Family is one of the pillars of life. It is the one thing you know is always going to be around no matter what. I call it a gift from God, life’s way of giving you a head start in the world.
Everything you learned as a kid, from walking, talking, eating, taking a bath and everything in between, you learned from your family. In most cases it is your mother and father, in some cases it is your grandmother or grandfather, siblings, aunts and uncles and those that became family by choice. People really need to appreciate and respect their families more; they help make you who you are to a larger extent.
For now I want to address the valuable advice they give us. That is something I personally think the youth and general population, take for granted. No one is really self-made; we live and stand on the shoulders of the valuable advice and wisdom of our families and those before them. With that said there is some bogus advises we have been fed throughout the years. Like the advice that you are entitled to your own opinion, there is some justice to it, but no you are not. Some opinions are stupid, baseless and defamatory. I have realised that some of the people, mostly the youth, are convinced that their opinions are valid and important and proudly share them on any matter, no matter how little they know about it. They have an opinion on it, because “somebody” said they are entitled to it. For an opinion to be valid and important it has to be informed, you cannot say that ‘that’ wealthy man got his riches because he sacrificed his wife or children. Such statements or opinions are the results of common sense being replaced by nonsense in homes.
Another piece of advice is that money does not buy you happiness, there is some justice to it, but it is not true either. Am sure we could all do with some extra cash, give N$1000 to any young adult and I bet they will smile and feel a tingle of happiness inside. There are a lot of things that could be made better in life with money. Money can buy experiences with friends and families like traveling and Go-karting; such experiences bring happiness to both the receiver and the giver. Am not advocating for greed and materialism, but money can definitely finance your happiness.
Our future will always be in the hands of those responsible for us, until we become responsible on our own and then the future will be in our own hands. Until then we will always appreciate the advice of our parents and elders and take it to heart were necessary.
While no one really knows what the future holds for us, there are two things I can confidently count on. One is that life goes on, and secondly family will always be around in good and in bad times.
* Olavi Popyeinawa has a Diploma in Alternative Dispute Resolution and is currently studying law, LLB at the University of Namibia (Unam). He will be contributing this column every week on youth matters. Instagram: niceguy_olavi Facebook: Olavi Longfellow Twitter: @OlaviPopyeinawa