Covid 19 effects are now tales, and have nothing to do with our future.
“Your past is in your head, and your future is in your hands”.
Most likely, we may have not heard much about the first half of the quote “your past is in your head”, but we have implicitly been with it. So, by expounding it; it means that our past memories, mistakes, experiences, are within our mind. We can be able to reminisce the past, however, it should not be an obstacle.
Our past shaped us, and has made us who we are today; perhaps, it may have made us positive, or negative depending on how it was encountered. For this reason, whether it made us positive, or negative, it cannot be changed. Therefore, since it cannot be altered; we shouldn’t blame anything for anyone else and shouldn’t ourselves either, but focus on our future.
This will dive us to the second half of the quote “your future is in your hands”. Having seen that our past contributed to what we are now; our present will contribute to what our future will be. As noted previously, our past cannot be changed, and so, the only mutable is the present. To change our present; we have to use our hands to build the future.
Because of this, parents have a diverse role to play in securing the future since every kind of life stems from the family. Before anyone else starts fending his or herself to secure or build the future; parents should have set a firm foundation by the fact that a child begins its naive life immediately after fertilization though the most important life is right away after birth. Therefore, after birth, parents have to work tooth and nail to make sure that they have given this child a standpoint for where to begin from when its time hits to secure the future.
Parents have to ensure a virtuous life, in other words, form this child holistically; all human values: respect, good behaviors, honesty, name it all, have to be planted into the child when still at a tender age. As the Bakiga say, “akati kiniikwa kakyiri kabiisi” literally means ” a stick is bent when it is still fresh” and so, a child is shaped accordingly when he or she is still young; bearing in mind that when a stick is bent when it is already dry, it must break, and so a child cannot be shaped morally when is already mature for he or she must rebel.
As the children start learning; the teachers (educators) at all levels now join hands with the parents to secure the future of the learners in that; teachers have to make sure that they have not retarded the holistic and virtuous life development of the learners which they may have acquired from parents, and so should endeavor to orchestrate ways to impart more values both academic and human into the learners. The educators should not only teach to make learners pass exams with flying colors but also train them how to face the challenges of life outside class, that is training them how to apply what they study in order to secure their future thus becoming who they desire to be.
At this point in time, we presume that now no one should blame anyone (caretakers), but bear it in mind that the future is now in one’s hands. For we now make a presumption that both educators and parents have done their part. In fact, them also having done all they could, have secured their future in that they will not be blamed, and so will have played their role.
However, some may blame the parents that they have not done what they should have done, maybe; because the parents did not educate; abandoned them perhaps because the parents did not manage, or even intended it due to unknown reasons; more so, that the teachers (educators) were poor; this should not be an excuse now. It is now in the past and nothing to do with it, but only focusing on the future. The essential thing every parent has done is giving us life, and therefore, we shouldn’t blame them for what they have not done but rather look ahead led by the wisdom and knowledge freely given by God, and know we are responsible for our lives.
First and foremost, we have to know what we want, and what we want to be. This will be fueled by setting goals: dreaming big. This will help us keep focused because we want to attain our goals and so make our dreams come true.
This is where the parents, and teachers (caretakers in general) should have done all that was expected as one of the motivators noted that, ” you should not only teach your child to be rich but also to be happy”, therefore, at tender age, children have to be motivated and guided to set goals and dream big so that as they grow, they mature knowing what life is all about. Most responsible parents and educators (for younger learners) often ask the children such questions: who do you want to become in future?, The children respond: a doctor, a priest, a teacher, a pilot, name it, and these children are often reminded of what they promised; on top of that, they are always motivated and supported thus keeping them enthusiastic and focused on their dreams.
As a result, this is where now we start living a life leading to our goal. For instance, if one loves to be a doctor, his ways of life by the guidance from the caretakers should be those of a doctor in making; this will bring us to another common saying which reads that ” your today is your tomorrow, in other words, what you are today will tell of your tomorrow”, this supplements on the previous quote ‘ your future is in your hands’: what you do today will determine your future. so if one wants to be a doctor should live as a doctor in potency so that he lives by his dream. Though here in Uganda, most of us wake up and say; I want to be a doctor; I want to be a priest, if not I want to marry, and so on, because we just want to acquire a certain status. But a question to ponder on is, ” which kind of doctor, priest, father, mother, name it, do
I want to be?
Similarly, we have to make use of what we have at hand in order to build our future. There is a saying that reads ” do not throw away what you already have in one hand before you hold what you want in the other hand” . Therefore, the little we have, be it money, a job, can be a turning point now if well utilized. Let us not lose the small job, or the little money we have because we want an office job, or because we want a million in one day. The small job that is less earning, can turn into a million paying job. Many want office jobs thinking that they are the highly paying ones, but I would love to challenge all of us that even that little job we have can be turned into an office job. It is all about knowing what you want, and set goals. A job where you earn fifteen thousand shillings monthly, can grow to a million monthly salary if well utilized. This will be possible if the job is done with devotion, and commitment along side with goals and dreams.
This will finally also call upon institutions of learning to incorporate career guidance so that learners start learning when they already know what they should aim at in different realms than just studying for the sake of completing.
Conclusively, when we all strive to secure the future; good leaders (servants) and above all, good families where more responsible citizens are raised will emerge since these parent figures will have secured their future as in being good, not only good but responsible parents who are the pillars in securing the future.
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