One day, a professor entered a classroom and asked his students to prepare for a surprise test. They waited anxiously, at their desks, for the test to begin. The professor handed out the question paper, with the text facing down, as usual. Once he handed them all out, he asked his students to turn the page and begin.

To everyone’s surprise, there were no questions; just a black dot in the center of the page. The professor, seeing the expression on everyone’s face, told them, “I want you to write what you see there.”

The students, confused, began the inexplicable task.

At the end of the class, the professor took all the answer papers and started reading each one of them, aloud, in front of the whole class. All of them had described the black dot, trying to explain its position in the middle of the sheet, etc.

After he had read aloud all the answers, the professor began explaining, to the now silent class –

“I am not going to grade you on this! I just wanted to give you something to think about. No one wrote about the white part of the paper. Everyone focused on the black dot. The same happens in our lives. We have a white paper to observe and enjoy, but we always focus on the dark spots. Our life is a gift and, we always have reasons to celebrate —the nature renewing itself every day, our friends around us, the job that provides our livelihood, the miracles we see every day…

However, we insist on focusing only on the dark spots — health issues that bother us, lack of money, complicated relationships, disappointment with a friend, children not studying well, and so on.

The dark spots are very small compared to everything life provides us with; yet, they are the ones that coagulate our minds.

Take your eyes away from these black spots. Enjoy each moment of your life, each blessing.”