Half Man - Half Price Store

Someone e-mail me the following story.

I decide to publish it because I believe everyone should know about it. It was an amazing story.

The Story of Peng Shuilin

In life we keep complaining about what is or why we don't have.

Half the time we seem dissatisfied, though full-bodied and free to choose. Fat people say,"I want to be slim." Skinny people say,"I want to be fatter." Poor people want to be rich and rich people are never satisfied with what they have.


Peng Shuilin is 78 cms high. He was born in Hunan Province, China.

In 1995, in Shenzhen, a freight truck sliced his body in half.

His lower body and legs were beyond repair.


Surgeons sewed up his torso.

Peng Shuilin, 37, spent nearly two years in hospital in Shenzhen, southern China, undergoing a series of operations to re-route nearly every major organ or system inside his body.

Peng kept exercising his arms, building up strength, washing his face and brushing his teeth.


He survived against all odds.

Now Peng Shulin has astounded doctors by learning to walk again after a decade.


Considering Peng's plight, doctors at the China Rehabilitation Research Centre in Beijing devised an ingenious way to allow him to walk on his own, creating a sophisticated egg cup-like casing to hold his body, with two bionic legs attached.


It took careful consideration, skilled measurement and technical expertise.

Peng has been walking the corridors of Beijing Rehabilitation Centre with the aid of his specially adapted legs and a resized walking frame.


RGO is a recipicating gait orthosis, attached to a prosthetic socket bucket.

There is a cable attached to both legs so when one goes forward, the other goes backwards.

Rock to the side, add a bit of a twist and the leg without the weight on it advances, while the other one stays still, giving a highly inefficient way of ambulation.

Oh so satisfying to 'walk' again after ten years with half a body!


Hospital vice-president Lin Liu said: "We've just given him a checkup; he is fitter than most men his age."

Peng Shuilin has opened his own bargain supermarket, called the Half Man-Half Price Store.

The inspirational 37-year-old has become a businessman and is used as a role model for other amputees.

At just 2ft 7ins tall, he moves around in a wheelchair giving lectures on recovery from disability.

His attitude is amazing, he doesn't complain.

"He had good care, but his secret is cheerfulness. Nothing ever gets him down."

*******

You have a whole body. You have feet.

Now you have met a man who has no feet.

His life is a feat of endurance, a triumph of the human spirit in overcoming extreme adversity.

Next time you want to complain about something trivial, don't.

Remember Peng Shuilin instead.

The Seasons Of Life

There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.

The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer, and the youngest son in the fall.

When they had all gone and returned, he called them together to describe what they had seen.

The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted. The second son said it was covered with green buds and full of promise. The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen. The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen only one season in the tree's life.

He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season. That the essence of who they are, and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life, can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up. If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, and the fulfillment of your fall.

Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.

Don't judge life by one difficult season.

Persevere through the difficult patches, and better times are sure to come in time.

Aspire to inspire before you expire.

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. And leave the rest to God.

Happiness keeps you sweet, Trials keep you strong, Sorrows keep you human, Failures keep you humble, Success keeps you growing, But only God keeps you going.

Take care and be safe.

Thank you for being a very important part of the seasons of my life!

God bless you and keep you in his care through all the seasons of your life!

Have You Missed The First Button?

Those who are bitten by dogs are not necessary thieves.

And those who keep long beard are not necessarily religious leaders.

But those who are prejudiced against others always find ways to criticize and discriminate.

*******

There was a man who used to send his wife to the train station every Friday evening that she might visit her sick mother.

The man would then wait for another 10 minutes for his sister, who would later assist him in the house chores for the weekend.

The reverse would happen every Sunday.

His sister would leave 10 minutes early and he would then wait for his wife to arrive.

One Sunday evening after his sister had left, a station supervisor came to him.

“Sir, I notice you are doing very well with two women. Aren’t you afraid to be caught?”

*******

Many of us are doing the same.

We examine people through our own eyes, and then we make our own conclusions.

We decide whether they are good or bad people, whether they are having an affair, whether they are greedy or crafty or both, whether they are manipulative and self serving, or loving and kind, or patient and prudent, and so forth.

Sometimes we even pour our thoughts into them and lead them astray.

*******

You may have heard the following story.

Two women were having drinks on the same table.

One of them habitually put her umbrella at the edge of the table.

The other woman finished her drink, accidentally took the umbrella and went on her way.

