There arrives a time when we have to leave home. No one
wants to hang around their parents forever. Time arrives when you think you
have to be by yourself, pursue your dreams and aspirations and perhaps get
married.
This was the case of the prodigal son. He was ambitious, had
dreams and goals that he wanted so much to accomplish. It was probably out of
his good thoughts that he went to his father to receive his share of his
father’s wealth to enable him start of at his dream. This young man however
failed woefully. You are young with huge dreams you hope to accomplish. You
don’t want to fail like the prodigal son.
Where did the prodigal son miss it? It is not enough to have
good dreams and aspirations. You are full with them as a single. It is
acquiring adequate knowledge to pursue your dreams and then applying it that
matters. As much as we have our hearts boiling with ambitions and we are
rearing to go, understand that God gave you your parents and mentors for a
reason. You still need them in your journey to independence.
The prodigal son was in a hurry to leave home probably
because he had so much confidence in his ability but he was ill prepared for
life outside the shores of his father’s empire. Adequate preparation is
necessary for us to make the move towards our goals. There is a how your
parents know that they are supposed to pass down to you. You can’t do without
the knowledge they have obtained by their years of experience.
It’s not bad to be ambitious. But when we want to arrive
adulthood without the necessary preparations, we are bound to meet road blocks.
This was the experience of the prodigal son.
The first mistake the prodigal son made was “wrong timing”.
He thought he was big enough to make independent decisions for himself. That’s
how some young people think. They are through with university education so they
think they are now above every other person that they fail to listen to any
instruction. They jump out from the view of their parents after they have been
academically empowered. It’s a mistake.
The prodigal son was a lucky young man; he had inheritance
that he could inherit. Think about all the benefits you have enjoyed from your
parents. You’ve acquired education which they paid for, you ate their meals and
perhaps they have handed to you some startup capital for the business you
intend to pursue. You may receive money from them but you need their own
education too.
The education the prodigal son missed was resource
management and relationship managements. He had not learnt from his father
enough financial education to head out. Maybe he had attended the best schools
and thought his father’s knowledge was not worthwhile. When he got into the
real world, he saw it was a different ball game entirely.
The prodigal son took his new found wealth and went to a far
country where his parents will have no idea about him and where no one will try
to control him. He spent his wealth with friends without thinking it was going
to finish someday. This is how many young people are. They receive an
inheritance, sell them off and rather than invest the money, they buy cars,
flirt with the opposite sex and make many friends who lead them astray. Like
the prodigal son, they open their eyes someday to the reality of having
nothing.
The prodigal son was a thrift spender. He gathered all he
had and spent them all. He didn’t think about saving for the period of lack.
That’s the basic business sense but he was an absolute failure. He thought he
would always have it but the reality of life is that you can’t always eat your
cake and still keep it. The resources you have at your disposal are not just
for you to eat and enjoy with friends. They are also for keeps for when there
will be nothing.
The prodigal son lived a loose life. He had many friends
who plundered him. When his wealth finished, everyone disappeared. He was left
alone. He then realized he should have learnt a skill. He had to join himself to
the citizen of the country in which he stayed. Most young people realize their
wastefulness only after all the resources at their disposal had been wasted.
They realize they should have been working or doing a business, but they
realize too late.
The prodigal son discovered his mistakes. He still had a
father he could run to. But most young people don’t. Often inheritances are
shared after the death of the owner. If the inheritance is wasted, there is no
chance that it would be gotten back. They have to go through a horrible period
before they can get on their feet again if a second chance ever arrives.
That the prodigal son had a father didn’t guarantee him any
resources. He had lost his own share and all his father had was for his elder
brother who was too wise to hang around his father to learn and do what his
father told him to do.
It is wisdom to learn adequately before you jump into the
real life. Seize your education as a tool, seize the resources you have today.
The opportunities you have easy today may not arrive easily some few years down
the line.
Single hood is planning hood. Make the best of your time by
getting the education of life that only your parents can give you. Don’t let
them keep their knowledge to themselves. You will realize you need them. You
may be surprise in marriage that all the time you had to plan your future was
now that you are single.
If you are single, you are lucky!
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