Once upon a time, there was a little princess who lived in a beautiful palace, but she wasn’t happy at all. She was pretty and healthy, but she rarely smile and she didn’t even have any friend. She grumbled and complain a lot about everything. Started from the time she opened her eyes every morning, she started to spread the negative aura by complaining, whining, and grumbling about anything, nothing made her satisfied. She could be so rude and often said harsh words to palace’s workers also.

This day she grumbled because the birds were chirping too loud, so she woke up because of that. Then she complained to her maid because she found some dirt in her dress. So also got angry to her chef because she found that the color of her bread was too dark. She didn’t like it and she didn’t want to take a bit of it. Then she called her chef and said, “You are a bad chef, you don’t even know how to bake a good bread!” Said the princess. The chef was so sad to hear cause although the bread was darker but it tasted so good.

She was angry then left the dining room. The princess went to her garden. The garden was so beautiful and full of colorful blooming flower. The garden was well maintained, but she got upset once again just because of she found several leaves on the pathway. She called her gardener and yelled at him, “You do have eyes, don’t you? Can’t you see how messy this garden look like? Can’t you see that these leaves have ruined my mood?!! Clean this up!”. Then the princess left him alone. The gardener was so sad cause the princess only saw some small things instead of the whole beautiful garden that he had maintained with all his heart.

The princess left the palace and kept grumbling all the way. She didn’t feel happy at all. She rarely felt that feeling and almost forgot how the happy feelings look like. Then she decided to find something to make her mood better by strolling around the nearby village, but she didn’t find it anywhere. She kept walking around and found something that made her interested at the end of her trip that day.

She found an old rickety house, almost like a hut actually. She thought that this hut might be broken by strong wind. She was wondering who would like to live in that kind of ugly things. She thought that there had to be an ugly sad poor people who wanted to live in that place. Then a girl came out with her little brother. They were so thin and a bit dirty. Their clothes were dull and there were holes in some parts. The princess thought that how miserable those children life would be.

The little poor girl was feeding herself and her brother with just a small bread, but they complained for nothing. They smiled happily to each other even though the bread wasn’t enough for both of them. Instead of miserable view, the princess saw that both of that children were shining, their aura were so bright, surrounded by something peace and joy. It was an extraordinary view for the princess, she quite enjoy it, but suddenly she felt so jealous. Then she said something harshly to them, “Hey you poor people! You just a piece of rubbish in this kingdom!”. The poor girl and her brother were so shocked to hear that words. The poor girl hugged her brother tightly and the princess saw pain in the poor girl eyes. The princess felt satisfied after hurting that poor girl’s heart then she left her behind. After some steps, something urged in her heart and it was not a happy feeling.

The princess went home to her palace. She felt a bit strange because she rarely saw guards and workers there. It’s only the king and queen, who she also rarely met even though they lived in the same palace. The king was upset, so was the queen. He held a pile of letter in his hand. Then the king called the princess and said, “what have you done? Almost all of the workers resigned because they can’t stand anymore. You were so rude to them. Now, we have to find a lot of new workers just because of your rudeness! But before i do that, you have to learn some lesson first. You have to do all of their job for a week before i hire someone else! If you don’t do their job, then you will have another punishment. I will send you to do some social work with the beggars!” The princess was so shocked and started to complain but the king and queen left her alone. She felt so lonely after that.

The next day, she had to clean her room by her own, preparing her breakfast, and washed her dresses, because she didn’t want to be sent for some social works. After that she had to take care of the garden. It really was tough day. Suddenly she realized how hard the workers had worked for them, but she didn’t even appreciate it. Instead of it, she always try to find something to be complained. She felt so empty and tired that day. She went to slept without even changing her clothes because she was so exhausted.

At the several days, she had to do a lot of things that made her exhausted, but nobody helped her. Nobody dare to help because of the king’s order or even want to help also, since she was a mean girl. So she felt so exhausted, lonely, abandoned. Her body was already torn apart but still many thing to be done. She was so frustrated and she decided to run away. She hated everything. She ran as fast and as far as she could, till she felt and out of breath.

She just sat on the ground and cried. Suddenly came someone closer to her and held her shoulder. As she saw, it was the poor little girl who looked at her with the worried gaze. The princess kept saying something harshly, “leave me alone you little dirty things. I don’t need you!”, but the poor little girl kept accompanying her because she knew that the princess was lonely and sad.

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After sometimes, they were just sat silently side by side. Deep down in her heart the princess was so grateful that somebody accompanied her, so that her cold heart became warm again. “Why do you still here even though i was rude to you?” Asked the princess. “I just want to let you know that you are never alone. I know that you are not a bad person. You might say something rude because your heart is empty. I know how it feels like.”said the little poor girl.

Then the girl told her story to the princess, “As i was little, my parents had to work so hard since we are poor. My parents were rarely at home and i spent most of the time alone. I also have to do all the chores, even when i was sick. I hate being lonely and i was angry at my parents. One day i blew up and said something harsh to my father and ran away. Then i went to the market to find something that people threw away to eat, when i was hungry and i saw my parents. I saw how hard they worked just to buy something fresh for me to eat. At that time, i felt so bad about how i behave. They love me so much so that they worked so hard to prepare something good for me but i didn’t see it. My heart was empty so that i couldn’t see the good things of them. After realizing it, my empty heart was filled with love and peace. I felt so grateful to have them. I learn what gratitude is. Then i try my best to be a good daughter for them. Unfortunately, after some months, my mother passed away because of hard labor. I am luckier than my brother since i ever met and loved by my mother. After he was born, my loneliness disappeared and i will also be by his side.” Explained the little poor girl.

The princess was amazed. All the things that she has experienced can’t be compared to that girl, she had a good life and perhaps a dream life that others girls want to. But something bothered her, and she asked to the little girl, “you have a hard life, but why can you smile so bright and keep feeling grateful?” “I might not have a lot of things, but i am being loved. My parents love me, my brother also. My mother also told me to find something to be grateful every day before she died. So…although we are poor but we still can eat everyday, we are also healthy so we can work to find money. That is enough for me to smile. When your heart is filled with love and gratitude, it’s more than just enough.” Then the little girl gave an empty jar that she brought to collect some berries to the princess. “I give you this empty jar, please fill it with something that make you feel loved and grateful.” Then the little poor girl left the princess alone.

The princess thought that her heart was as empty as that jar. So she decided to fill it with something that she felt grateful about. She ran home and locked herself at her room. She wrote down the things that she felt grateful about. Without realizing it, the jar became full and so was the girl. After writing down, the emptiness was disappeared and her heart was full of gratitude. How lucky she was, she had everything but she barely saw it. Now she knew that although she had everything in this world, but she had nothing if she didn’t feel grateful about the things she had. That moment was a turn back moment for her. She realized that she didn’t even appreciate what others did to her, as she only saw negative things around her. She promised herself to be a better person, to appreciate others more, to be more grateful.

The next day, as she opened her eyes, she started to think what made her grateful. Suddenly her lips smiled, her heart was so delighted and it encouraged her to do her job. This was her last day of punishment. So she gave her best, she smiled a lot to other workers and started to behave nicely to others. She realized how hard their job were and started to appreciate others. Her positive aura had made the surrounding became better. The king and queen also noted the changes so they became proud of the princess. Ever since that moment, the rude princess became the sweetest princess that people ever knew.