep breath. It was clear that I was in a hurry to be waited on — by someone who was, no doubt, overworked, underappreciated, and underpaid. With Rosie’s words ringing in my head, I gave the woman my order… and smiled. “How are you today?”

Life is full of surprises and twists. We do not know what will happen in the next second. But still, we continue to live our lives. One of the tools that help us is faith. Faith is like an inner voice that keeps reminding us about the positive outlook on life. And it helps us to keep going in spite of the situation in our life.

It was a hot day, and the sand was glittering(闪烁) like gold in a desert. Andrew, touring the place, lost his way in the desert. He could not find his way back, and the water in his bottle had run out. He needed to find water urgently. Otherwise, he would die due to dehydration(脱水). As he struggled to walk in the desert, he saw a small hut(小屋)in the distance.

At first, he thought it was just an illusion(幻觉). But he continued walking towards it, and as he got closer, he realized it was a real hut. He opened the door and found nobody there. It seemed like no one had been there for a very long time. He was surprised to see a hand water pump(抽水机), and it had all connections intact(完整的) and a pipe going into the ground. Then he started pumping, but there was no sign of water. And he continued his effort and gave up due to exhaustion.

He started searching the hut for any other source of water. Then he found a bottle of water hidden in the corner. He was happy, and when he was about to drink the water, he found a piece of paper attached to the bottle. This was written on the paper, “Please use this water to start the pump. It works. After you have done that, do not forget to fill up the bottle again. ”

After reading the message on the paper，the man was confused.

There was a moment of relief on his face.

In the busy city of New York, such an amazing thing ever happened. On a cold Friday night, a poor artist stood at the gate of the subway station, playing his violin. The young violinist was a student at an Arts College named Joseph, who did so every day in order to earn his tuition fees. He planned to attend advanced studies in Vienna and had booked the flight the next morning. Though the music was great, people were quickly going home for the weekend. Joseph was playing his last chapter when a middle-aged man looking pretty excited slowed down his pace and put 50 dollars into the hat, for which Joseph was grateful.

The next night, the young artist came to the gate of the subway station as usual, and put his hat on the ground gracefully. Different from the day before, he took out a large piece of paper and laid it on the ground and put some stones on it. Then he began playing the violin.

Before long, the young violinist was surrounded with many passers-by, who were all attracted by the words on that paper. It said, “Last night, a gentleman named George Sang put an unexpected thing into my hat by mistake. Please come to claim it as soon as possible.”

It caused a great excitement and curiosity. They were dying to know what the unexpected thing could be. After about half an hour, a middle-aged man ran there in a hurry and rushed through the crowd to the violinist and grabbed his shoulders and said, “Yes, it’s you. You did come here. I knew that you’re an honest man and would certainly come here.”

The young violinist asked calmly, “Are you Mr George Sang?” The man nodded. The violinist asked, “Did you lose something?” “Lottery. It’s lottery.” replied the man.

The violinist took out a lottery ticket on which George Sang’s name was seen. “Is it?” he asked. George nodded and seized the lottery ticket and kissed it. Asked by many passers-by, he told his story in details.

He bought a lottery ticket the other day.

Out of curiosity, some passers-by asked Joseph why he didn’t keep it for himself.