I have always been of the opinion that If you give a man a fish you feed him for a day but If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime (Chinese Proverb). And this is because education is the most powerful thing you can give or have (but only when applied, which I will discuss later). This is why I would much rather sit and talk to a child for ten minutes about their day and what they learnt and what this means and how they can apply this to their daily life then give a child a chocolate bar or a computer game and send them off to fill their body and mind with junk. Yes, the child may prefer the chocolate bar and the computer game in the short term and may ‘resent’ the fact that I haven’t bought them this but what I have to say is worth a 100,000 chocolate bars and will benefit them for much longer than it takes them to devour, digest & eventually excrete a chocolate bar. Too often we give in to the easier option (the chocolate/computer game) to gratify the child’s ego when If we were to spend 10 minutes educating a child, they soon would be able to entertain themselves and would be applying their knowledge to life around them. And it is this applying of knowledge that is ABSAFRIGGENLUTELY POWERFUL!
Knowledge is worthless If knowledge is not applied or acted upon. You can have the most intelligent person in front of you who reads the Encyclopedia more than we read Facebook statuses but whose power is severely limited as he doesn’t act upon what he knows or apply it to his everyday life. Why would someone do this I hear you say?!!? Well it is similar to someone who knows like they know like they know their name that drinking a large quantity of alcohol could be potentially risky to their life but they still go ahead and do it. And it is also similar to someone who has a talent so great that the world would benefit ten fold to be aware of it but they hide it away due to fear of failure. Due to knowledge being so powerful, people can be very fearful of applying it or speaking up about it. Fear limits lives. Simple. And this is something I will talk about on future blogs. For now I just want you to think twice before you take the easier option of buying the chocolate bar in order to silence the child you are with and instead spend the time answering the curious child’s questions and filling the child’s mind with knowledge that will make him/her more powerful than a chocolate bar could ever dream of making them. The chocolate bar can then be given as a reward for when the child applies the knowledge you have given them correctly and a reward to you as well for empowering a young child’s mind. Because at the end of the day, we all know that chocolate is one of the best rewards we can give. One of being the operative words…;)
Thats all for now for my first blog…please let me know of any comments & how you found it…I appreciate any feedback and look forward to sharing my motivational & empowering thoughts with you all….remember, you all rock!!! 😉
Michellemovesmountains's Blog 
Very true and wise words Michelligan – I like the underlying theme here encouraging you to help not just yourself but also others to develop and move forward (taking 10 minutes out of your day to really speak to a child) rather than simply just massaging your own ego by dishing out a treat (give chocolate to a child and you are their new favourite person for a short while).
Education is truly the greatest tool we are blessed with – imagine a world where knowledge wasn’t passed on?
Thank you DanDan, If we ruled the world (which we will do!) the world would be a far happier place for sure 🙂
Great post! I was actually working on a speech talking about the exact same thing. I believe this is a huge lesson in life. I find that most people want life’s treasures without going the necessary process (learning) to achieve them. On and adult level, a great example is people who win the lottery. After winning millions, they often end up covered in debt. Because they got lucky making money, the only way they will make more is to get lucky again….but millionaire entrepreneurs can lose a million and make it right back because they have learned how to make it.
Way to fill everyone in on the HUGE life lesson! Keep it up!
Thank you, I am grateful for your support & encouragement! If everyone were to share their good knowledge with the next generation instead of feeding their minds and bodies with junk, we would have less crime & obesity, that is for sure. You and me Darius can start spreading the knowledge now and I know we will make a difference 🙂
Great message Michelle.
I have a 5 year old and will keep that message in mind.
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