There once lived a rich businessman who had a lazy son. The businessman wanted his son to realize the value of labor(劳动).

One day, he told his son, “Today, I want you to earn something. If you fail, you won’t have your meal tonight.”

The boy didn’t want to find a job, so he asked his mother for help. She gave him a gold coin. In the evening, when the father asked his son what he had earned, the son showed him the gold coin. The father then asked him to throw it into the well(水井). The son did as he was told.

The father guessed that the gold was from the boy’s mother. The next day, he sent his wife to her parents’ home and asked his son to earn something again. Since no one helped him, the son had to go to the market to look for a job. A shopkeeper told him that he would pay him a coin if he carried heavy tools for him. The son accepted. As he returned home and gave the coin to his father, he was asked to throw it into the well. The boy cried, “Dad! My body is aching. I’m tired. How are you asking me to throw my hard-earned coin into a well?”

The businessman smiled. He told his son that one feels pain only when the fruits of labor are wasted. The son realized the value of hard work. He promised not to be lazy any more.

The list for the sixth-grade basketball team was announced online. I was a little worried because I knew how much my 12-year-old son wanted to make the team.

I read the list of 13 names for a few minutes. Finally, I had to tell myself that my son wasn’t among the players who were allowed to continue playing. I felt sad. I wished it would be about victory. Like every parent, I love to say, “You did it!”

Instead, I had to give my son a speech to comfort my son, which was a lot less exciting, but probably more important. It was not really a speech, but a further discussion about spirit, courage and not giving up. Although it was painful for me to see myself so disappointed (失望), I needed to keep my own feelings in check. Sure, I wanted to call the coach to say he made a big mistake, but I would not. Nor would I let my son know that I thought it unfair (不公平的). Instead, I put my own feelings aside and let my son have a safe place to calm down his own moods. And when he was done, I needed to encourage him to continue to improve skills. That day was a loss, but the only way to get another was to put on his trainers and get on the basketball court again.

My son is 15 years old now. And, after being cut from the team for three years in a row (连续地), he got to see his name on the list for the high school team. Last week, my husband and I watched him play in his first game. The smile on his face when he made his first shot in is something I will never forget. After so many failures, it was a win that didn’t come easy for him. And it wouldn’t have happened if he had given up trying.