They say "quitting is for losers".
Then again, they also say "winners know when to stop"... In that case, I don't quit, I just know when to stop.
I've stopped a lot of things, subsequently qualifying as a (very good) winner.
Growing up I wanted three things in life; to be a model, an air hostess and to marry Benny McCarthy (please don't judge me, I was young and naïve).
In high school this changed and I wanted to be a doctor simply because I thought being referred to as Dr. Khumalo would sound cool. Oh, and the helping people part as well... End of Grade 10 I dropped Biology for Geography. Surely being an expert on contour lines and gale force winds would make a good doctor out of me?
Somehow, my distinction in matric Geography coupled with maths and science earned me acceptance into Wits Med School in 2006. Halfway through the year I decided medicine wasn't for me. Yeah sure I enjoyed cutting, I mean dissecting, all those animals in first year Biology but I figured there was probably more to being a doctor than dissecting a frog and enjoying it. That's when the winner in me decided to stop and I traded a white coat for a degree in commerce. A decision I don't regret.
So I've gone from wanting to b a model, to a doctor and have landed in corporate. I just wanted to be everything when I was younger so I thought it would be interesting to talk to young one's about this. First was my little brother (who's now 11), when he was eight I asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, he replied; "A businessman like Donald Trump". I wasn't surprised, this was the same boy who, at age 6 became a loan shark. He would lend you money from his piggy bank and accept nothing less than 100% interest...so I opted to steal his money instead...
Then there's my six year old cousin, I ask him what he wants to be he replies, "A fireman". I told him unless he wants to die broke and wife-less, he can go ahead, concerned, he quickly changed his mind and said he wants to be a security guard. I told him I'd pray for him...
