“Whoever is happy will make others happy too ” -Anne Frank



During this outbreak situation, one of our friends beamed us up. She told us a story from her aunt about “The Five Qualities of A Pencil” (thank you for this story, auntie!). We think it is interesting and might be the energy of positivity, so we will tell it to you too. The story is about how everyone has their own role. 

A boy was watching his grandmother wrote a letter. In his curiosity, he shook Grandma’s shirt, wondering, “What are you writing?”

G-ma (let’s keep it short) stopped writing and turned to the boy, her grandson. “I am writing about you, actually. Look closely, I am writing how I hope you will grow like this pencil”, pointed her toward her favourite tool in her hand. 

“But it’s just like any other pencil I’ve ever seen!”, remarked the boy frowning.

“That depends on how you look at things. I see that you can learn at least five lessons from a pencil!” 

“One. You are capable of great things, but you must never forget that there is a hand guiding your steps. We call that hand God, and He will always guide us to our best on His will. 

“Two. now and then, I have to stop writing and use a sharpener. That makes the pencil suffer a little, but afterwards, he’s much sharper. Life is not all rainbows; pains and sorrows will make you a better person”

“Three. Pencils marks can be erased when something does not feel right. Truly correction is not necessarily a bad thing; it helps to keep us on the road to what feels right. Our conscience.”

“Four. What really matters in a pencil is not its wood, but the graphite inside. Always pay attention to what is happening inside you.”

“Five. And final. Pencils always leave marks. In just the same way, you should know that everything you do in life will leave a mark – use that to do something good.”

G-ma then ended her short story with a sincere kiss for the boy. She later gave him that pencil, writing his name on it like a prayer. Every time he uses it, he will be reminded of those lessons. 

…and so do we, hoping that this story could take a little place in your heart and remind you of what we can do best, especially during this Covid-19 outbreak. Let us take a moment to reflect on ourselves, digging the qualities that we have inside of us. Take a moment to ask ourselves what could have done better, be it for ourselves and for others.
Spread the Kindness