On ‘Learning from our Past Mistakes’ By Mwangi Ndegwa

As I write this, it has been raining for the past two and a half weeks and much as many were praying and...


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As I write this, it has been raining for the past two and a half weeks and much as many were praying and hoping for the rains, it has turned out to be like a “curse” in some areas. There have been several reported deaths and destruction of property.

Listening to those in authority speak, you may think that this is the first time we have had heavy rains. In fact. we all behave and react as if this is the first time we are seeing rains. The sad state of affairs is that just three weeks ago, the famine had been declared a national disaster with the reason being… you guessed right, lack of rainfall. This leaves one at a loss because when there is a prolonged dry spell, people and livestock die, when rains arrive, people and livestock die. The question then is, what is good for us?

I believe with the levels of education and the brains in this country, we should not find ourselves in this helpless position. Why do we have  power rationing during drought and yet solar power is free? Why is it after the long rains, we have no food because we don’t have water to grow our crops? Why is it during the rainy season, we have water shortage? Any person or people who don’t learn from their mistakes are bound to repeat them in future with devastating consequences. The reason that we keep having the same cycle year in, year out is because we simply do not learn from our past mistakes of omission or commission.

This same scenario plays out in our personal lives. Many of us have been caught up in a web whereby we keep the wrong company, or make wrong business decisions which leave us with serious losses then months or years down the line, we repeat the same. Mistakes are supposed to be a teacher but when they become repetitive, then there is a serious problem which needs urgent attention. All the successful people have failure as their foundation stone but their latter days are different from their former days because they applied the lessons they learnt during their times of failure. I write this to many of us so we don’t fall into this trap. Life is very unforgiving and if we don’t apply the practical lessons it gives us, it will turn around and punish us severely.

We are seeing so many young people living lives of regret and complaining that the world is unfair to them unknown to them, society and the world owes them nothing and they have to put in a lot of effort in their studies, business or places of work but above all else, learning from their mistakes. Remember that your future will question you on about what you did with your past and present, so  make proper use of today because it will be tomorrow’s yesterday. To read more posts by Mwangi, click HERE
Photo courtesy of Kenya News Agency(KNA)

 

 

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