In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good. - Ecclesiastes 11:6 (KJV)
I open with that scripture to show a sense of direction for the post. To invest means to devote money, time, energy, or other resources to a business, a goal, or an endeavour, with the expectation of a greater reward in return. Investment involves a self-denial of pleasure and enjoyment today, till later. It is self-denial because what you decide to invest today, you could eat up, but you choose to make sow it as a seed.
Your investment is a seed. A seed when planted, will take time to sprout and will later bring forth fruits in multiples of the seed planted. The conventional idea of investment is that in which money is put into a business idea that yields profit after all, but there are other actions that relate to investment rather than money.
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To a parent, education is a form of investment in the life of a child. For example, parents in developing nations in most cases, go extra miles to give their children the best form of education, with the hopes that someday, that child will become successful, and a largely relevant in the society. The child in turn goes through series of teachings, tests, examinations, discipline, etc which moulds him to eventually become an asset to himself and his family.
Another form of investment is in freewill giving. For this, there may be no rational explanation for how the returns will come, but it is a natural cycle, and a law of life.
There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. - Proverbs 11:24Your time, energy and your ego could also be invested in learning a craft that might eventually be your means of livelihood later. We live in an age where white collar jobs are going extinct. Even the ones available offer wages below your qualifications or below the amount of effort put into it. The time, energy and patience put into learning a craft will yield good fruits in the end.
Sow your seed in the morning and do not be idle with your hands in the evening, for you do not know whether morning or evening planting will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both alike will be good.
Thank you very much for reading this post, I appreciate your contributions. Remember also to always check back.