do you give a ..pt 2..short sighted

Where was I? short sightedness right..right..here is a litmus test..infact it is my theory..that most of us..live one day at a time right..? ok..that might be a bit short sighted..how about…a year at a time…how about..4 years at a time…ok..no more for you..I believe most people live 4 years at a time at most ..until it is almost too late..check this

In the 6^th grade you are doing everything you can to get to 7^th grade/j.s.s 1/middle school..in jss 3 you are doing everything you can to get to your top school/at least ss.1…in ss.3 you are trying to get into university/the most prestigious university you can get into..at the end of university you think oh crap..i need a good place to do national service..i hope it is in accra..towards the end of national service..i hope I get a good paying job..i hope  it is in mining/banking/telecom or oil oil oil..need that Arab money baby…

Then I get the job..hope it PAYS well..2/3 years down the line I am getting steady income…used to honeysuckle happy hour..wasted on Friday nights because Monday to Friday 2pm is so stressful..sleep in on Saturdays/go to wedding/outdooring/funeral/watch football all day on Saturday…Sunday morning church…Sunday afternoon beach..repeat

By this time you are approaching 30 and if you are where I am from..they are all asking when are you getting married..fast forward 2/3 years you might get married..find an apartment..1/2 years later..get a kid..you are in your early 30s..married..with a kid..driving some kinda car..and then one day..

You think..i dislike my job…I want to do something else..like sell chickens..you pause..matrix style and look around..at your wife..with a bun in the oven …and your kid that took your head size and is looking to grow into his body..and your mom hands on waist..foot tapping dad…in a newspaper boy hat..saying YOLO(ya right)

Chickens…you want to sell chickens…hmm..since when..? always? Why? They fascinate me…ever since I heard the ‘why did the chicken cross the road’ joke..well that’s…cute,,

Chickens…ok this is getting long…but the issue is we live and think forward...instead of thinking backwards..and living forward,,what do I mean?

Let me go back to my cousin who I know doesn’t give a shi@ about his education now …you know why? Because we asked him, ‘what do you want to be when you grow up,’ instead of ‘what do you want to be remembered for?’

What do you want to be..puts you in a box..from the get…but what do you want to be remembered for ..gets you thinking ..legacy…

Blame it on the age, Lord knows at 17 ..without a care in the world besides the cute new girl and how many 3 pointers I can make in a row…or who is going to the get the next Iverson’s(because I am from that era)…I cannot even comprehend the gravity of the question ‘what do you want to be remembered for?’

But maybe..just maybe

It might change my thinking, and then my actions..it might not..regardless..whoever would have asked me would have planted a seed in me  potentially more fertile than the proverbial,’what do you want to be when you grow up’

Maybe it would have made me think about what people would say about me at 62…instead of 26..maybe the question would condition my mind  to believe that this ad math test could help me run my future empire..instead of just getting me to the next grade..

Hmm…I don’t like this short sightedness…God grant us a destiny so compelling it kicks the immaturity out of me..and turns us into the people we are supposed to be..not the people we are going to be.