The agreement across all cultures, beliefs, belief systems, tribes – and you could add any other classification you have here – is that life is not like a game of football (or soccer, depending on what your primary school English teacher taught you back then) where either team has a chance of winning or losing, or both teams drawing. In life, you are either living or dead. No in-betweens. No sitting-on-the-fence scenarios. And most important is the fact that there are no rehearsals for this life we have been granted free by our Maker – God the Most High.
Sometimes our living becomes so ‘unlucky’ (unbearable) that we wonder what really might be happening. Thing is, we lack concrete answers during such periods. Take an example of this player called Walters from Stoke City during the game between Chelsea Football Club on 12th January 2013 in which he headed home two own goals and then missed a penalty. Now what is that? Isn’t that guy unlucky? I guess in some countries, his head would have been chopped off (ili iwe funzo kwa wengine wenye vichwa kama hivyo). But we have to dust ourselves up because tomorrow is also another day, hopefully not to repeat our mistakes but soldier on. The only thing which pulls us down is the guilt, er, and the realization that what we did might never be forgotten, more so if our friends were witnesses to our silly (or unlucky) acts.
If you keenly follow some documentaries in the animal kingdom, you would get the feeling that the world as we know it today was never supposed to be as it is. There was an ultimate plan, which ought never to be changed. The changes we sometimes bring to this world become a disaster to our living, thereby limiting the probability of getting quality life from the planet. And we need not scratch our heads; climate change is here with us. And they say we have to adapt to it – develop coping mechanisms for the weather extremes.
I once watched a story about salmon the fish and how peculiar their living is. See, the salmon has to go back upstream to where it was hatched in order to spawn and bring forth the next generation. Once this process is done, both male (which accompanies the female for fertility issues) and female die. Now if you build dams upstream, the salmon will not have the breeding grounds. Then the scientists waste money to do it scientifically which proves futile. Then they have to go back to the beginning, destroy the dams in order to restore the cycle, which in some instances may be irreversible.
Where we are today is as a result of the ‘Industrial Revolution’. This concept has brought in world super-powers, competition, powerful corporations, technological advances, money and wealth. The ideas behind this revolution were/are superb. Problem is the unhealthy competition which has seen the depletion of vital natural resources including forests, water and clean air: all in the spirit of accumulating wealth, and thus be more powerful, control the world order, step on your fellow human beings, cause and finance war in order to extract some minerals in a certain country, even going to the extent of colonizing your fellow human being. And because of this greed, the world is farther classified into: developed, developing, third world and whatever other classification there might be. So some people are considered superior than others, because of their material wealth. But this does not mean they should oppress the poor. The poor should also be given their fair share of dignity and respect. Think of the slave trade and shed a tear or two if you can.
It’s no longer the powerful nations or corporations but your closest friends, landlords/ladies, workmates, bosses, relatives, your neighbor who is/are bend to make your living not so enjoyable. So when we find ourselves ‘boxed’ by some powerful individuals, what do we/you do? We have to change the course and maybe direction of our living lest we be oppressed forever. We have to look for alternatives. I guess that’s why we find ourselves changing work stations year in year out, or move from one estate to another, change friendships/relationships, shift allegiances.
The most disturbing factor as we soldier on is the comparison of our living with the other people. The notion of envy and trying to appear more successful than your friends. To stand out to be the richest. To go all the way in order we maintain a certain lifestyle because we have some sort of fear, er, I would call it some self-esteem issues: we want to appear okay in the eyes of our friends. And in order to fulfill this, we get into debts; we do all sorts of ‘business’; we corrupt our way up the ladder. Our humanity is thrown out of the window as we seek satisfaction, good appearance. That is the sad part of this affair in our world. I usually get cautious when I meet someone who says he/she is in business but not willing to say what business his/her business is all about. My understanding is that I am a potential customer/client therefore you ought to tell me what you are selling; because the essence of any business is to make sales – isn’t that true?
Being grateful for what you have, what you have achieved and hoping for a brighter tomorrow is key to ensuring your living is enjoyable. Gratitude does not mean being stagnant at one level; it means comparing yourself with self, appreciating that life is good and not being envious of your neighbor’s achievements. Then you will have good sleep, you will enjoy doing what you do on a daily basis. Many are the times when we concentrate on the grand things while we miss the very little stuff which makes all the difference. Like this guy who, even after retiring as a cop, decided to pursue and close up one of the cases which had remained unresolved for a very long time. He couldn’t remember that his ex-wife had a four-year-old daughter, his daughter whom he had never seen (Lost Light by Michael Connelly).
So enjoy your life, take it slowly, and appreciate each and every moment. And remember life has no probabilities, no rehearsals, no rewinding. Once a minute passes, that’s it; you have no powers to turn it back. Life is good.
