For many parents, including yours truly, it was a rather emotional day on Wednesday (January 15) when the schools opened for the new year.
This was a day when many children took their first real step on their school journey when they rocked up for Grade R.
The journey for some already started years ago at nursery schools and crèches, but Grade R makes things official.
And while leaving one’s offspring behind in the clutches of a teacher to embrace the new challenge, one cannot but consider the numerous challenges they will face in life before they can enter matric, and then hopefully make a success out of life.
And these challenges are certainly not all negative. Many are moments filled with joy, pleasure, laughter and fun.
For a moment, while my son clung to me for those remaining seconds as the reality dawned that a new phase of his life had begun, I felt like some sort of guru who wanted to pass on sound advice.
You know, like a grey-bearded sage sitting somewhere on top of a mountain, pretending you have all the answers.
There are certain advantages as one grows older and more experienced, such as learning that life needs to be lived. It needs to be enjoyed and cherished.
Makes you think of the following quote: “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”
The author of this saying is unclear, but whoever said it hit the nail on the head.
There is another interesting quote from an unknown source that says the following: “Life is a game, play it; life is a challenge, meet it; life is an opportunity, capture it.”
So often we take life for granted, not considering what an incredible opportunity one has been given to actually live.
And to live means the privilege of having the most amazing opportunity to experience what it means to be alive, to experience this world and all it has to offer.
Sure, not everything is sunshine and roses, but no matter what, in the storms and or in the days of good weather, life is there to be consumed, and to be embraced.
Sadly, so many parents do not always realise the incredible blessing to have a child. Others do not realise the blessing to have found a life partner.
For many life’s circumstances are not great, but in wealth or poverty, life needs to be appreciated and we need to live it to the fullest.
The school journey is certainly part of this blessed opportunity to have lived. It is filled with so many emotions, experiences and moments of bliss and even times of stress and fear.
But every emotion forms part of our life journey. It shapes and moulds us, and adds to the uniqueness of this life.
So for those starting out on this school journey, embrace it to the fullest. Enjoy the 12 or 13 years ahead. Learn, grow, develop, laugh, and don’t worry too much. You only get one shot at it.
As one ponders the beauty of life, it is also just so sad how the Advertiser reported on the death of two toddlers, one at the hands of thugs and the other due to electrocution.
For them, they never had the chance to truly live this life, and again reminds us how deplorable it is that so many in this country have no more respect for the sanctity of life.
We must all play our part to show greater respect, greater tolerance, and to protect our children, because they have the right to live this life, for this life has been granted to them for a reason.
Yes, we are faced with very tough times in 2020, but this should not define who we are or define our willingness to drink from the cup of life.
Lastly, here is another thought from Adlai Stevenson we should all embrace this year, from the young to the old: “It is not the years in your life, but the life in your years that counts.”
