He was proud, 10th in his school with an average of 85% for all his subjects in his final year results. Other children came around to congratulate him; teachers and even parents of his friends embraced him and shook hands. He lavished the attention bestowed upon him. He smiled, struck conversations with confidence and full of confidence that the future will be positive. The recognition gained stoked his dreams to be that philosopher or intellectual that will change the world for the better. He stood upright among his fellow schoolmate performers as they took photos. They will all be going in different directions all setting out to be the change for the future. Their perception of life is one filled with hope and a surety that life is clay that they can mould into a pristine pot.
I am proud of him, my son, for the man he turned out to be. I admire the fact that he has dreams bigger than himself and a belief that he can make a difference to the world. I look at him and hope that he will be a conqueror and that his dreams will become a reality. There is no reason not to think that he will be successful. I don’t have to load a burden of expectations upon him. He does enough himself in creating an expectation. In counting my blessings, seeing him happy and bathing in the light of achievement for that brief moment of time, I will put on my gratitude list for the day this one thing. I am grateful not just for his achievement but for him to be able to go to university in pursuit of his own self-actualization. Part of it I will have the privilege to witness and part of it will be achieved beyond my lifetime.
Later as we celebrate his achievement, and it was just the two of us we spoke about life; the over population of earth and the choices he still has to make in choosing subjects to study. It was a reprieve for me from focusing on myself and my challenges in life as a father. I had the time to enjoy his wisdom. There is still a youthful naivety but that is the strength of the youth to actually make the desired difference. I am filled with hope for humanity, for life and for my son.
zeal4living