Strive and Success

Back in the 1930s there once lived a man who had a kind and loving heart. He was also very smart, eventhough he did not get much formal education. As he was quite smart, he was offered the chance to be a school teacher - a job most people at that time was racing for. Yet because he was smart, he declined the offer and became a fisherman instead because he knew if he worked hard as a fisherman he could earn more money than being an ordinary teacher.

He had a wife and eleven small children to look after, so he worked hard day in and day out and although they were not rich, his family were content living the simple life. His children worked as well doing all sorts of small jobs so that they can earn extra pocket money. But being the smart man that he is, he insisted that all his children must go to school, and in fact he even made them continue on the English stream secondary school which meant that his kids had to move to the city and live independently at such a tender age.

Sending children to school at that point in time was not a choice many people would make especially from where they came from. In fact his children were the only ones from his village who made it into secondary school. The cost of education at that time was quite high considering their income, but it was a sacrifice he was willing to make.

There is a lot more to this story, but suffice to say the man's sacrifice was worth every penny and every sweat it took because years and years later, his children succeeded in life, lived well, and who would have imagined the children from that small fishing village even managed to set their foot on London grounds.

"I would not be who I am today if it wasn't for my father's sacrifice, and for his determination to send me off to school when other people sneered at his actions. I never thought I would one day drive a big car back to my hometown, live in a big house and able to travel the world. I wish he could see all this now.." said one of his sons as he gazed at the city lights from the deck of his new three-storey house.

That man lived until he was 98 years old and remained in good health up until the day he died. His children were all around him as he took his last breath. He had a challenging and difficult life in the beginning, but towards the end of his life he lived in comfort and he was truly happy.

I have to remind myself of this story when I feel that life is getting too difficult to handle. I am at a point where everything is happening at once and sometimes I feel like throwing in the towel. What with settling into our new house, the arrival of our first child, settling into a new career and starting on the Masters programme, and above all just trying to adapt into a whole new life after the big move from the other side of the world. Sure it all sounds exciting, it may even sound too good to be true to some, but only God knows how difficult it has been to get to where I am right now and at times I am not too sure if I will have the strength to pull through to the end.

But I guess struggle and strive comes before success. I hope that in the end, everything will fall into place and we'll live happily ever after...