The Most Valuable Inheritance

"When I was very little, my father used to say, "If you are alive, there is hope for a better day and something good to happen. If there is nothing good left in the destiny of a person, he or she will die." I thought about these words during my journey, and they kept me moving even when I didn't know where I was going. Those words became the vehicle that drove my spirit forward and made it stay alive."

I am reading the book, "A Long Way Gone: memoirs of a boy soldier", by Ishmael Beah. His recollection of life in Sierra Leone is a brutally honest one, that will send shivers up any reader's spine. Ishmael fled from rebels that destroyed his community and his innocence, was picked up by the government army at the age of thirteen, and for three years did hardcore drugs, killed people, and watched his friends get shot by bullets and explosives that could have just as easily taken his life.

In speaking this quote to Ishmael, his father gave him hope from a very young age. Hope that as long as he was alive, the future held something worth living for. Even during times when he did not feel anything, and did not feel alive, the words his father spoke to him kept his 'spirit' living. While reading, I am constantly shocked at what a strong person Ishmael is, and I often forget that I am reading about a teenage boy because what he had to face is almost unbelievable. At times just imagining some of the things he describes puts me in shock or brings me to tears. He had his fair share of traumatizing experiences and reasons to give up, but he made it through.

I think the book has really humbled me, and made me more appreciative of the life that I have been given. Every problem I have seems minuscule compared with what the authour had to deal with. I am almost ashamed of myself for some of the things I have been upset over in the past, and definitely for taking certain aspects of my life for granted. I am only half way through the book and already its effect on me has been stronger than I expected. I feel that by including this quote in his book, Ishmael Beah shared a bit of his father's wisdom with me, and has given me hope that good things are still to come. I am hopeful that by posting this quote on the blog, you will also look at life with renewed hope.