THESE I grew up knowing!!

I grew up knowing that education was the greatest gift a Parent could give to a child and that the best first step for any child would be to value education and make the best of it. I realised that education was not only what you learnt in school, it comprises of a lot of things and most of this were things that you took time to learn yourself. I grew up on books with which i was able to travel to places learn about people and values and carve a place for me. A place where the value of learning and absorbing has become a part of me.

I grew up knowing that relationships are not for children and sex is not something to be taken lightly. I learnt from my parents that for sex to be meaningful love and understanding must come first. I learnt early that what is meant for an adult must not be taken lightly by a child. That a child should not give birth to another child. While a child be a child and when the time comes to have what the adult has, then it will get to your turn.

I grew up with the knowledge that maturity has nothing to do with age and that you can be old and not matured while you can be young and be matured. I realised that our maturity is as a result of our values and the knowledge that we have acquired through mistakes and failures with time.

Over time i realised that no one can love you if you don't love yourself and what ever value you intend to share with other you must first have an understanding of it. I learnt that values are like the bamboo tree; deep rooted and almost impossible to uproot. So I learnt early that we must let people see the "me" you are inside.

I learnt that the success you are today comes from the efforts u made yesterday, and the failures you took time to learn from. That success is not automatic and so it must be worked for and achieved over time.

My mother always made us understand that God is not a magician, he cannot give you something out of nothing. That no matter how hard you pray, if its not backed with faith and works then u become like an empty sounding cymbal. Therefore I learnt to work and live by faith.

I realized that the harder I try to get something outside of God the further away from me it was. This made me conclude that my life is not dependent on wants but on needs and those on what is actually necessary. I learnt and am still learning that in everything I have to put god first and keep him there.

Above all, I learnt that love is the only adhesive that will hold people and nations together. But first the love must start in US; personal and familial love for the next person. This love will create a ripple effect that would change lives.