TAKE MY HAND.

I would like to extend my hand & shake yours or more so just hug you, but the covid-19 directives have put me on check, so I will say hello from this distance. Are you seated or lying on the sofa or bed or even on the floor just stretching yourself out like a cat after the kind of day you have had? Well, I am hoping that you are now more relaxed, not snappy like a crab or moody (What?). 

I am guessing that you have had your supper (for the sophisticated ones, it is dinner) & you are now catching up with your other life which does not involve the grind or making ends meet. It is so nice to see that you can have this moment to yourself or I may be wrong, may be you could be hiding in your room or bathroom or closet away from other humans (don’t laugh this is serious). 

Seeking that the earth could swallow you whole & give you some semblance of peace & quietness in your own corner. What I can simply tell you is that it is going to be alright & God has got you. You don’t have to take my word for it but look at it this way, today you are still alive, how many do you think have not seen this day. I believe in you! I want you to know that you are stronger than you look, you are more blessed than you believe, you are more cherished than you can comprehend & you are more loved than you can see. 

Don’t feel like as if am trying to oil you (direct translation from kukuchocha or is it kupaka mafuta, I think). Anyway, I will assume you get the jest of what it is that I am saying, cause at times I even don’t understand myself. We face life in our own different ways, that the path which we take or are currently on, only us who can understand its weight. Right now, I am seated here at my desk listening to some instrumental music made up of guitar, violin & cello combo, soaking it in like a sponge. 

Wondering to myself, why can’t every hour be like this, calm, collected & serene. Maybe it is too much to ask but it is good to be a dreamer, one day it may materialize into a reality. Let me now take you on a short journey of what I have come to learn about life. There are moments when there is pain, sorrow, happiness, despair, ups, downs, laughs, tears & so on. It is at this moment that you wonder to yourself what is all this that is happening to me. 

Do you ever get so confused to the extent that you call yourself for a meeting? Where it is basically, a gathering of me, myself & I. Questioning the direction in which you are going, if it is the right one or you are just being blown around by the wind in whichever direction. Wondering as the days go by, who put me here on this world. There are days when you feel so broken that you doubt that someone else has ever gone through the same thing. 

There are days you will get back home, so exhausted, fatigued, hungry, angry & wondering is it really necessary that I go out there & try to make ends meet. There are days you look at your state of living & laugh at yourself, shaking your head like a calabash wondering if there is thick mud stuck somewhere in there. There are days you are at a loss that no words of comfort can right the situation & it is not that other person’s fault. 

I will share with you something that happened to me this our year of 2020. I got the privilege of joining a running club. No, I was & am not training to be a winner in any marathon or race or run away from my problems. I thought this was a good thing to help me interact with others & get challenged to become a better version of myself. There is a phrase we commonly hear or carelessly throw around that says “blood is thick than water”. 

From what I interpret it to mean is that your blood family is more close to you than the rest of the world. Now, back to my story of sorts, I noticed that in this club that I am in, family is more than flesh & blood. Why do I say this? The first days that I joined, the club captain requested to go for a run with me which left me baffled. I didn’t expect me a stranger & newbie to be in the company of such a great athlete.

This dude can run like the wind & I think sometimes his feet may catch fire because the pace he runs at is something to make you think thrice. He ran with me on my route at my pace with a lot of patience encouraging me to finish. Let me tell you, running for 5 kilometres was an uphill task for me, it reached a point I was like I have had enough. Over the months that have been, I have been able to catch up on the mileage. 

On this journey, I have also gotten to interact with the other members of the club who are easy & hail from different back grounds. I think some may be royalty, just that they down play it (don’t tell them I said so). My engagement with them has left me perplexed by how they are like a family unit, different in blood line but united by heart. I have gotten lessons on how to run better, how to keep safe on a run, how to dine healthier, keep fit & so on. 

However, this year has hit a number of the members of the club hard, who have lost loved ones unexpectedly. This has brought tears, heartache, misery, questions & pain to those left behind. I can but only commend the club members for standing by the sides of these individuals during the times that have been. Visiting them, supporting them, been there for them, praying for them & so on. 

I am not saying that you should join a running club but more so that you need to be around people who know what it feels like when the world is upside down. For there are people who hit like thunder & disappear like smoke. We all have our own battles we face but when we have others who come through for us when we are seeing no hope those are the true treasures to keep around & a big thank you to them. 

Do not be afraid to reach & touch someone’s life, you never know whose life you are touching. I will leave this with you, “If God is the DJ, then life is the dance floor, love is the rhythm & you are the music”.