Opinion / Columnist
What I learnt from a misplaced exercise book
09 Jul 2018 at 18:20hrs | Views
Some time ago, I took a pile of books from a certain class to my classroom for marking. The next morning I asked one of the learners who had come early to take that pile of books and go with it to the class I had taken the books from. The boy took some few minutes looking for the books. I asked him why he was taking so long to follow my instruction and he told me he couldn't find them.
I told him that, that was impossible because I had marked the books the previous day. I went to check for the books myself and indeed I couldn't find them. I told the learner to go and ask in that class if anyone had collected their books from my class, but it was not so. I started to think that maybe I had left the books in one of the classes I taught. It became a mystery how books could disappear just like that. This was vanity of vanities and chasing after wind.
After some hours, it was discovered that the books I had been searching for were actually in my class! The trick that had caused all the confusion was that the book that was on top of that pile was a wrong book, it belonged to a different class. The pile of books I had been looking for was just underneath that misplaced book which had misled me. I took that misplaced book from the books I had been looking for and put it to its correct pile and then took that pile of books beneath it to that particular class. What a relief! But all the sweating and toiling seeking for that pile of books had been caused by one lost book which was on top the pile of books I wanted!
How many of us fail to find the right pile of books beneath that one wrong book? So we go around judging people by our first impressions and not bother to check again if our assumptions are correct? The fact that you saw someone not doing something right doesn't mean that he is always wrong, maybe giving him a chance would prove that he is actually a great man. Jumping into conclusion that the whole pile is missing based on a single wrongly placed book at the top may cost you dearly. At times it pays greatly to give people a second chance, check again beneath that top misplaced book (character /personality /attitude), deep down he/she may be the correct pile you have been seeking for!
#GwiziTheMotivator gwizimotivator@yahoo.com
I told him that, that was impossible because I had marked the books the previous day. I went to check for the books myself and indeed I couldn't find them. I told the learner to go and ask in that class if anyone had collected their books from my class, but it was not so. I started to think that maybe I had left the books in one of the classes I taught. It became a mystery how books could disappear just like that. This was vanity of vanities and chasing after wind.
How many of us fail to find the right pile of books beneath that one wrong book? So we go around judging people by our first impressions and not bother to check again if our assumptions are correct? The fact that you saw someone not doing something right doesn't mean that he is always wrong, maybe giving him a chance would prove that he is actually a great man. Jumping into conclusion that the whole pile is missing based on a single wrongly placed book at the top may cost you dearly. At times it pays greatly to give people a second chance, check again beneath that top misplaced book (character /personality /attitude), deep down he/she may be the correct pile you have been seeking for!
#GwiziTheMotivator gwizimotivator@yahoo.com
Source - Mthokozisi Gwizi
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