By Abdullah Al-Aqeel
I have a big family consisting of four sisters and three brothers. Each one of us has our own personality, interests, hobbies and tastes although we were born and raised in the same family and under the same circumstances. Neither our father nor our mother has interfered in the choices we have made for our futures. They gave us complete freedom and did not impose their desires on any of us. That is why I will never interfere in the decisions that my children make with regard to what they want to be when they grow up. They are different from me and have different interests. It is not my right to impose my decisions on them.
When I think about the future of my children, all I want is to see them happy doing what they want regardless of what it is, even if they decide to take a simple job. As long as they are happy, I am okay with it. I do not care what other people say or think. It is wrong to instill certain ideas in the minds of our children regarding their future. We should not tell them what they should be in the future when they grow up. On the contrary, we should let them decide for themselves. Insisting that your child be a pilot, a doctor or an engineer just to be able to show off in front of others is wrong.
Our children are human beings and not our property. They are not our watches or our cars for which sometimes we pay a large amount of money just to be able to flaunt them in front of others. We should not tell our children that happiness lies in them pursuing certain careers, such as medicine or engineering. I know many people who are doctors or engineers and are unhappy. They pursued those careers just to make their parents feel happy.
