All work and no play is said to make Jack a dull boy. That is something I have heard since like forever. This goes to imply that one should endeavour to take some time to rest while they are working on something. But could this be considered a principle? Can it work for everyone?
To some people, taking a gap year sounds like bliss. They want nothing more than to take a break, afterall, they have been working hard at chasing their dreams, academic pursuits and career pursuits. Truly, when you look at things from their perspective, it would seem like their decision to take a break is justified.
To some other people, they choose to take a gap year from pursuing a major project, to pursue a small scale goal. This is also not a bad thing in itself, as long as the major goal is not later abandoned or relegated to the back seat.
I am a person who believes in seeing things to the end. Once I commence a project, every other thing will be put on hold so that I can achieve the current project at hand. I am someone that places all my focus on a particular thing per time.
That doesn't mean that I cannot multi-task. I can but there are certain things and projects that need full attention for it to be successful. Taking a gap year is not solved that I would normally do except if something beyond my control occurs.
My reason for saying this is that life happens. You might decide to take a gap year and it turns to ten years in a blink of an eye. Let's take the academic aspect for instance….
A young man, after completing his secondary school education, decides to stay at home for one year before deciding to take the necessary examinations and seek admission into the university. He would soon discover other things that might cause his attention to drift from furthering his education.
Before long, five years would have passed by before he would realize that he needs to further his education and get his degree. Things like this happen a lot, especially here in my country. I have had so many students who finished their secondary school education in the year 2021 and till date, they are not in school. I see them wandering about from one street to another. Only a few of them are in school about to round up.
Strike the iron while it is hot.
This idiom holds much truth. Strike the iron while it is hot implies doing what you need to do at the right time. In my local slang, it would be said like this ”as e dey hot”. Time waits for nobody and as such, you need to do what you need to do and get it done with.
This would also help to curb procrastination from creeping in. If I were to take a gap year, don't be surprised if that gap year turns to ten years. Yeah, I can be pretty lazy at times. That feeling of doing nothing is so enticing and satisfying and once I'm in that mode, it takes the grace of God to bring me out, hehe.
Hence, I can't take a gap year to go do some other things. This is also why I don't take on lengthy goals per time. I plan on goals within a reasonable time period and if for any reason, I embark on lengthy goals like schooling, then I'd stick with it, pending all other things.
I can change my mind about this of course if the finances are in abundance or someone is willing to sponsor those side projects financially for me lol, but if all the financial resources is going to be coming from my pocket, then I'll take things one step at a time and see it to the end without a pause in between.
Thanks for reading. This is my entry to the #hivelearners initiative for week176 e03.
Images are mine.
