Childhood: Dangerous Game, Essay Example

There is a common figure of speech about “learning lessons the hard way.” There are some lessons in life that can only be learned the hard way, and it is often these lessons that prove to be the most valuable. For many people, childhood is a time of innocence and fun. Our parents do all they can to protect us from harm, and to shield us from the dangers in the world. We may hear tales of tragedy –often presented in the form of warnings from our parents about the potential consequences of our actions- but as long as we remain directly untouched by such tragedies, they remain abstract ideas that have no relevance to our lives that we, as children, can see. It often takes a brush with danger, or experiencing real pain or fear, to teach us the lessons that all the stories in the world cannot convey. The realization that I was not the invulnerable being I believed myself to be came when I was injured during what was supposed to be a harmless game of tag. Just as I physically fell, toppling from the upper deck of my sister’s bunk beds, so too did my sense of invincibility fall with me. In a single moment, the innocence of childhood, the belief that no harm could befall be, vanished in a flash of fear and pain. Though my injuries were, thankfully, fairly slight, I learned a valuable lesson that day; in that single instant I left behind the innocence of childhood and began the journey towards becoming an adult.

We all are the outcomes of our life experiences. When we are young we have a very simplistic view of life and the world. Everything is either black or white to us. We take all the important people in our life as granted including parents, family, friends, and neighbors. Life seems predictable and we consider ourselves the center of the universe. Even we do hear stories where tragedy has stuck someone, we view ourselves as exceptions and invulnerable. All it takes to crumble our sense of security, however, are a few accidents that do not last more than few moments but vastly change our perception of life and reality. These accidents strip away the innocence of childhood and force us to mature before due time. These accidents do not translate into pleasant childhood memories; rather, they mark the moments when we learn the bitter realities of life.

The first life-defining accident happened in my life when I was only nine. This first experience was also my first lesson in life as to how seemingly ordinary thing could turn out to be quite serious. It also taught me to never underestimate risk. I was playing with my sisters and assumed that all fun activities are merely fun activities with no serious consequences. I used to believe that consequences result from intentions; when no intention to harm exists in children’s plays, there is no need to worry. I adopted the same attitude towards playing a tag game with my sisters that involved jumping and climbing up and down bunk beds. The goal was not to win but to have simple innocent fun. Being the creative person that I always have been, I decided to add a new twist to the game. I decided to pretend to be a lost cat on the top of the roof. My goal was to land on the floor as gently as possible. When we are young we often underestimate risk and think little about the potential consequences; this may be why we have a tendency to be overconfident when we are children. Before I could jump and try to land on my knees, I slipped down since I was already on the end of the bunk bed. I had never calculated accidents into my plan and that is exactly what happened: I had an accident.

When I fell, my face and chest hit the floor and I experienced a kind of pain I didn’t even know existed. While I was falling, I believe I could have gripped the sideways ladder if I tried, yet I didn’t. My sense of invincibility had just been broken by the accident and I was still trying to grasp the new reality of life. By the time I could understand what happened, it had already been too late. In few moments, life had taught me that there is no such thing as invincibility. It was then that I experienced helplessness for the first time. I wanted to assure my crying sisters that I was alright, but I knew my words would betray my obvious suffering. I still remember how I felt my sisters’ breathing coming to a halt. They wanted to comfort me, but out of fear that they may worsen the situation, they were even afraid to help me. I had never before seen the expressions I saw on my sisters’ faces. My parents came running to me, though that did little to calm down my sisters. There was guilt in their wet eyes and even though it was not their fault, I could do nothing to comfort them. As much as I felt guilty over my foolishness, I also felt happy deep down inside about the attention I received at the time. The accident also taught me that we are not as powerful or strong as we consider ourselves to be and we do need people in our lives to get us through life’s difficulties. The incident demonstrated the importance of having close relationships in life. Before that I always thought I could do anything I want to and I would never need any help from anyone. In fact, even asking for help equaled weakness and shame in my eyes until that very moment. But I had just learnt a new lesson and to demonstrate that I really understood the new lesson life had just taught me, I asked my parents to take me to the bed.

I was back to my original state within a few days, having recovered from the bruises and pain. Thankfully, I didn’t suffer any serious injury that could have earned me a trip to the hospital. I didn’t develop any fear of bunk beds, but the next time I decided to play tag game with my sisters, I consciously ruled out actions that had potential risks. I don’t remember when exactly I learnt another lesson in life but I do remember I became aware of this lesson at the very moment of my first tag game with the sisters following recovery. My latest realization in life was that only actions do not matter but consequences also. Looking back at my life since being a nine year old kid, I believed I have utilized the last lesson more than other lessons from the incident and it has successfully kept me away from risky behaviors my friends and acquaintances have engaged in and have paid the prices for.

We learn some of the best lessons in life through accidents. I also remember many other childhood accidents but probably no other event surpasses this in terms of educational value. The accident taught me that none of us is invincible and none of us can survive without other people. it also taught me that it is ok to depend upon others. Last but not least it taught me that we tend to underestimate risk and we should never make any decisions without considering the potential consequences of our actions. It might have hurt at the moment, and I still wish I never had to feel that feeling of helplessness ever again; I do, however, also realize that had that incident not occurred, I would have paid far higher price in life to learn all these lessons.

Here’s what I would like to be done for this essay. It lacks a good thesis. I want this essay to be read clearly and state a thesis that flows throughout. For example, after having read the whole essay. In the first paragraph for the thesis, how might you clearly identify the lessons the accident has taught you, in thesis to overview the essay paper effectively throughout? If you went through yourself how you might clearly, identify the lessons the accident has thought you? So, I just want a thesis the use for this essay. Everything else kept the way it is. I will just need a thesis only, leave the rest as is. The current thesis {the first paragraph of the essay} does no clearly identify the lessons the accident taught. Use simple words and clearly describe use descriptive words and sayings rather then general. Thank you.