The paradox of life
Life is certainly one bitter-sweet encounter you can ever witness. It is full of the good, the bad, the crazy, and yet the normal. However, one thing that will never be deleted from my memory is the power of change. This animal we call change is amazing and truly transformative.
Take time to reflect
Sometimes I sit down on the bench of memory lane and imagine what was, what is, and what can become. If there is one weapon we should all embrace and cherish, we can think, consider, and act. The most dangerous man is one who never sits down to reflect on his life.
The good old days
I am a pragmatic leader and possibly a fierce thinker who cannot rest on his lap and watch the world move away. Life is proving to be tougher these days. It is a pity that some of my readers are young and do not have a blueprint of what life was like in the good old days. I know it sounds like retrogressive thinking, which at best can be described as archaic and redundant if I were to reminisce about the good old days. But deep inside me, there is a yearning for the good old days.
The social image
I grew up in the shambolic suburbs of Mbizo in the slums of section six. Our neighborhood was densely populated. Our houses were nothing better than the famous RDP houses. The average family there had five children and somehow they all had to fit in the matchbox structure of a house. There was nothing serious about our lives except we were extremely poor and yet very happy. What surprises me is that we were poor and not even aware that we were in a bad financial state. The reason why we never understood that we were poor is because there was no alternative. Everybody seemed to be scrounging around and we all thought that life was that way. We were not supposed to worry about a better life because we had no idea there was a different life elsewhere.
Community makes us better
Our parents were so united that we all ended up like relatives who dwelt in harmony. We even had the habit of pooling up our food as boys to eat together. A practice that we all enjoyed as emerging young men since we would get to eat various types of meat provided by all our families unity. However, the culture was brought to an end when one of the other spoiled brats complained that he always remained hungry.
The Changing Times
We grew up to become big boys who went to school and eventually college culminating in getting employed. I had the privilege of becoming one of the first black bankers in my era. This made me and a few other elite guys very visible in our communities. It gave us advantages but we still had to propose to girls. In those days we had no phones, not to mention cell phones. The odd house would have a phone amongst a thousand homes. Girls were not as instant as they have become in this cyber age. We had to work on poetry and verse so that we would be considered charming. As for my case, I fell in love with a girl from Bulawayo. Our love was sustained by lengthy love letters. These letters only came once a week through the postman. Those were the best days when we received honeyed mail.
Well, life is not static, it has moved on. Gone are the days of the telephone now everyone who cares has a cellphone. The postman has been replaced by WhatsApp and other social media. Boys have become so daring that they propose to your daughter via WhatsApp and you are not even in the picture. The days of signing a cheque are gone, and now we sweat as we await our EFTs which will come good. We no longer use the famous Peugeot 504 as a kombi, but we now have the kombis and the Ubers. Times are changing.
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The Reality Check
Nothing lasts forever, what was excellent yesterday is today’s average. The only constant right now is change. Learn to move with life because even your dictionary is fast becoming obsolete because of the influx of artificial intelligence. Those who built the Titanic said it was the strongest ship, but guess what, an iceberg sunk it and it was relegated to the doldrums of History. They thought they had fortified their nation when they built the walls of Jericho but in seven days Joshua and his army took them down. They even tried the Berlin walls, but as you know they fell.
Christ remains the answer
Nothing will certainly last forever except the word of God. That is why Christ Jesus remains the Rock of all ages because He is the unchangeable Changer and the Immovable Mover. He is the only one who can defy the laws of the universe because they are sustained by His word. Rest assured that all things will come to pass but He is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. He is the one you can trust even in eternity. Get up stand up and embrace change. In the words of Anthony Joshua, “It is what it is” Rise to conquer but remain cognizant to change and be victorious in Christ, the Ultimate leader.
Christ remains the Ultimate leader. Follow Him and many will follow you. May your next level become a reality?
Dr Ted Msipa is Pastor, Author, Visionary and Public Speaker based in Maseru, Lesotho. He writes here in his personal capacity and view shared here do not necessarily reflect those of Africa News 24. He solves organisational development challenges and leadership challenges. Dr Ted can be reached on Coachted117@gmail.com or on +266 63177309.
