MANY YEARS AGO, in the wee hours of one morning my dad
woke me up for a serious talk. I don’t specifically remember the year, but what
I do remember is that I was still in high school at the time - so it’s a LONG
time ago.
Papa has a very admirable ritual of
waking up in the early hours of the morning to read and pray (I’m not sure if
revealing this detail about him is a violation of his privacy, but I hope he doesn’t
mind). If you were spending a night in our home and you woke up just before
dawn, you are more often than not, likely to find Papa in the lounge on his
knees praying or reading.
I think it was on this particular morning that before or
after having poured his heart out to God that he woke me up. I was still drowsy
with sleep, but I can never forget what he asked me and what he told me, and
the following is an abridged and paraphrased version of the conversation.
Perhaps calling it a conversation is not really accurate since very little was
said from my side:
Livhu, I remember
how you used to always go to church services and leadership conferences with
your notepad and Bible. You used to enjoy taking notes. What changed? (I don’t
remember answering that question; but he went on). I want to read a small passage from a book I’m reading.
Papa then opens one of John C. Maxwell’s (I think it was) leadership books
and reads a passage where I assume the author was talking about investing one’s
time and leadership resources. Maxwell then relates a story of how one day when
addressing a leadership conference or some such, he encountered a dedicated
young man, who’d been attending the conference with so much eagerness. The
young man left a lasting impression on the author that at some point during his
address Maxwell deviated a little bit to speak directly to the young man.
Papa continues reading to me directly from the book.
Maxwell speaking directly to the young man, says something along the lines of
the following (please forgive me if the integrity of that speech is compromised
– this was close to 15 years ago when this was read to me, but this record
forms the essence of what I remember from the passage):
Kevin*, ever since
I met you, I have been impressed by your sense of eagerness and pursuit of
leadership matters. I met you during the intervals and I have been moved by the
dedication you have shown. I want to encourage you to continue seeking
knowledge. It might take you a while, but one day, maybe 15-20 years from
today, you will start seeing the benefits of having invested in yourself.
After reading this passage, Papa then urged me to
reignite my passion for investing in my self-development. And thus ended our “conversation”.
I turned 30 two days ago and as one would expect, there
was some deep introspection and reflection that would normally come with
reaching this milestone. I couldn’t help but to be drawn to this unusual conversation
with my old man, so many years after it had occurred.
Roughly 15 years have passed since we had that
conversation, and I feel a little guilty that I have not invested in myself as
much as I should have. But with the same token, there is so much that I can be
truly grateful for and my focus for the next 30 years is to invest more in
self-development.
But I figure the best way to start investing in myself is
in what I learned way back at home, from my old man, and that is spending time
on my knees. I think everything flows from that.
*I can't remember the young man's name
