About Us	Search	Advertising

	Brought to you by:

"WHERE did I go wrong?"

I was having a conversation with an old acquaintance of mine, whose life had not turned out quite as he had hoped. Middle-agedom was looming and this friend was once again lamenting his poor luck in life and how much better all his friends' lives had turned out.

I have known this person for some time, and I was not entirely convinced that "poor luck" was the reason for his lot in life.

"But where DID you go wrong?" I asked my friend, who just shook his head in blankness, thus remaining quite blameless for his situation.

But from my side of the couch, I could pinpoint a series of crossroads in his life; it was obvious the wrong had path been taken.

The a-ha moment was obviously lost on this person. My mother always said there is no such a fool as an old fool. I always found the statement amusing, but as the years progressed, I have seen such truth in this statement.

My big question in life has always been twofold: on what do you base your decisions, and what stops you from taking good advice?

Ashamedly, I admit I have been known at times to become quite hysterical, shouting these two questions to my friends in hope of a reflective answer.

Recently we employed a young boy-man to work in our garden. His father recommended him, because he had left school early and he was looking for work. The boy is 18 years old and quite grateful for the one day?s worth of work.

I know that 18 years old is supposed to be a man, but to me he looked like such a child, and I felt very guilty that this boy was working in my garden instead of being at school.

So during lunch-time, I gave him something to eat with my usual speech on the side about his plan for his life. And why, oh why, did he leave school in Grade 6?

The youngster just shook his head in blankness, thus remaining quite blameless for his situation. He hoped to find odd jobs to sustain himself throughout his life.

He was oblivious that education was the only way out of the poverty he had been born into.

Leaving school was the first cross road he had encountered as a man, and he had definitely taken the wrong path.

	Back to top
©