It was a sunny morning. The city bus slowly ferried passengers to its destination. The crowd was a bit heavy, yet the atmosphere was calm. The cool breeze wafting through the bus windows gently brushed everyone's faces.
An elderly woman sat on one of the bus seats—her face reflected a strange peace, even with the wrinkles of age. She gazed out the window, as if lost in thought.
The bus stopped at the next stop, and a young girl, carrying a heavy bag over her shoulder, quickly boarded. She struggled to get in due to the crowd, but she came and sat next to the woman. There was a slight irritation on her face, perhaps a result of stress from college or office work.
As soon as she sat down, her large bag repeatedly jostled against the woman. Sometimes with her shoulder, sometimes with her elbow—but the woman's face remained unfazed. She continued to smile quietly, as if nothing had happened.
After a while, the young woman realized that her bag was constantly hitting the woman. She said, a little uncomfortably,"Mom, you've felt my bag several times... Why didn't you say anything? Didn't you get angry?"
The woman smiled and replied casually,"Daughter, there's no need to get angry over such a small thing. My journey is only until the next stop... My journey with you is much shorter."
The young woman remained silent for a moment. She had heard the answer, but the meaning hidden in those words shook her heart. She thought,"It's true! Every day we fight, argue, and get angry over small things... But in the end, it's all so small and meaningless."
The woman got off at the next stop. But some of her words echoed in her mind. All the way, she kept thinking about how short this journey of life truly is.
When she reached home, she realized that she often gets into arguments with her parents over small things, gets angry with her friends, and is also deeply stressed. Today, a few words from that stranger woman had taught her how powerful peace, forgiveness, and humility are.
That night, she wrote in her diary—
“Today I learned the greatest lesson of life—we are all passengers on a bus, and our journeys together are very short. On this short journey, we should share smiles, not fights.”
The next day, she deliberately said “sorry” and “thank you” to those she had previously been angry with. She hugged her parents, and felt something change within her—a lightness, a comfort.
Now, whenever someone upset her or said something wrong, she would remember the old woman’s serene smile and say to herself, “The journey is very short…”
Message of the story—
Life is a very short journey. It is foolish to waste your time on anger, resentment, jealousy, arguments, and grudges. If someone has hurt you or said something bad to you, forgive them. Because neither you nor they will be here forever—so why not complete this short journey with love, kindness, and compassion?
We all need to treat family, friends, and acquaintances with love, ignore the faults of others, and adorn our lives with smiles.
After all, every person is a passenger on a bus—
Some have long journeys, some short,
but everyone has to get off at some point.
So let's make this short journey beautiful—
not with anger, but with love, forgiveness, and a smile.
Read more : - A Bird's Journey to Rebuild
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