When I was young, I was very spoiled. This didn’t get any better as I got older, either. I always had to get my way, always had to win. If I suffered even the slightest hint of a loss, I’d be absolutely miserable. Despite always having to get my way, I thought life was unfair and complained incessantly.
That is, until I was introduced to Falun Dafa.
After I became a practitioner, I learned about respect and became considerate towards others. I looked for my own faults whenever conflicts arose – only then did I experience the beauty of an open mind and the feeling of truly being at ease with myself. My friends even told me that I became more cheerful, tolerant and understanding.
With the improvement in my mental state came health improvements to match. I felt like the luckiest person on earth!
Two years ago, I was hit by a dumpster truck as I was driving. The entire right side and front of the car became deformed. The other driver was terrified and told me that he would have someone come over and help.
At that moment, I knew that I would not have treated him the way I did if I hadn’t been a Falun Gong practitioner. I remembered Master asking us to always put others first. I consoled him and told him that I would have my insurance company fix it. However when I called my agent, he told me that I only had liability coverage.
The driver seemed like a honest young man who was just trying to make a living. Our accident blocked the road and a few cars were waiting. I told him that we needed to move the cars since we were holding up traffic. He insisted that we wait for help and that hopefully we could work something out.
A middle-aged woman came and wanted to figure out what happened and who was responsible. One of the drivers in the cars we blocked was a friend of mine. He tried to explain to her how it was not my fault.
I told the woman, “I know that the young man is a hard worker and didn’t mean for this to happen. I am a Falun Gong practitioner; please be assured that I wouldn’t take advantage of him. If it costs a lot to fix the car, he’ll need to share part of the fees, but if it isn’t much, I will just take care of it.”
The woman seemed moved.
“You are very kind. The driver is my nephew,” she said. “Please do tell me how much you spend on the car.”
The spectators were also moved by my generosity. I told them it was only because I was a Falun Gong practitioner.
I took the car to a shop and the estimate was thousands of dollars. The owner of the shop was shocked upon learning that I had let the other driver go after he nearly destroyed my car.
The next day, the driver’s aunt called. I learned that the driver was an orphan and that she raised him and got him the truck-driving job. I told the aunt that I felt sorry for the terrified young man.
“The amount that he could pay would help me a lot, but it sounds like a burden for him. I will take care of the bills,” I said.
She insisted that she pay for everything herself. I turned it down since she didn’t do anything. She told me that she had discussed this with her husband and they both realised that Falun Gong practitioners were truly good people, despite what others said in the persecution.
“We really respect you and your beliefs,” she said.
The truth is that I couldn’t really afford to fix the car. My husband died years ago and I had to raise two children on my own. The younger one was still in school and I could barely break even with all of his expenses. I didn’t tell either of my sons about the accident because I didn’t want them to worry.
My older son was in the military and only came home a few times a year. He called me to pick him up from the train station while my car was still in the shop. I had to tell him what happened. He was very worried and kept asking questions.
“I am fine. The poor young man was terrified and I couldn’t ask him for money,” I said.
My son became silent.
Later I saw that my son had posted a message with my photo on his WeChat feed. There was a message which read, “A mother like this is the pride of my life.”
My tears streamed down.
I also saw that my niece replied to the message, saying, “I want to like this post 100 times!”
She also sent me a message which read, “You are our role model! We all want to become good people like you!”
The car ended up not costing as much as estimated, around 400 dollars. I believe that the repairman was moved by my attitude and tried to help me out.
(Clearwisdom)