Learning and acquiring knowledge is one of the most invaluable assets anyone can ever possess, and that's because it can come in handy in the near future to help us navigate some of the complexities of life that'll definitely show up as we grow and go on in life. As a child, there were loads of knowledge I was able to acquire both directly and indirectly from parents, neighbors, elders, schools, and the like, and while most were just learned without much intention, today they've come in handy in helping me sail through some difficult times with the wisdom acquired via those learnings possessed at a tender age.
Knowledge, they popularly say, is power, and truth be told, it's because it plays the role of a cornerstone for our personal growth and development, which gives us the necessary tools, knowledge, and intelligence to deal with challenges, make firm decisions, and grab opportunities at the nick of time. I'm a living testament to what learning and knowledge acquisition can do, and I'm where I'm today because of the impact of knowledge I acquired from all spheres of life, and that's why I'll touch on a few grounds in sharing my experience of things I learned then and how they impact my life now.
To start with, my earliest form of knowledge acquired as a child was hairstyling. I've been a lover of hair and how it's been woven in different dimensions for beautician purposes, and although I'm a male child, while most of my age mates and fellow boys run around the street, chasing one another and playing football, I'll sneak into the hairdressering shop of our next-door neighbor, Aunty Toyin, to watch her plait hair for her customers, and as I watch her, I get carried away and start replicating the same thing she's doing on the doll's hair she has in her shop.
With time, she notices my consistency in showing up to her shop and what I did to the doll's hair. Each time she's less busy, she'll show interest in what I'm doing, guiding me on the proper way to go about it and the like, and at the end of the day, I could fix a basic hairstyle, but my parents don't buy the idea of me as a man doing such, so that's how my learning was brought to a halt. Fast forward to the present day, and my sister's and cousins can't wait to have me around so I can help them fix their hair, retouch it, and plait a new style because they know what they're paying heavily for that outside is something I'll do for them for free, though I'm not perfect, but I guess they're ok with it.
Another of the skills I'll say I learned as a child, and that still plays a huge role in my life to date, is farming, the cultivation of crops, and the like. From a tender age, I've been introduced to the planting of different vegetables, crops, and the like by my grandparents, although most times all I do is follow them to the garden. But by looking at what they do, I learn, and also running errands for them in the garden helps me understand some basics. As I grow, I'm also allowed to do some things on the farm.
Fast forward to the present day, and this knowledge is one of my topmost savings graces in this harsh economy and my survival mechanism in this inflation, because that knowledge is what I've now utilized in making sure to indulge in some home-based activities and also utilizing every available land to plant and cultivate crops. That's helping me cut costs, as I now have no need to buy some food items in the market because I grow them myself in my garden.
Last on the list of what I'll be sharing today regarding the subject matter is morals. As we all know, it's one of the core values of life and what helps us have decency and be a well-mannered individual in our society. While growing up, I was raised by one of the best-cultured and well-mannered parents anyone could ever ask for, and they impacted me with their wealth of wisdom and experience, shaping me to become someone who'll amount to something good in life and not be a menace to society.
Now that I'm grown and as a teacher by profession, my core duties aren't to only impact knowledge on these young students, but to also impact morals, shaping the characters and values of these students, being a mentor, role model, and motivator in helping them grow up to be impactful adults in society, helping them overcome their challenges and obstacles, and becoming compassionate leaders and citizens anywhere they find themselves in the near future.
With all of this said, personally as an individual, with how impactful all of this knowledge has been to me from my upbringing, learning phrase by phrase, I'll love to replicate the same into my children so as to pass on the vessel to them with the hope that each of this knowledge and many more that I didn't mention in this article will go on to help them in their lives as they grow both when I'm around or not.
I believe farming is a lifelong knowledge that should be acquired, and with the privilege I had to learn this for free as a child, I should do the same to my children, and I know they'll grow up to thank me for all I've done in that regard, be it on impacting morales, values, and characters, or my other handy skills such as hairstyling, shoemaking, or tailoring that would help them cut costs or serve as a source of income to them when done for others.
That's all about my take on the subject matter. I hope you enjoyed the read, learned from my experience, and now get to know more about me via the information I've shared about my past and how it's affecting my present, and my plans for replicating same to my children. Do have a wonderful day and stay blessed.
This is my entry for #aprilinleo day 16 for the Inleo initiative. You can also join us by reading all the details in the announcement post.
First two image are Thumbnails designed on canva, while the last two images are mine.