As I gazed through the tiny misty window of the speed boat on my way to work that Tuesday morning, I couldn’t help but marvel at God`s creation. The large expanse of water, the 40-sitter boat waving dangerously from side to side as the merciless waves tossed her around, the fishermen in the far distance expertly casting their nets, some children on a small canoe waving at us as we sped past, a hint of yellow in the skies above as the sun prepared to come out of its hiding. I shook my head in wonderment.
A crackle on the television which was suspended on the wall inches from where I sat snapped me out of my reverie. I welcomed the distraction as I sat back to enjoy the movie which happened to feature my beloved Bollywood actors. I had come to prefer them to our own Nollywood. Moments later, the television went from showing brightly coloured dancing people to “searching for signal”. Na wa!
I lost myself once more in my daydream. How I envied these actors as they seemed to derive absolute pleasure in their vocation. I recall my childhood dreams of wanting to one day become an actress, a songstress, a tailor, and finally a writer simply because I was addicted to the popular Mills & Boons novels. I look at my life now, my current occupation is in the complete opposite direction. But the question I ask myself is whether I am truly happy as an IT Support Engineer. Would I not be happier if I were an Image Consultant by day? …because I love fashion and all it stands for. Or even happiest as a freelance writer by night? ...did I mention that I express myself better in writing?
Like me, a lot of people are constantly in pursuit of that defining purpose in life, the perfect career, the perfect partner or the perfect marriage. But at the end of the day, it is the ability to understand oneself and what makes one happy that really count.
I believe that some day I will find that one job, that one passion that will transcend all things. And only then will I be content that I have truly found peace in doing what makes me happy and what defines my purpose in life.
Fall of 2007, at 3:25 pm, on a gloomy day, a beautiful, black girl in a pink woollen dress and a coffee brown sweater arrives at the busy Victoria Station from Brighton. As she awaits an interchange to Birmingham she discovers that she has lost her money. Confused, stranded without any money except a fiver, she is neither able to return to Brighton nor proceed on her journey.
“I am just going to ask a couple of strangers for some money and catch the next train” she says to herself.
To her utter dismay, no one stops to listen, they walk briskly past. She breaks down in tears. Moments later, she is calm enough to walk slowly to an ATM machine beside a coffee shop, even though she knows it, she still goes ahead to slot her card in, hoping for a miracle. Not a penny in her account. No units on her mobile phone to call a friend, no money in her account, her last hundred bucks misplaced. She wonders briefly if she is jinxed. As she stands there, a man walks up to her and asks for some change to get a cuppa.
“Seriously?” She shakes her head in disbelief as she takes a closer look at him, he was very well-dressed for a beggar.
Short and powerfully built, he wore a thick black knee-length coat over a bright green shirt and grey pants. We call them Corporate Beggars in Naija! Was he seriously asking for some coins? This dude doesn’t even realize I am stranded, but what the heck a fiver won’t even take me to the next street. Without a word, she heads to the coffee shop to get a cup of cappuccino. She hands it over to him silently. He thanks her as his face lights up.
“You should get a cup for yourself”. He says to her as he takes a sip.
“I cannot afford another, 20 pence is all I have left”. She responds with a shrug.
“Unbelievable! No one gives me anything you know, all they do is take. I am impressed that you went all-out to get me cappuccino when all I wanted was 50 pence more to get some coffee. Thank you!”
“5 bucks wouldn’t do me any good so why hold on to it?”
“To be honest, I saw you weeping moments ago and my heart melted, so I decided that I’d come over and make a pretty girl smile”. He says with a wink.
She looks at him with a mixture of curiousity and disgust. Disgust that having seen her weeping, he was now going to take advantage of her situation.
“My train’s already at the platform, I have to leave now but I must see you again beautiful”. He says as he grabs her hand and gives it a quick wet kiss.
“I was going to get myself a birthday gift but heaven’s already sent me one. So, here!”
He places something rolled and bound in her palm, then quickly scribbles something on the Stephen King novel she is holding and runs off.
She opens her palm and her eyes widens as she takes in the rolled 20 Pounds notes, about twenty of them. Her face breaks into a wide smile as she cranes her neck to catch a glimpse of him, but he is long gone. She opens the novel to see he had written a telephone number. Her heart starts to beat fast, a lot of questions running through her mind. Could he be a drug lord? A pimp? A 419 maybe?
She couldn’t be bothered as she heads to the kiosk to purchase her ticket. O boy, did it feel like Christmas in September!
Generosity is like a well, from which one always draws water because it never runs dry. Giving is like sowing a seed which becomes a tree, and which in turn produces thousands of other seeds. Some people say “I don’t have”. Well, they just never have! Remember your treasures will not accompany you to the grave, we all return to our maker as naked as we came.
Give to someone today, no matter how small and you may have filled a void with just one little act of kindness.
PS:The gorgeous stranger later becomes a world famous footballer. Can you guess who?
