Comparing and Contrasting Personal Experiences

(Your Name) (Your professor) English (code) 24 June 2013 Comparing and Contrasting Personal Experiences “For every misfortune or bad happening that befalls you, always try to see the good side to it.” The more I mature and become, the more I realize the wisdom in these little words usually uttered in a light touch by my late grandmother. She moved in to stay with us just a few months after my father was diagnosed with a terminal disease and had to be bed ridden for the rest of his life. Grandmother nursed him and always prayed for him by his bed side and with time, I acquired the value of empathizing with the suffering and being humble for I realized there is a force far greater than us mere human beings. But early childhood life for my friend Peter was not as gloomy as mine. He had the privilege of seeing both his parents healthy and working throughout his early years. Unlike me, he never lacked anything and to some extent, he came across as a pampered child. While our house was full of tears and gloomy, theirs was like a house of merriment. Although our growing up experiences were quite different, I consider mine to have been far more beneficial than Peter’s because they taught me skills and values no any teacher would, and these have been opening numerous doors of opportunities for me. The sight of human suffering knowing that there is little we can probably do to alleviate their suffering makes one to become more spiritual and try to get more meaning out of life. While I daily lived in my father’s house that had now become like an sick house seeing him wince in pain with my grandmother kneeling in prayer, I developed certain compassion towards the poor and the suffering, and to be contemplative towards life and also have a desire to know the true meaning of life. I am glad this has never changed and as days go by, I have become a wonderfully mature person respected everywhere due to my reflective approach to issues. In contrast, Peter, who spent larger part of his childhood in high society parties and patronizing social places with the children of privilege, does not have that insight in life. The vain pleasures of the world and one way constipated view of life has made him one of the most immoral and ungodly persons I know. He does not believe ...