TAKE RISKS

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On a valentine’s day, my husband gave me a huge golden box that really thrilled me. Before I opened the secret golden box, he asked me to guess what was in it. If it was a small box, I would have guessed the golden box contained jewellery. But the box was too big for any kind of jewellery. After I refused to guess right, he asked me to open the golden box. Then I did, and when I saw the content of the big box, I became disappointed. The big golden box contained a cream and brown teddy bear. Although the teddy bear was beautiful, I didn't appreciate it because I was not a teddy bear fan. I tried to wear a fragile smile just to cover up my dissatisfaction. But he became aware of the fragile smile, and he asked if I liked it, I lied to him that I liked it. I noticed he dipped his hand into his pocket and brought out a golden box, but this time a small one. He didn't ask me to guess before I opened it. This time my fragile smile turned into laughter. It was a shining gold chain with a pendant. The pendant was in heart shape. He asked if I liked it, then I shouted that I loved it. The chain with the pendant went with me any where I went, but I made the teddy bear to sit in one corner of our matrimonial bed room. The teddy sat still for some years that I imagined it would pray to be mobile.  But after Honey joined the family, the teddy bear became too mobile that the teddy bear would prefer to go back to its stillness. 

Honey joined the family after two years of my marriage. When she was four, she carried the teddy bear any where she went, even to the toilet. One morning, I went into her small bathroom and I saw the poor teddy bear drowning. Quickly, I rescued the teddy bear from the bath filled with water, and then I took it out to dry. After the teddy bear got dried, I decided to keep the teddy bear in a place where her small hands and legs wouldn't reach. I kept the teddy bear on a table in my study room, furnished specially for me by my husband because he knew I loved to read. One day, to my surprise, I noticed my daughter had the teddy bear I kept away from her. Quickly, I went to my study to be sure I wasn't seeing something else and I discovered that the teddy bear had truly disappeared from the table where I kept it. Then I started thinking of how she was able to reach it. If my husband was home, then I could guess how the teddy bear got in her hand. Many questions rushed through my mind. How on earth was she able to stretch her small hands to get that teddy bear on the table that I thought would be too high for her?

I took the teddy bear from her again after she disfigured it by removing the left ear. This time I kept it on a shelf above the table. Two days after, I met my daughter in the study room struggling to climb the chair after she had successfully climbed the table in front of the chair that I never thought she could climb. I watched carefully how she overcame the obstacle to climb the table, and then I was moved by her courage. Quickly, I grabbed her so that she wouldn't fall and I helped her to get the teddy bear from the shelf, and then she smiled and I smiled back at her. At that moment, I thought of many courageous things children do out of naivety.  The picture of a little boy who ran after his ball even when the ball was close to a river quickly flashed my mind, but I doubted if the boy after some years would have the courage to be able to run after his ball when the ball was close to the river. Fear of drowning would keep him from achieving the goal of having his ball back.

I started thinking of so many things I had left undone because of the fear of taking risk and I realised that as I grow, I become aware of so many negative things like death, failure, accidents which result in fear that kept me from chasing after my aspirations. My little girl had the courage to climb the high table because she didn't nurse the fear that she would fall in her mind.  Then I realised how much I need to drive away fear from my mind and be courageous like my little girl who could do anything in her strength to overcome any obstacle that came her way in order to have the teddy she desired.