Ali used to play with his friends after school every day. On weekends, he would visit his cousins in another part of the city. Ali’s cousins had the most amazing toys that Ali’s parents couldn’t afford to get for him. However, his cousins were kind and shared their toys with Ali whenever he visited them. Due to his well-off cousins, Ali often received expensive and fancy toys as presents.

However, strangely, Ali was possessive about his belongings and would never share his toys with other kids because he thought they might damage them, so he preferred to keep them hidden and would outright refuse to let his cousins play with his toys. However, he wouldn’t tolerate it if his friends or cousins refused to let him play with their toys. His parents were aware of Ali’s possessive nature and were desperate to change it.

One morning, Ali came out of his room all dressed for school. He picked up his mum’s phone and thought to play a quick game while his dad was getting ready. His mother never stopped him from using her phone, but today, when Ali picked up the phone, his mum gently took it back from him.

“Dear, don’t use it without taking permission from me,” she said to him firmly.

Ali was shocked at this behaviour. He didn’t understand why she was being so possessive about her phone. It was a strange start to the day for him.

By the time Ali reached school, he had already forgotten that morning’s incident. In the class, one of the kids had this cool pencil whose lead was interchangeable. He shared it with all his friends except Ali. Ali couldn’t understand why was he being so rude, so Ali asked if he could also try the pencil.

At this, his class fellow said, “You don’t share anything with me, so I wouldn’t share my pencil with you.”

Ali wanted to throw a tantrum but he couldn’t do that in school, so he went back to his seat and sat quietly. When it was home time, Ali ran to his father and told him about the incident. His father listened to Ali’s disheartened experience as they walked towards the car.

Once Ali was done pouring his heart out to his father, he took a deep breath. His father looked at him thoughtfully and said, “Every person has the right to decide whether they want to share their belongings with someone or not, just like you do.”

“Yes, they do, but they are not as careful as I am, and they could break my toys while playing!” Ali said in a sad voice.

Then his father told him about several incidents when he had been unkind and selfish with his friends and cousins. Even when their toys were broken by Ali they still shared because they wanted to enjoy playing with each other.

For Ali, the concept of sharing his toys with other kids was alien, but his father’s words made sense to him. His father told him that it was the joy of sharing that made relationships stronger. It took Ali a few days to accept this new concept. But eventually, he was able to adapt and understand the importance of sharing. Slowly, Ali started sharing his toys with others and experienced the joy of seeing his friends and cousins happy while playing together. Through sharing, Ali also learned that his bond with his friends and cousins grew stronger.

Thus, it is rightly said that it is never too late to learn something to bring a positive change in yourself.

Published in Dawn, Young World, April 6th, 2024