Respect Someone’s Experience

I cannot go any further without sharing with you what made me to write this piece that speaks about respecting someone’s experience. I’m going to share with you my experience that which gave me a thrill when I reflected back on it.

I was with my grandmother and she would ask me to put a song on by Percy Sledge, “Take time to know her,” that was her favourite song.

Every time she would ask me whether I understood what the song was saying, I would say, “I’m not interested in what the message implies.” But now, when I look back, that was advice in disguise. When I reflect on the song, it has quite an amazing lesson for one to take.

Right now I regret why I never took time to ask my granny what that song truly meant, I wouldn’t have trapped myself in this position. When I looked again at how teenagers live today, it’s like we’ve got it all figured out and we truly haven’t. We miss lessons that can be contributed to our growth and we get advises from different areas of our lives.

There was once a man who went to jail for ten years. When he was released from jail he was indeed a changed man. He spoke to one member of the community and asked him if there were notorious boys in this community and the man said yes. He then took a walk and came across two notorious young boys. He called them and had a conversation.

He asked them if they wanted to go to jail and they responded by saying, “Why would we want to go there?”

He told them that he was in jail for 10 years.

“Maybe you were not smart like us,”

Today those two boys are serving a sentence in prison. I’m sure this story gives you a clear indication of what I’m about to speak about.

As teenagers, we meet people who always strive to share their experiences with us in order for us to avoid stepping in their shoes. But we miss the opportunity to learn from their mistakes. We later regret why we never listened. We get advice from different people that might change our lives but we choose not to listen.

We receive lessons from our parents, friends, teachers, but we have this tendency to say, “Just because they went through that situation does not mean I’ll go through it.”

As teenagers, we need to learn to take advice from people who have experienced things before us. I believe that there’s no greater motivation than the one when someone tells you about what they’ve experienced. The only thing that we regret is the opportunity that was given to us, so respect someone’s experience.

I want everyone to take this as a transforming moment for them. As they say life is unpredictable and we have to admit to that. But as teenagers we live our lives as if we are a cat that has nine lives. We enjoy seating in our comfort zone, we procrastinate, and waste time.

This is an opportunity for you to change your conception. What if today was your last day on earth, would you waste your energy on things that will not benefit you or would you use it effectively? What if the opportunity you have today is the last opportunity that will change your life, would you make use of the opportunity tomorrow or right now? What if the person you have right now is ruining your future, would you get rid of them or keep them?

What if the advice you are given today could change your life, would you take it for granted or use it to your advantage? What if education can change your life, would you misuse the opportunity to learn or would you make use of the opportunity? What if the money you have right now is the last money you could ever get, would you save it or misuse it?

They say “tomorrow is never promised” and what you do right now reflects on your future. Steve jobs once said, “Everyone here has the sense that right now is one of the moments when you are influencing the future”. I say right now is the time. I say make use of every opportunity you get. Honour everyone who plays a vital role in your life.

Save the money you have right now. Change right now. I want to give you a trick that could change your life.

Ask yourself this question: in the next five years when you look back, would you smile or cry? Your answer is dependent on what you’re doing right now. If you feel like you are going to cry, I say change your concept about how you influence your future. Do it right now. Take care of the little things you have right now ‘cause one day you’ll look back and realise they weren’t so little.

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