P2. On a very cold night, a rich man met a homeless old man outside

The following story is an example that we should never give a promise unless we are 100% sure we can fulfill it.

One day, a rich man spotted an elderly homeless man sitting in the cold. He felt sorry so he decided to approach him.

“I see you don’t have a winter coat, you’re not cold?” The old man starred at him for some time and then replied: “I don’t, but I’m used to it.” The rich man, surprised and saddened by the answer he received, said to the homeless man, “Wait for me! I’m going into my house now and I’m going to bring you a thick coat to keep you warm at night.”

The elderly man was over the moon. He couldn’t believe someone found the time to do a good deed for him.

Unfortunately, once he went home, the rich man forgot about the homeless. He only remembered the promise he gave the following morning and quickly rushed outside to give the coat to the poor man. Sadly, it was too late. The elderly man wasn’t there, instead, there was a note which read, “When I didn’t have thick clothes, I had the strength to fight the cold weather, because I was used to it, but when you promised to help me, I attached myself to your promise and that took my strength to resist.”

The man had died, and that crushed the rich man’s world.

This story is yet another reminder that our promises should be sacred and we should never broke them because they can mean the world to those in need.