I had my life set. At the age of 15 I had no worries, no qualms about life. My daily routine comprised of going to school, coming home, resting for a while, waking up, going out with friends, coming back home, sleeping, and then repeating the same thing the next day. I didn’t care about my homework, or even classwork for that matter. Why? My dad. He was the shelter to my ‘ whatever-who-cares’ lifestyle. He gave me designer clothing, watches and accesories more expensive than many of my classmate’s whole attire, an extremely comfortable and stylish ride to go to school with- i had everything.
To my 15 year old brain it was all that mattered, and my 15 year old brain knew that even if it never studied, the person whose it was, could enjoy a lavish fun life anyways. But then, life happened as i woke from the dream. My dad’s business suffered a loss of such a humongous extent that I dropped abysmally from being a prince to well being a regular person. At that time I was angry, furious and extremely cross at my dad for not being able to handle this catastrophe.
But now I know that it was the greates blessing of my life, it was a blessing that turned me from ‘ uber cool rich prince’ to ‘ Afnan Bin Helal’- a title that defineltely suits me better. So, as the 15 year old snob was grumbling over why his dad suffered a loss his dad had fell sick, so sick that he couldn’t even attend office anymore, so sick that the 15 year old self realized that the dad he was angry at may even not be there. That is when he realized that money is a miniscule matter, it gives weight to the life you live, but the substance in life comes from much greater things than that.
Much greater things that even the richest may not have, but the poorest may have billions of! Family, friends and their love, their existence. The 15 year old snob was me. The day I realized this important lesson, my dad called me to his room to have a one on one talk to his most loved but most spoilt son. I went in with the heaviest of hearts, with the heaviest of conscience, but the lightest of understanding. Then I sat as close to my frail dad as I ever had been. Dad moved his lips wearily, barely a whisper coming from him, ‘ Afnan, I love you son, and I tried to give you all I could, but maybe I failed, I know i did, but I tried.
Forgive me if I couldnt. But still as your dad I ask only one thing from you. Will you give it to me? ‘ I was at a loss of words but I managed to nod frantically, because he was the one who really did give me everything, everything he could, and I will do the same for him. So, he continued, ‘ I want you to repair my mistakes and make yourself a man that your son would be proud of, that I would be proud of. ‘ This one single line changed the entire course of my life. I became a man on a mission, mission to make his idol proud!
I started studying, I started helping people, I started trying to save my dad’s fallen empire, I did all in my power! Seeing me become sensible and seeing me actually growing up, my dad started recovering. The more sensible and practical I became the better dad got. Untill one day he was completely recovered. To this day it has been the greatest success of my life, I know I didnt recover my dad, but in a silent word of passing I know my dad is proud of me, and that is the biggest success one can have. That is the most significant life experience of mine because for me, it was my rite of passage, my coming of age.
