Jack was scanning his house to look for any old items he could sell. He was very excited about the School Fair on the weekend. When teacher informed that students were invited to sell old household items and raise money for the charity, Jack’s eyes lit up. He confirmed his participation through sign language. Jack couldn’t hear or speak from birth, but he was a bright scholar in his school for special needs children.

There were many items in his house to be put on sale. He looked at a set of crayons he has never used, some books which he read a couple of times, some toys, but he wanted to sell something different than his friends. He found a stack of CDs lying in the corner. They belonged to his elder sister but looked as if they were not touched for ages. His heart skipped a beat or two on the thought of selling them. The only thing he knew about those CDs were they put her sister in a very joyful mood. He knew nothing else about them and even if she agreed to sell, how would he sell them. He felt scared and dropped the idea.

Next day, his class mates were excitingly sharing the list of items they will be putting on sale. Jack wanted to sell something which wasn’t on that list, but he had no such items, except CDs. On his way back to home, he peeped into the Music Shop from outside and saw many people looking at CDs. It took him some time and lot of courage to tell her sister of his intention to sell those CDs. She was surprised that Jack could come up with this idea to sell Audio CDs and gave him a bundle of CDs. She was always been a great support and also tried to explain the kind of music they got.

Encouraged by her Sister, Jack made a list of the CDs but did not reveal it to anyone in his class. He was afraid that they might laugh at him. He visited the Music Shop and noticed two things. Music was categorised by type of music and most of the items have some kind of discount on it. He categorised CDs according to mood of the music as told by his sister. He then put a price of $2.99 on all Cds and then strike it and put a new discounted price of $1.99.

As expected, his classmates laughed at him and some teachers even looked a bit concerned, when he setup his stall on the Fair Day. They found his stall to be a sensitive issue as parents might feel offended. But to their surprise in the end, Jack’s stall raised more funds than any one. Infact, her sister rushed to their house to get more CDs as people really loved his imagination and the discounted CDs were snapped quickly.

The poster on his Stall said, ‘I can not hear, but I can sense the Joy when my Sister hear these CDs. Please spread the Joy.‘

In your weakness, you will find your greatest strength. Encouragement is the fertiliser for imagination and innovation. Use it abundantly. We all are imperfect human beings, so that we can use those imperfections to spread joy to others and find happiness for our self.