Who doesn’t come across problems in life?
If we expect life to be of comfort and easy then we are not living. So does it have to be one filled with twists and turns?
My friend simply said, problems and issues will come and go but one will keep moving forward because rivers cannot be stagnant and dirty only puddles and small pools can be so.
Let’s reflect on that thought — a wonderful compliment to the one in reference, but there is a bit of motivation in it too.
If we are going to let one problem stagnate us then we are losing focus on the concept of life. But is it possible to maintain parallel thoughts and stay hopeful?
Interestingly enough just the other day I met a person who is just 42 years old and has been to 56 countries and is now in the Sultanate of Oman. He is calm as he goes about his work and made me wonder about 56 nations and why he left the place where he was?
“Stress,” he replied.
Sheriff explained he left his home very early after losing his mother while he was young and paying for his own school fees he felt life was not moving fast enough. While his siblings stayed on Sheriff just had to move forward.
Saw eyes turn tearful for a moment but he seems an expert and a tear drop was never formed as he said, “You do not want to hear it all, it will hurt you.”
It is not like he never went back to his country in the African continent. He went back to his family only to travel out again.
Asked him why?
“Looking for life,” he replied.
There are so many questions to ask him because so many of us would dare not to venture out to chase life. He may not have still found the life or the answer to the definition of life but he knew he needed a break from the stress and he took it.
“There was a lot of fear, plenty of it, over the years,” he reflected.
The roaring river is now on a gentle flow in a reflecting mode. But remember still river runs deep. He has worked in so many places and is probably an expert on various working styles and rules.
And here we are probably stepping out for higher education or work in a foreign country after many considerations. But how about gate crashing and struggling to make a living with fear in the back of the mind yet succeeding to find a life partner and holding on to the will to see better days — all to seek the meaning of life.
I wonder if it is the loss of his mother, his world, at such a young age that made him rush out to meet life. Maybe he has more insight on life than most of us can ever comprehend.
“The fear I have seen makes me confident to do any work whether it is even just washing,” he pointed out.
One thing I have already learnt from him is to never fear to take steps because the fact is he has never stopped and he has survived all the situations to narrate the story.
This is just the beginning of our conversation and there would be much more to learn from him — this is beauty of having conversations. And it still can start with, “Hello, what is your name?”
A question my teacher in Kindergarten taught. We practiced it endlessly asking each other in the classroom.
“See,” I told another friend, “this is why I believe everyone has a story to tell.”
To that my friend said, “And I believe everyone has their own battle.”
And when it comes to my new friend, Sheriff, his story needs to be a book.
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
