“You cannot change the past but you can start now and lay the foundation for the future.” – Sharon Gannon
It’s the start of a new week and as it comes, there is so much for us to work on ranging from new ideas to continuing projects from yester-week. It’s okay to have all this, just ensure you do the needful i.e. prepare well for the execution. It’s not to say that you be paralyzed analyzing and planning on what you need to do. It’s important to plan and act.
So today I had this brief moment of going through my social media accounts and came by this post from a connection who was castigating our education system for not building in us a culture of creativity instead it thrived on our ability to memorize facts and reproduce them in exams to be considered bright. I won’t lie I am exempt from this and I detest it to the fullest. However, I am of the belief that regardless of the fact that our education systems which are rightfully supposed to nurture creative and wholesome individuals haven’t been doing so it doesn’t relinquish responsibility from us as a society. I have a role to equip myself with practical skills and these should be aligned to the market demands. That’s the foundation upon which we can build the next empires and think-tanks in addressing the challenges we contend with as a society.
That wasn’t the gist of my article today but had a slight correlation being I was to write about our values as a foundation and realized the assumption that it’s entirely the role of the school to nurture children into the people we expect them to be. When I talk of values, I am referring to the inherent conscience in you that makes you feel something is right and another is wrong. That’s a value system that’s ingrained in us whether by religion, our upbringing, education system or any other structure. It defines how we interact with and respond to circumstances in our lives while at the same time it gives us a foundation upon which to regard our actions and omissions. I have been reading the book, “Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama” in which there is a chapter he is talking about values which is sound for the current society in which we live. In the summary of the chapter he talks about a society that claims to have values yet these don’t reflect in their behaviors. They aren’t ideals they live by and in some form this relates to our current context as I earlier wrote about here. We are all in pursuit of wealth, fame and entertainment in the form of a good life while at the very core of it thwarting the ideals of what earned such regard. That’s why we castigate corruption on one side and on the other celebrate hustler mentality wishing we were on the receiving end. It’s absurd and scary.
For us to achieve all that we aspire for and if not at least to live with dignity, we must lay a foundation for ourselves anchored on the values we hold dear, work on ourselves to be competent enough to perform at our best then on this we move on knowing that whatever outcome we’ll be proud of our actions. As we get into a new week work on laying a foundation upon which to base your life’s trajectory. Importantly, if you have children ask yourself whether you are setting for them a foundation to build on or letting them figure it our in their adulthood? Some are an outcome of the latter, be wise and do better because you know better and can do better.
“In early childhood you may lay the foundation of poverty or riches, industry or idleness, good or evil by the habits to which you train your children. Teach them right habits then and their future life is safe.” – Lydia Sigourney
It’s easier, sustainable and reasonable to build from a firm base than to build on weak base hoping to anchor in the future. The opportunity may never arise. You have a chance to hit refresh as Satya Nadella writes about in his book: “Hit Refresh.“
“Ignorance and a narrow education lay the foundation of vice and imitation and custom rear it up. RESIST.“