Page 7 - 趙聿修紀念中學（校訊）

The Science of Happiness –

An Experiment in Gratitude

by 4A Ng Wai Nam

I have met numerous people in my life, and for sure,
they all taught me precious lessons that allow me to move
forward. However, speaking of influence, none of them is
as significant as my brother. Affected by his unique traits,
my thought has changed and that makes my whole life
completely different from that in the past.

My brother is a gentle person. One of his manifestations is that he possesses the quality
of a good listener. Nowadays, it is ubiquitous that people love to express their own opinions and
diminish others’ melancholy while they are listening to others’ whines because they think they
have experienced worse than the true victims do. However, this is inappropriate of a listener to talk
about his own experience and neglect the feelings of the sufferer. Unlike others, my brother always
shows empathy instead of sympathy when listening to my problems. This makes me feel good as
it shows that he is really listening. Besides, he can think from others’ perspectives and put himself
into others’ shoes. This act is crucial in counselling as it reflects a mutual understanding. Beyond
that, my brother has the ability to control the flow of the talk. He can guide people to discover the
main reason of the problems and analyse the issues thoroughly, as well as giving apt advice at the
right timing. He is able to balance the frequency of giving feedback and letting people vent. Taking
care of others’ feelings while engaging in the conversations, he is indeed a sweet company.

Apart from being a good listener, he is a supportive person too. I remember once he said ‘the
ascent of a hero is always accompanied by applause, and I will be the one who applauds.’ He prefers
working in shadow to enjoying the limelight. Back in the days when I was a child, I loved peacocking.
One day, my siblings and I showed the origami swans we made to our parents in order to get praised
and of course, we received their tremendous compliments. However, they didn’t realise the reason
why we could make the beautiful swans was because of my brother’s coaching. Although this is just
a minor event in our daily life, it shows that he is a silent contributor who never claims credits even
in childhood. Despite the fact that he is not a magnate, he plays a vital role in many people’s lives.
He assists people to attain accomplishments and surpass expectations of themselves. He is a ladder
to the summit of success. I am so proud of my brother.

On top of the benevolent nature, he also has his own way to protect others. My brother is
not an articulate nor an eloquent person; he is straightforward and frank. Let’s say when his friend
wants to give up on pursuing his dream, in contradiction to normal people who will convince him
tactfully to keep chasing his goal, my brother will seriously indicate the pros and cons, and the
consequences of quitting because he believes what his friend needs is confrontation of the reality
rather than just words of comfort. Despite his tough words, we all can sense the tenderness behind
the cruel façade that he means well.

However, everyone has a fierce side, even the gentlest one, my brother is no exception.
Whenever someone taunts him, he just laughs it off but when it comes to his family and friends, he

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