Yesterday, I bought a day bus ticket that allows passengers to travel within the city for the whole day. I folded it carefully and slipped it into my pocket after boarding for work.
After work, I reached for the ticket, and it was gone.
I checked every pocket again and again. I searched my bag, my books, under chairs, and even along the road where I had walked. My heart sank. Without the ticket, I could not use what I had already paid for, and it means buying a return ticket from work. I was so stressed and s@d.
I gave up searching and bought another ticket and went home. I got home tired and disappointed.
In the morning, while doing my laundry, something small fell onto the floor.
It was the missing ticket.
I picked it up quickly and stared at it. After the long search, I finally found it. But there was a problem, the ticket had expired. The buses were done for the day, and even though the ticket was now in my hand, it could no longer be used.
At that moment, I realized something important about life.
A bus ticket that only works for a certain time is a powerful way to explain life to us especially to children and young people.
Life gives each of us a ticket called TIME.
A child has the ticket of childhood.
A teenager has the ticket of youth.
An adult has a ticket of responsibility and purpose.
Each day has its own ticket, too.
The important question is,
What are we doing with our ticket before it expires?
Just like a day, week, month, or yearly ticket, opportunities in life also have a time when they can be used. If someone loses the ticket and finds it after it expires, the ticket may still look fine, but it no longer works. In the same way, some chances in life can not always be used later.
That is why we should learn, grow, help others, use our talents, and make wise choices while we still have the chance.
Because a ticket unused before expiry is like an opportunity ignored until it is too late.
✍️ Amara Ann Unachukwu
