The Toy Car

It was a merry afternoon at the hall. Oh, one could see that a toy-car race was being held, and the final round is a few minutes away. There were only four participants left and each of them proudly exhibit their own made toy-car. And so it was in fact that the rule of the game, the toy-car had to be one's own handmade.

Among the players, were one child whose toy-car wasn't in any way looking marvelous nor special in its look, though surprisingly he was one of the four boys who made it so far to the final round. Compared to his other players, his toy-car was the least magnificent and imperfect. Some of the audience doubted the toy-car capability to race against the other three.

Yes, it was true, the toy car looks pretty dull. With simple wood materials and few blinking lamps on its top, the toy car doesn't appear so interesting as compared to the other lavishly decorated toy-cars. Even so, the owner was less proud with his toy car, since it was original of his own creation.

Every kid got his car ready on the start line, and at the slightest signal from the jury, they pushed the toy-car as fast as they can. They pushed and pushed, ran and ran along with the car as fast as they could, and at the end, surprisingly, the kid with the least magnificent looking toy car got his toy car touching the finish line first among other players.

The champion was then asked by the organizer before receiving his award, "Hey champion kid, I saw you praying before the final round started, you must have prayed deeply to God that you may win this tournament, didn't you?" The champion was silent for a moment, then replied, "No sir, that was not what I prayed, I thought it was not fair to ask for God to help me defeating the other players. I only prayed that God help me not to cry if I lose." After a few moments of silence by the audience, the hall was then filled with applauses from the audience.

How often do we pray that our wish may be granted? But do we realize that sometimes our wishes are just the opposite of what the others may pray for? If God exist in the conventional sense, then does God side on one but not the other? For example, if we pray for a win that benefit us, at that same time, one party or more would be disadvantaged. Then would it be appropriate for us to be joyful of it while on the other hand the other person might be suffering and disappointed?

There are many things more important than just winning or losing. Wouldn't it be better for us if we pray for us to be accepting of whatever the results may be? Be it a defeat or a win, we can still choose to be happy.