(KN from Tokushima Prefecture/Female/60s/Company Employee)
“I might lose all this money…” I bought a corporate bond recommended to me by an acquaintance without telling my husband. However, the company went bankrupt due to the pandemic, and my fear came true. A large sum of money disappeared in an instant.
Followed My Husband’s Opinion/Order and Have Put Up with Everything
My husband is a very short-tempered person, and when he doesn’t get his way, he yells at me and sometimes nudges me. When the clerk asks, “Which would you like?” it’s my husband who answers. I have always agreed with my husband’s opinion even if it wasn’t mine. I’ve been suppressing my feelings and holding back for a very long time.
It may have been a reaction against such accumulation. My husband has been managing it, but the money was originally earned through my work. “It’s my money, so whatever happens” and I invested a large amount of money. Unable to tell my husband that I had lost everything, I spent days in fear, thinking, “I just hope my husband doesn’t find out.” But one day, he finally found out and he became extremely furious.
My husband contacted our sons and even to my brother with a thought that he needed to warn everyone about this so the rest of the family doesn’t make the same mistake. In particular, my second son scolded me and criticized me in a very violent way. I apologized profusely to everyone and reflected intensely.
My Kokoro Becoming More and More Relaxed and Comfortable
I remembered being shocked when a friend of mine once said to me, “You and your husband is a couple who is just acting as a couple.” For the past few years, Kami has been calling us to strive to establish a family that is connected and tied based on the principles.” This was exactly my problem—what I needed to work on. From here, I got serious in working on my problems.
First of all, I needed to talk to my husband about anything. Although he was a very short-tempered person, my husband was the kind who would understand if I explained it properly. Once I got rid of my “put up with it and don’t say anything” attitude towards him, my heart felt so much better. Not only that, but when I have more opportunities to do things with my husband, I can see that he is thinking about the whole family, and my feelings of gratitude and respect for him only deepened.
Then one day, my husband said to me, “Why don’t we just think that we spent all that money to get a luxury car?” And since then, we stopped talking about the money issue.
The food my husband cooks is delicious, and he seems very happy when I praise him. After dinner, we spend time drinking tea together. We talk about what happened that day and about our children. We went from being a couple who just acted as one, to becoming a real couple.
The Reward I Got that Exceeded the Loss
“I lost a lot of money, but I gained a lot.” Just when I was feeling deeply grateful, my second son handed me a box that was making rustling noises and said, “It’s a present for you, mom.” Inside was money equal to the savings I had lost. When I asked him about it in surprise, he told me that one of the watches my husband had given him had gone up in value. My son kindly handed it over to me, saying, “I don’t need this money,” without mentioning my failures. That made me more happy than anything in the world.
Even when you think you have lost everything, if you make an effort to live by the teachings, you will be rewarded with an amount that exceeds the loss. Being able to meet this Kami and have a wonderful family bond are the priceless treasures of my life.
Heeding the Shinji to Understand the Reasons for the Joys Experienced
Shinji is the universal principle (truth), and can also be the guidance of life that foresees the future. Please feel the wonders of a life that flows exactly in a way the Shinji tell us when you live with the teachings of Kami.
Shinji
When a person learns the teachings, gain understanding of the principles, and make use of it in their kokoro (their life); this person can accept other’s feelings and deepen the ties with others in the correct way.
In a family environment where the teachings exist, the unmei of the married couple will come together; and focus on living by the principles to elevate each other’s jittai.
The couple’s conversation will deepen, and their life sympathizing and empathizing each other will start to begin.