The last rice grains
In my childhood, my mother left my sister and me to live with our grandparents. Though we did not live with our parents, we did not feel abandoned in my grandparent family’s love. The grandparents taught me precious lessons which have helped me to overcome difficulties and earn success in life, not only in studying or working but also in building relationships with other people. The most important lesson that I have chosen as my basic concept is “the last rice grains”. I call it “the last rice grains” lesson because it has become my unchangeable habit. Every time I have my meals, I always try to finish all of them and do not leave any rice grain in my bowl. If I do not do that, I would feel guilty. Now, when studying psychology class, I realize that my grandparents stood on behavioral and humanistic perspectives that they did not know then to build up my stable habit.
I still remember what happened at my preschool time as if it had happened yesterday. At that time, I started to learn how use utensils to serve myself. When I did not have enough patience to finish my meal, my grandfather always said that if I wasted the food, I would be poor in the future. Also, my grandmother reminded me the image of the poor as the beggars wandering around the village to ask people for food or money. These beggars’ faces, hands, and feet were disfigured by Hansen’s disease and carried wounds covered with flies or larvae. I was scared to death and ran to hide every time they passed by my house. Since then, eating the last rice grains has become my habit. The beggars’ images were very strong impression in my mind; therefore, these images became an invisible force that urged me to practice my new habit. Even when I came to the U.S., a place with a lot of food and overweight people, I still keep that habit. This is evidence of the behavioral perspective.
Later, when I grew up, my grandparents explained to me why they forced me to eat the last rice grains....