OH MY GOD! WHAT HAVE I ACHIEVED
For quite a while now, Mr. Onyeka has not
been in time (present), he has been thinking in regret. Sixty-five years of his
life has gone down to the dust; he had nothing to show for his life. He looked
around the ‘thing’ he called his house, it was nothing to write home about as
there is no one to tidy it - Mrs. Onyeka died living her husband and only child
Emeka - that was some twenty-five years ago.
“OH MY GOD! WHAT HAVE I ACHIEVED”
He murmured to himself. He couldn’t give an
account of how his life has been spent. He grieved as though he lost his mother
as he remembered how his parent suffered just to get the money to pay his
school fees; he was the first issue of his parent, yet he never lived up to
their expectation not to mention of living beyond them. He condemned himself as
he remembered the ‘good old days’ as it was when they (him and his friends)
were parading the campus as ‘DONS’. “I
never realized that I was playing
life then and that someday I would pay dearly for it”. “Oh! How I flirted with the
girls; how I sorted for my courses with ill-gotten money; how I joined the
secret cult, how I made fun of the campus fellowship”. Mr. Onyeka made up
his mind not to use “HAD I KNOWN”
because he could remember vividly the advice of his father on the eve of the
day he was to school, “my son, live your
life so that your friend will have to defend you but will not have to do so,
make it worth emulating and do not let “had I known” get hold of you in the
end. Remember, your school fee was borrowed and you have responsibilities”.
He couldn’t help but cry as he remembered
this words again but resolved to advice his son and warn on time as not to end
up like the way he did- Emeka looked exactly like his mother. He didn’t know
his purpose in life out of ignorance. He never for a moment looked beyond his nose;
he was just after what he would do to satisfy himself. Because his mother had
died months after he was delivered and his father had no money to train him, he
took to the streets. But that very day, something different happened to Emeka and
he resolved to go home – Mr. Onyeka was still deep in his thought when Emeka
came in. A tap on the back from Emeka almost scared his father to death.
Getting control of himself, he asked his son to sit down.
Mr. Onyeka looked up to the sky and then to
his son and began, “my son, I have
offended you greatly, I couldn’t provide for you and I wasn’t the ideal father
that a son would dream of. I didn’t break the yolk of my life as a youth nor
did I make something out of it. But you, you have what it takes to be great;
that I your father am hopeless does not mean that you have to live a hopeless
life. You are meant to bring light to us. Whatever you dream of, because you
have the power to dream it, you have the power to realize it. I have lived a
life not worth emulating and you have seen where it has landed me. Will you
learn from my mistakes or will you let you children suffer also? You can do
better than I ever did because you were born differently with unique powers.
My son, you
have to know that you have great powers in you which when unleashed and
channeled into the society for a positive change will be magnificent. My son,
though I didn’t do much in life, but I give you this rules of success;
1.
You have to
dream big because you serve a big God.
2.
You have to
be consistent and persistent in all you do.
3.
Planning my
son is an important step to your greatness.
4.
Never do
something or take a step without calling your creator; God.
5.
Don’t settle
for what you have achieved for that will hinder you from what really you are
meant to do.
I have
nothing more to give to you but this word of advice my son. Now go out there
and make the use of your life, do not look at your age or background because
you have what it takes to be great. Please my son, trust God with all your
heart, do not depend on your own understanding. Trust the words that I have
given you for they are plain to anyone with understanding, clear to those with
knowledge. A chat with an elder is far better than a picnic with your age-mate.
You have to start now for tomorrow might be late for you. I believe in you my
son and I love you very much”.
As Mr. Onyeka finished his words, he urged
Emeka never to give up in whatever he wanted to do or be in life and to always
go for the best or nothing. He looked up again to the sky, now with a smile at
least he had invested in the life of his son.
!!!!!!!!!!!!ZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!
My Onyeka woke up as the alarm woke him. In
seconds, he was surrounded by his servants in his well furnished room as was
the routine. He was treated as though he was king of the world. Down his garage
were fleets of car with different drivers. Saying that Mr. Onyeka was rich was
an under-statement. He was more than rich. Though his wife was dead, he
provided his son, Emeka with everything a son could ask of his father. Emeka on
his own part was well-behaved, hardworking and a purpose driven young man. Mr.
Onyeka looked around his riches and was glad that he could give an account on
how it was spent. He was happy that the advice he had gotten from his father
was not a waste but a corner stone to his wealth, he remembered how he would
have been if he had done otherwise but he couldn’t help but smile, ‘after all, it was all a DREAM!”
This short story reveals to us the two sides
of life as with a coin. It tells us how great we are if only we compose our
youthful exuberance and anxiety. I believe you can do it, GOD believes in
YOU!!!
0 comments :
Post a Comment