Contest: If I Could Change One Thing

I sat down at one corner, counting the small money which remain in my pocket after one week of flexing. I look at the crumpled notes, and ask myself: “Why I didn't know how to manage money that time? Why I spend like there's no tomorrow?” That kind of thought is heavy because money problems really affect everybody. Sometimes the mistake we make with money can shape our life than anything else.

I wish that I can change the way I spend money anyhow when I first start to earn my salary. That time, I work at one small company, they pay me steady income every month . Instead for me to make big save and invest, I use it to buy different styles of modern clothes, enjoy with my friends.

In my mind I feel that the money will always flow, I didn't reason that rainy days can come. However if I could just rewind back that time, I would have hold that money tight, save it, and use it in a wise way.

I wish can change it because it later show me some difficulty in life. When the company was no more, I didn't have savings, no plan, I didn't have anything to fall back on. My mates which was serious that time use their savings to start small business—some sell recharge card, some did provision shop. While I was walking up and down looking for a new job.

What went wrong is that i allow enjoyment and peer pressure to carry me away. I do feel that life is cruise, but I didn't know that cruise do end, and reality comes. I didn't have discipline, I didn't focus, I just live my life anyhow. Yes truly ,i can say that this is the great mistake back then which I regret today.

However, the biggest lesson which I learn is that money which you didn't respect can later disgrace you. If you earn, no matter how small it is , you suppose to plan very well. I also learn that bad company can destroy a person future. If you follow people which don't have plans, you might end up like them.

Another lesson is that discipline is very important than enjoyment. If you are young, and you don't discipline yourself, you can waste your future. That experience teach me that life is sow and reap. So however, no doubt what a person just sow today, is what he or she will reap tomorrow ahead.

That moment was what makes me serious when I had another job and today. Because of that mistake, I don't play with any opportunity again and I am open to savings and investment. If I see a chance to learn something, I will grab it. If I work, I put my mind there very well. I don't allow bad friends to carry me astray again.

The struggle which I pass through makes me humble. It teach me that life is not easy, but if you determined, you can still rise. Today, I use that lesson to guide my younger ones and friends. Anytime I see them playing with their future, I sit them down and tell them my story. I do tell them “don't waste your chance, because tomorrow might be hard than what you see today.”

That past mistake is what shape me into a better person. It pain me, but it also build me. That's why I always say that sometimes failure is the best teacher, because it will force you to change your way.

So in all, life is a journey which is full of ups and downs. The one thing which you wish that you can change in your past can be your biggest lesson today. The real question is: will you allow that mistake to break you, or you will use it to build yourself too?

Cc:
@steem4nigeria