The Newspaper story
- icmarquez
- Sep 3, 2018
- 4 min read
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A man is busy working at home when his 5-year-old child comes into his study enthusiastically. The child asks his Dad if they can go to the park.
The Dad in the middle of his work tries to resist his son’s requests but the child persists, and with frustration, the Dad looks around him and lifts up a newspaper and opens it up to double page picture of a map of the world.
He then pulls out the map, and tears it up into handfuls of small pieces and gives them to his son.
He then says “After you put together this map of the world, then we will go to the park.” His son took the pieces of the newspaper in both hands and scurried eagerly over to the other side of the room and set to without delay.
The Dad knew that his son had no idea what a map of the world looked like, and thinking it would take him ages he got back to his work.
Five minutes later his son ran across to his Dad, “I’m finished! I did it!”, he said, “Can we go to the park now?”
The Dad thought his son was making it up, but on the floor was the map of the world assembled perfectly.
“How did you finish this so quickly?” he asked his son.
“It was easy, Daddy” said the boy as he turned over the pieces one at a time, and on the other side of the world map was a photograph of a man.
“You see, Daddy, when you put the man back together the whole world falls into place."
Disclaimer: Story above is not mine.
Maturity
There are two lessons in this story, one is thinking outside the box to find solutions to problems, and another is maturity.
What struck me in the story above is the last sentence,“When you put the man back together the whole world falls into place.”
I am passionate about personal growth and I highly believe in changing the world by changing ourselves.
As individuals, we only have complete responsibility and control over ourselves. We cannot change others.
Over the years, I have seen this rampant problem of finger-pointing. People try to blame everything and everyone but themselves. This leads to distrust and damaged relationships. There are times that I find myself guilty of this too.
Let’s be honest, the truth is that the world does not revolve around us and it will continue to go on with or without us.
It’s about time that we stop playing the victim game and take responsibility. Let us be accountable to our actions and to our roles.
Everyone is called to be a leader, and being a leader means we need to mature. But then, what does it even mean to be matured?
Being mature means to be accountable to our responsibilities, to the people around us and to our commitments to them.
It takes maturity to make and embrace life’s commitments, recognizing that there are consequences when we fail to meet them.
Do you know what is required of you as a son or daughter? Are you embracing this requirement?
Do you know what is required of you as a brother or sister? Are you embracing this requirement?
Do you know what is required of you as a spouse? Are you embracing this requirement?
Do you know what is required of you as a parent? Are you embracing this requirement?
Do you know what is required of you as part of a team or group? Are you embracing this requirement?
Do you know what is required of you by your customers? Are you embracing this requirement?
Do you know what is required of you as a person living in a free society? Are you embracing this requirement?
To be mature means to face the gap between what our accountabilities need us to be and who we are at the moment.
Then identifying what steps we need to take in bridging that gap and start working on it.
To share with you, this is one of the reasons why I started reading books in the year 2016 (not just any book but those that have value in helping me become more effective in contributing to society and fulfilling my roles).
Did you know that books contain decades of experience from the authors? It helps us navigate through different experiences that others have already gone through which we may have not yet experienced.
So I encourage you to ask yourself:
Can you see yourself as a mature person?
If you had a child, would you want your child to grow up like you?
What steps are you taking to bridge the gap between the person you need to be and who you are currently?
This is not to say that we need to be perfect. Rather, it is about pursuing excellence in all areas of our life.
Excellence is an attitude where you are always willing to give and try your very best. Remember that maturity is not measured by age. You can be a 40 year old male or female yet still act like a boy or a girl rather than a man or a woman.
I have seen many young people who are mature enough to take on whatever challenges life will give them.
Let's be vigilant in what information we take in for ourselves and the relationships we cultivate. Let's maximize our time because it is urgent that we grow in maturity given the ever demanding and increasing complexity of everyday life today.
Let's do everything to the best of our abilities in this journey of life - to the race set before us.
On a final note, let's not rely on ourselves but rely on God to sustain and direct us to whichever He calls us to.
Scripture References:
Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and look, there’s a log in your eye? Hypocrite! First take the log out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
Matthew 7:3-5 HCSB
Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. For we are each responsible for our own conduct.
Galatians 6:4-5 NLT
Every one of us, then, will have to give an account to God.
Romans 14:12 GNB
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