Friend of the Poor

Yesterday, while I was looking for a book to read on the weekend, my eyes were fixed on a small book titled Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, I was hesitant for a moment or so before I made up my mind to go ahead with what I had just found, I never knew that it was written by Charles Dickens, I know his other books such as David Copperfield, Oliver Twist etc.

I began interestingly to read the preface of the book, it was mentioned that Charles Dickens drew attention to the bad social conditions of the poor in the nineteenth century England, Charles himself was born for a very poor family, his father ran heavily into debt, so when Charles was twelve, he had to work in a factory, that’s why he only received two years of formal education in a very poor school, and later he had to teach himself all he knew.

It was twenty four when he began writing his first novels for which he is now famous, the proactive Charles chose to be a famous novelist, to work hard day and night, dedicated only to achieving his goals, and making his dreams come true, he refused to give up to all harsh conditions that faced him, as a child he believed in himself, it was crystal clear that there was no other way to achieve one's goals without patience and pain, we have to resist being reactive, and to be free choosing our response to different stimuli, by being proactive we can be human beings.

One day, in his thick boots Charles was slowly walking with his worried father, when he suddenly stopped walking just in front of a very great palace, "one day, this will be our home, father," he told his father, his father was deep in thought at that moment, but he gave him a little smile, and they continued their walk.

Many years later, Charles was walking again near the gates of that beautiful palace, remembering what he told his father of that palace, but he never stopped, he entered and sat on a wooden chair, it was his favorite chair, he liked sitting there especially in spring, and his father never lived to be at home with him at that very moment, he wished his father was there to see his dream came true.


Lessons:

1. We have to be proactive, as being reactive is a characteristic of animals.
2. We have to endure pain to make our dreams come true.
3. We have to choose our response to different stimuli.