As we ascended the remaining part of the hill and started to descend, i asked my father to let me ride on the bicycle. You cannot ride it with the heavy load tied to the back, my father said. I can, i responded getting excited at the prospect of riding the bicycle again. Then i was abt 9 years old and had just learnt how to ride. As i pressed it further on my father to let me descend the hill on the bicycle, he quietely left the bicycle to me. I clambered and soon was rolling down the hill but it was not long before the weight tied to the back started to dangle. I struggled to keep the balance but the weight kept the bicycle swerving at both sides of the road. Oncoming people were entering the bush to avoid being hit. I knew i was going to fall and hoped my father would rush to hold me back. That he never did and i fell with the load. As i looked back at him with an embarrassed smile, i saw him just walking in his normal dignified pace as if nothing happened, neither returning my smile nor perturbed of my fall. He did not rebuke me either but the lesson sunk into my subconscious never to be forgotten. My father could have insisted i should not ride the bicycle. That way i would not have understood why. But since he let me have the experience, i became wiser by it. The method we adopt as parents in passing instructions to our children matters alot. Some times the best way to teach ppl not to do things is by letting them do those very things. The biblical prodigal son was an example in this case. When a child insists on touching a hot lantern and you keep pulling his hands out, he would never stop trying until he touches it and sees that it hurts. That would form an experience for him that would teach him never to touch lantern another day. Wisdom is only but experience.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 01:46:31 +0000
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