We often hear people speaking about the spirit of poverty or the curse of poverty. Also we hear things like “the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer.” So, we have to ask why poverty is such a trap? Why is the virtues or sins of the father so often transferred to the son?
I contest that you can take almost any successful person, strip them of every possession they have and dump them in a place where they don’t know anyone. Within five years, that person will once again have a relatively successful life. Why? Because there are secrets to life that we are taught, or in many cases not taught. Mostly we are not aware of the things we learn. It is not a Matric certificate or university degree that gives a person a chance- it is his or her personality. In our personality and character lie all the elements that will increase or decrease our freedom to choose to live an excellent life.
That is the goal of Life Skills; to teach the things many ‘pick up’ due to exposure to excellent people. Whether parents, teachers, pastors, friends or colleagues there are individuals from whom we learned to work in a team, to communicate, to reflect, to help others, to forgive, to be creative, to have perseverance. Who did you learn from? Do you think the average person has had better or less exposure to these real life teachers? In the absence of family, school or church, it is still possible for the youth to teach each other.
Accumulatively, almost any group of youngsters has more than enough insight, experience and skills to make a huge success. Two factors are important however: first, the little each person has must be shared and secondly, a new peer pressure needs to be created, where each individual learns to do the good things they know. Life-Skills is not about gaining knowledge, it is about changing the way we behave- adopting rhythms and disciplines that will set us up for success.