Did you know that 8 million children between the ages of 6 and 14 in India are not enrolled in schools?
Further, data from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) shows that there are nearly 165 million child labourers in India. The bulk of them work as rag pickers and earn less than half a dollar a day. This was reported in the news yesterday (link).
In contrast, the kids in developed countries today experience abundance at a level probably not seen before in the history of mankind. Two meals or more a day is hardly an issue. Wants like notebooks, computers, mp3 players, gaming consoles, etc are easily within reach. Education and easy access to knowledge are almost like birthrights.
Yet in developed nations, we have delinquents who disregard the importance of studying, we have kids who would rather be YouTube-ing or Facebooking than educate themselves with depth. And we even have working adults who would rather be watching TV, surfing the web aimlessly or idling their time away in some time-wasting activity.
Learning deepens our thinking and enables us to progress further in Life. It cultivates our minds and makes us more refined and civilized people. It builds our self-esteem and strengthens our character. Think about it, our knowledge and thinking is what separates us from animals. It is that which separates the successful person who leads a fulfilling life from the man on street just hoping to get past the day.
The opportunity to learn is an aspect so often taken for granted. Many people overlook this when they complain about their conditions and whine about their lives. If you want your life to get better, you have to get better.
Commit to continually learning to improve your life. Someone out there is praying for the opportunity you now have.
Street Child Worker
Hmm… You’re right, of course. But experience tells me that guilt-tripping won’t work. Now, that’s not necessarily what you’re doing, but it might come across as such to others. Show me how to treasure my opportunity to learn. It’s when someone showed me that I increased my appreciation for learning. And increasing one’s appreciation for it actually enhances one’s capacity to learn from any given situation… because eventually you begin to see everything as an opportunity to learn. Don’t try to become an expert, a master, enlightened… try to become a beginner instead. Try to become a student. Learn how to learn, study how to study. Even as I type, I am learning. Now that’s a real way to have fun… a way to free ourselves and the world from suffering: to create happiness. Let us learn how to be happy – what could anyone wish to study more than that?
Link | September 26th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
Hi Louëlla,
Thanks for sharing. Yes, there is some hint of guilt-tripping intended in this article. In some ways, what that does is to jolt people out of their recurring patterns of wallowing in self-pity.
You know one of the most interesting things about people is their ability to reflect and improve their lives. That requires awareness and this article is intended to raise that awareness.
I agree that people need role models and examples because that will certainly help greatly in accelerating their endeavors. When they can get past their negative emotions, it will be easier to find these resources that they need.
By the way, thanks for your insightful comment – that allowed me to see this topic from another perspective too.
cheers
Daniel
Link | September 27th, 2009 at 4:21 am