A baby emerges from the womb crying shrilly. This is a phenomenon. The reason? Is it hunger? Does it feel lonely? Has it regretted that it has left the comfort of a warm and quiet apartment – The Womb? Does it see something fearful in its new environment?
Yes, all babies cry at birth. Those with strong jaws wail as if they had been starved for the whole nine months they had been in that wonderful enclosure.
Some old women, however, observe that some babies, who are victims of reincarnation only cry briefly at birth. Such babies usually have some tell-tale signs on them, such as circumcision, tribal marks, etc.
This may be true, because, in my own town, one of my play-mates with whom we played marbles was born circumcised neatly. He is now a family man, calm, humble and hard working. This is interpreted by old women to mean that the young man had had experience in life before.
Babies cry at birth, perhaps, mainly because they see the world as a very vast stage, and they wonder as to whether they would be able to play their part well to give meaning to its existence.
A baby considers its arrival from the Womb as the beginning of a long, tortuous journey along the Highway of Life to the Tomb. This thought seems to frighten it to the extent that it registers its frustration and disappointment with a shrill cry at birth.
It, however, stops crying when it realises that life is neither so bad at its worst that it is not impossible to live, nor is it so good at its best that it is easy to live. With determination, perseverance, and tenacity of purpose, therefore, it hopes to swim safely ashore till its exit at the other end – The Tomb.
You can make your journey through life a glorious one through your own efforts. Some people think that life is all roses. Thus, when their efforts at doing something do not yield dividends, they become frustrated and disappointed, forgetting that even “roses” have thorns.
Some people think that the beginning of life is not hard, but the end. I beg to differ. There are certain things you must do in order to achieve success during your journey from Womb to Tomb.
Yes, there is a saying; seeming no gainsaying; but to me it is mean! The beginning of life, they say, is without strife; I say it is rather hard. The end must not be bad. It is like an early swimmer; for him to be a winner; he must start with strong strokes to act as success spokes.
Life is categorised into four main stages:
- The Childhood stage, where character is moulded
- The school and other vocational training stage where preparations are made to earn income
- The productive stage, where you work for income using your training acquired from the second stage
- The Old age stage, where you settle down to enjoy the fruits of your labour
Thus, when the first three stages are misused, it can adversely affect the last stage – the Old Age. When it is thought that the first stage needs support, both financial and moral, then parents and guardians must realise the weighty responsibility on their shoulders. This is because it is during that stage that children are helpless. They can’t decide on their own, they are simply childish in everything.
When they are sick, they must be attended to. When they put up any bad behaviour, they must be brought onto the correct path, so that they will not depart from it when they grow up (Proverbs 22:6).
Pampering children simply means preparing them for a life of tears in some cases. This is because a pampered child cannot easily adjust to new environment devoid of the good things he/she is accustomed to. For instance, when the source of pampering ceases, such as the death of his/her mother, he/she is helpless and miserable, more so when the father marries another woman, who cannot tolerate the child’s bad behaviours developed out of an agenda of pampering.
Neglecting the child too can also adversely affect his future when he can’t get anybody to help him develop his talents.
In both situations, responsible parenthood is the way out. As the saying goes, “Too much of everything is bad.” Thus, over-pampering can damage the child’s future.
It is not, indeed, enough to produce children. They must be catered for to enable them enter the second stage with confidence. The numerous street children is a situation indicating the fact that some parents and guardians have been shirking their responsibilities towards these sweet little Angels called children. This makes it necessary for men to prepare themselves financially before they think of producing children.
The second stage of training partly depends on parents and guardians, who must see to the financial aspect. After this, the rest should be taken up by the trainees themselves, who should put up good behaviours, such as students avoiding “aluta continua.”
The attention of the youth must be drawn to this stage. Much depends on them. They should use the training they got from home profitably and devote themselves to their books and any type of training they may be engaged in.
As the saying goes “Time and tide wait for no man.” Mother Time is intolerant of lazy and carefree people. She just can’t wait for you to fool about. She will just pass by you and leave you behind. Before you realise your folly, that part of your life is past and gone forever!
After wasting that of your training stage, how are you going to cope with the productive life? This part is the most hectic of all the stages; it is very lengthy too!
There is a very important responsibility for both man and woman at this productive stage, it involves MARRIAGE, which makes people serious with life. Every normal person looks forward to it in order to settle down and raise a family.
A woman who refuses to marry and allows herself to be sucked dry by the world, should not expect a rosy old age. In the same vein, a man who goes about producing children without caring for them should not hope for a successful old age.
Children are expected to be a supporting rod for their parents during the latter’s old age. But they can’t do this when they are neglected during their training stage in life. They can only be supportive to their parents if they are in gainful employment.
The beginning of life is really hard and uncertain. Take, for instance, a man who is desirous to marry and settle down to raise a family. He meets a woman whom he considers to be suitable to go through life with.
He gives her his full attention, feeding and clothing her during even the period of courtship, till they finally come under a common roof as man and wife.
As time goes on things begin to fall apart when the man disappointingly realises that his lady perfectly succumbs to the Shakespearean observation of “All that glitters is not gold.” She happens to be insolent, lazy and, generally, disrespectful. To add insult to injury, she is unfaithful, sometimes using the matrimonial bed for daylight “Rock ‘N’ Roll” sessions with her extra-marital partners.
With frustration, the young husband divorces her: This means going all over again to find a suitable wife, and this is not easy at all. The same thing can happen to a young woman burning with desire to settle down with a husband, but meets an irresponsible man. This confirms the fact that the beginning of life is harder than the end.
In some cases, you get this work and get no progress. You leave it for another, but still things are in a mess –“basaa”. You may decide to establish your own business, but where is the capital? You want to settle down with a wife, but you realise you have a weak financial base and you always brood over this with endless signs of frustration, should you happen to be one of those people who are weak-willed where failures are concerned.
Yes, the beginning of life is rather hard, but not the end, that is, when you are old. When you are able to come out of the numerous challenges characteristic of the beginning of life, then you expect your old age to be “Heaven on earth.”
The wife you became faithful to all the years, prior to your old age, will be around to give you the needed company. The children you took pains to care for will be competing in looking after you. Your married daughters and their husbands are also there to see to your comfort.
How thrilling to see your grandchildren playing around you. Such periods of joy and contentment will certainly elude you if you misuse your youthful days, especially, your training and productive stages; if you can’t see the need to marry, have children and look after them to a respectable stage, etc.
God, the Compassionate, The Omniscient and the Omnipotent created us for a purpose. Let us avoid folding our arms on our chests and make our presence in the world meaningful right from the beginning, so that we may have a comfortable end and peace of mind before we clasp our hands on our chests in death – that is arriving at our final destination, The Tomb, from the Womb.
PERISCOPE WISHES GHANAIANS PEACEFUL ELECTIONS NEXT MONDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2020.
By Godfried K. Arhin-Kumi
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect The Chronicle’s stance.
The post Periscope (Advocate against cheating and of peaceful co-existence) From Womb to Tomb appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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