Greetings, everyone!
To start with, looking around at our societal norms, we have seen rules and laws governing our State, starting from our homes, school, and our place of work, there are rules set for the organizations.
From what we have seen of our parents, some of them will give a choice of studies we should study at school, like law, medicine, and surgery, and more. Looking at that as a child who has a field or course in mind to study, what will you do at this point? I like the fact that some would suggest or give children the freedom to pick what they want to study at school and then guide them. Some parents will enforce it; this is what you will study, and it is hard and discouraging when it gets to this point. Still at home, you are not supposed to go out with your friends to study. I could recall how my Dad slapped me just for stepping out to my female house to stay and read. He gave me a dirty slap. In my mind, do I not have the free will to go anywhere I want? Why am I bound in the house from morning to night, without smelling outside? Do we still have these kinds of rules or laws in our families? How do we relate to our children, the same thing in our offices.
Recently, my mom called me and told me, 'I hope you are not applying for a teaching job, you have heard and seen what has happened in Nigeria with the students and teachers'. In my mind, I was like, even if I applied for a teaching job, nothing would happen to me. I am not leaving with my parents, but still, they want to go to some implementation.
Let's come to our society, they always want you to do this or that for their satisfaction. I finished NYSC, and I decided to stay in the State I served to do a job and people were like, are you not supposed to come back home and do this and that? Hmmm. I said to myself, I have my free will, and I will make my decision as long as it will not harm or break me. I will stay. I have grown to know what is good and bad. It's good for people to give you direction and guidance but you have to take your stand. God has given us the ability to make decisions, but they should be for good, not evil. There are consequences and you must be ready to take full responsibility.
In all, with the structured rules and laws, we have our free will and we should be able to make our own decisions rightly. Our society shouldn't decide the date and season we should get married, or the type of job we should go for, or where we should stay, or the number of children. It's enough.
It's time to have our free will and established with it firmly.
This is my response to the Hivelearners featured contest week 221 episode 3