The owner of the umbrella screamed, “Oh you! You are taking my umbrella!”

The woman with the umbrella hesitated, turned around, put back the umbrella, and apologized.

“Oh! I’m sorry. I forgot I didn’t bring umbrella today.”

She then left, ashamed.

But the incident reminded her to buy two umbrellas for her children.

On her way home, she met with the same woman again, this time in a bus.

The other woman stared at her with wide eyes, and said, “Oh, I see you have a good harvest.”

*******

We love to judge people, and we divide people into “good” and “bad”.

If a person impresses us, we will cover for him, and explain his speech and action from a good angle.

But when we have classified someone as bad, everything bad will be his or her fault.

Someone has called this a “halo effect”.

It is just like when we observe the moon, we will take note of its surrounding halo.

So when we have our perception of a person, we will automatically relate his speech and action with our very first impression of him.

*******

How unreasonable our perception of others can be.

There was a story of a young Jew and an old Jew sitting in the same train.

The young Jew asked the old Jew, “Sir, what time is it?”

The old Jew kept silent.

“Sir, Sorry for disturbing. But I need to know what time it’s now. Can you please tell me?”

The old Jew hesitated and then answered, “My son, the next stop is the last stop. And I don’t even know your name. If I answer your question now, according to the Jewish tradition, I have to invite you to my home.”

“You look handsome, and I have a beautiful daughter. You two will surely get along and fall in love with one another. Then you will marry her and bring her away from me. You tell me, why do I need a son-in-law who cannot even afford a cheap watch?

*******

Virtually every minute of our life, and almost in everything that we do, we have the tendency to judge others according to our past knowledge and experience.

For example, we may have heard or insisted that “every businessman is a crook”, “All the lady drivers are that bad”, “Men are unhygienic,” “Jews are stingy,” “Americans are romantic,” and so forth.

And then we develop a number of set rules to judge people.

*******

Here is another story.

A man arrived in America, and took a stroll in a park one day.

He saw some white men sitting on the grass talking softly, smiling and laughing away.

He thought, “The American life is so amazing; these people really know how to enjoy life.”

Then he saw a few black men sitting on the same grass talking, smiling and laughing away.

And he thought “The unemployment among the black is really bad. These people have to live on Social Security.”

*******

Prejudice kills.

We don’t know many people,

And many people don’t know us.

We must not simply judge others,

And we must not simply take to heart people’s judgments on us.

Everyone does miss the first button sometimes.

Isn’t it?

A Wooden Shop

I remembered it was a clothing and shoe shop.

I used to buy my shirts, trousers, and school shoes here.

It was a double storey wooden shop built in the early 70’s, and it belonged to an uncle-in-law.

I frequented the shop during my teenage years, especially before school opened and before the Chinese New Year.

It was always packed with goods, and customer service was excellent.

I believed it was making good business.

But thing has changed.

The small town is mushroomed with shop buildings, eatery outlets, recreation centers, and housing estates.

Yesterday, as I was walking around town, I happened to pass by the wooden shop again.

I was surprised half of the shop space was rented out, and the cloth and shoe shop was turned into a fertilizer shop, also selling some chicks and ducklings.

I saw my aunt-in-law, patiently waiting for customers.

Business must be poor, and it is more difficult to make ends meet now.

Everything in life has its cycle, so is business with its ups and downs. I sighed.

I continued my walk, but I turned around to take another look at the wooden shop.

The wooden shop continues to stand tall beside the modern buildings in the surrounding.

It has seen its glory days come and go.

The Old Lady Next Door

She is my next door neighbor.

She is an old lady in her late 70s.

She had a fall recently and she now moves around with difficulty.

She feels very frustrated and sad because of her weak and flimsy legs and her inability to walk far.

She desires very much to walk outside the front gate to talk with neighbors and friends, but is unable to do so now.

Most of the time, she just sit on a sofa, staring blankly at the TV; she has got tired of watching TV.

This morning, I walked over to her place to borrow a torch.

She was very happy to see me and went immediately upstairs to get the torch.

When she walked towards me at the front gate I could see her legs shaking.

It was not easy for her, I told myself.

She shook her head, grumbling about her legs.

I told her to be thankful that her condition was far better than most old people.

We had a long talk and we smiled and laughed satisfactory.

Thinking back, I am thankful to God for my neighbors; they are the best.

And especially to the old lady who has taught me a lot about life and living.