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| Descriptive
Essay |
Different people acquire their moral values from various sources such as family and peers with whom they are closely in contact. Personally, I received most of my moral beliefs and values mainly from my parents. I was influenced by the Buddha teachings since I was young simply because my parents believe in Buddhism. Buddhism is a religion from eastern and central Asia, which grew out of the teaching of Gautama Buddha. Buddhists believe suffering is inherent in life and that one can liberated from it by mental and moral self-purification. My parents taught me these teachings through stories when I was young. Those stories are richly entangled with fairness, integrity, helpfulness, and respect to elders. By means of punishing, my parents taught me what was unacceptable behavior, usually by caning. The way they punished taught me to be respectful to elders and to treasure family values. Since I was taught to be helpful since I was young, I decided to volunteer in an old folk’s home during my summer break two years ago. It was the break that I never will forget even though time has passed by and seasons have changed. I was assigned to look after an old lady named Daw Chit. Nobody knew anything about her except the fact that she had a rich son who had never visited her once. Nothing is particular about the fact that nobody really knew about her because she did not speak a single word, but not because she was mute. She just laid on her bed and stared at the ceiling all day long. I had to look after her every Saturday and Sunday. I read stories every time I visited her. However, I sometimes wondered whether she heard what I was reading because she seemed to be lost in her own world. One day, I saw a scarf at a store and planned to buy that scarf for Daw Chit on Mother’s Day. I saved up my pocket money to buy the scarf. Finally, the day had come. It was Mother’s Day, and I bought the scarf as I had planned. I ran down the hallway with the scarf in my hand. My heart was thumping loudly inside. I imagined the face of the old lady would brighten with joy…the joy that she had never felt before and the knowledge that there is still somebody in the world who cared for her. Finally, I was at the door of Daw Chit’s room. I inhaled a lungful of air and opened the door slowly…… My joy vaporized as soon as I opened the door completely. There was an empty bed before my eyes. As I moved closer to the bed, I found a brown diary lying on the bed. On the cover, there was a note saying, "This book is to be read only by Yan Lin Aung." I carefully and slowly picked up the book and turned the pages yellow with age. I found a section book-marked by a piece of worn-out paper. It read, " I never felt such joy in my life before. Nobody had ever cared for me except this boy. How I wish he is my grandson. If I have a next life, I wish I have a son like him……but for this life….." Misery gripped me and tore my joy into pieces, the moment when I realized that she had passed away. After that incident, I learned that my actions affect the others in terms of their feelings even though they did not show. Treating a person with a little kindness has a big impact on another’s life. I believe ethics shaped my life. It taught me to be aware of the importance of family values. It made me realize that it is my obligation to look after my parents when they are old. As my parents had looked after me when I was a helpless and vulnerable baby, in return I should look after them when they are old and helpless. I tell myself that I will never abandon my parents as the way Daw Chit’s son had done, no matter what happens. |
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