On one of my nightly rituals of browsing the internet after a busy day at work, I stumbled upon something called “The death Clock”. I opened the page and was greeted by the message “Welcome to the Death Clock, the internet's friendly reminder that life is slipping away... second by second”. I paused as I contemplated keying in my details in order to check the accuracy of the clock or to leave the site. What actually was running through my mind was why anyone would create such a webpage and how many people would even take it seriously. Out of curiousity, I keyed them in and the result was that I had 46 years to live, and my precious seconds were already ticking away, reducing as I stared at the screen! I simply laughed it off, but then I thought again about the fact that in reality, my life was actually ticking away.
If all this is true, then I should be glad to have 46 years left. In some years, I will be 40 years old, having already spent 42% of my life with 58% remaining, according to the clock. I began to have lots of silent monologues and I thought about a bucket list I had written in 2008. Unfortunately, I could not remember a quarter of what I wrote or where I kept the list. Life events over the years had over-taken the things I had planned to achieve, even though most of them were pleasure-driven and a few for charity.
But if I were to write a new bucket list I would split them equally, both charity and pleasure at 50% each. Here are a few items I would put, hoping to still have the energy and resources to achieve them in my remaining 46 years.
For charity, I would assist widows by placing them on a monthly payroll. I presently have just one widow. Adopt two kids, male and female to add to my biological one child that I hope to have. Volunteer at a crisis center or in a home for children with special needs. Recently, I spent some time at a home that had a child born with a hole in her throat. She was 9 months old but looked two weeks old. The hole made feeding difficult for her. The compassion and love I felt and still feel towards her has made me realize that I actually have the innate ability to take care of such children.
For pleasure, I would take a yearly solo trip to a country I have never visited as well as visit the five remaining continents (except Antarctica) on my list. Go Sky Diving as I love the rush of adrenaline. I am an adrenalin junky! Ride in a hot air balloon, climb one of the popular mountains... I hope am not deceiving myself on this one sha.
“The death clock” is pure fiction, but it does not rule out the overwhelming fact that death is inevitable. When or how we know not. While we are chasing the pleasures of life and working too hard in order to live a comfortable life, we must bear in mind that the clock is slowly ticking, therefore we should strive to achieve our dreams and leave an impact that would be felt long after we are gone.
The clock is ticking…
When Aunt Stella asked me to be her guest blogger for the week, I thought long and hard about what to write. I was a bit rusty because it had been a while since I wrote a piece for “pleasure”, after all, the hustle has turned professional! (he he) God de o. Well, I thought long and hard, came up with a few ideas, did not pen them down and lost them. Today is the day I am meant to submit the said post and I am only now flexing my literary muscles. Make I try.
Lately, I have noticed certain patterns. “All I see are patterns, (in an ominous voice), life patterns". I tag them the “Want Cycle” and here is what I mean. We all were once screaming little`uns in the arms of our mothers, as we grow up we begin to want and need various things. Usually, our prayers are answered and we bask in the euphoria until it wears off and we “upgrade” and want more. We go to school with the wish to graduate. We graduate, then we want a job. We get the job, then we want to get married. We get married, then we want kids. We get kids, then we want money to provide for them. In our later years, we upgrade to wanting enough money saved for retirement, wanting grandchildren, good health, etc. I bet on our death beds, we shall still have some outstanding wants.
Top of the list is the achievement of a dream. I am sick of hearing myself whine about my own shortcomings. All I hear around me are excuses; ”the situation is not yet perfect, somebody is holding me down, if only I had more money”, etc. Sound familiar? “I need a better environment” said my colleague the other day as we discussed a business opportunity which had practically fallen into his lap. Just the week before he had said “ I will retire at 40”.
Our excuses are fighting karate with our wants. It seems like only yesterday I moved to Abuja, in fact it will be a year in a fortnight. Apart from at work where I proffer innovative solutions (at least I’d like to think they are), save my employer some money by noticing details no one else does, and introduce money-making initiatives that increase the reach of the company, everything else has been one long stream of monotony. Most of my dreams and aspirations, my wants, are exactly where I left them a year ago. Time is simply flying folks and nothing can slow it down. Think about something you had always wanted to do, that is still where it was five years ago. Beneath the excuses is good ol` fear of failure. If you never try, you will never know!
Well, I have decided, ("Yet again", my conscience says to me in an ominous voice), that if I want something, I will get off my lazy behind and go for it simply because I am afraid of waking up one morning when I am gray haired with wobbly hips (hehe), to ask my grandchild ”where did the time go?”
So, I guess all I have been trying to say to you dear reader is to stop the excuses and go for that 'want". Want to start a food blog? Go for it starting today. Is it to own a business? Make the plan and go for it. Need to self-develop for better employment prospects? Make a savings plan and go for it. If Aliko Dangote had kept on pushing his wants till tomorrow like a lot of us, on hearing the name “Dangote”, surely we would be like “huh? Na name of dance?”.
Disclaimer: Nothing ominous about the ominous voices in this article :)
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