Gratitude or Repayment

I don't think we actually owe our parents everything; we mainly owe them gratitude. Parents sacrifice a lot. For parents that really do, they feed us, care for us, and sometimes give up their own comfort so we can grow. That's something we should never forget, and it deserves respect and love. But at the same time, children didn't ask to be born; life is not a loan we must spend our lives paying back.

In most African homes, it is as if the parents gave birth to their children so they can spend the rest of their lives paying them back or as if they did the children a favor bringing them into the world. By any chance you are not meeting up, you become a child they regret having.

Currently there is this trend of single mothers and fathers who just give birth with the mindset that whether I train my child or not, they will still take care of me, and even if they refuse, the world will tag them as ungrateful and unforgiving. That's why we have plenty of deadbeat mothers and fathers in our generation.

It's this mindset that has caused so many youth to join all manner of evil to make quick money to repay their parents. I overheard my neighbor's seventeen-year-old daughter tell the mother about an elderly man that is disturbing her at her workplace, making promises to buy her an iPhone, and that she has reported the man to her boss.

Her mother asked what her boss said. She told her mother that her boss confronted the man and asked him to stay away from her. That's how the mother got upset and said that she was not smart; she would have told her first, and she would have guided her on how to collect the phone from the man. The girl got upset and asked her if she gave birth to her for her to use her body to feed her. Can't she be like her sister, who has something to do?

Like this lady, some parents want their kids to live their lives exactly how they want them to, from their career to their marriage, or even send them money while their child is still struggling. The main goal is to say thank you and support your parents when you can but not lose yourself in the process; it is still them that will laugh at you if you fail. Gratitude doesn't mean giving up your life; it means honoring them while you still live your own life.

Images is mine

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