ZigZag
Have you ever made a plan and imagined what it would look like when you start executing that plan? It goes so well in your imagination that you become so proud and happy, thinking you are so wise until life happens and proves you wrong 😂
At some point in one's life, there comes this moment where we think we got it all figured out until life comes crumbling and crashing the big plan. We make a plan and in our imagination, it's simple and clear only for things to go zigzag when we start to execute those plans.
I remembered back then in secondary school, my friends, a group of 5, we all wanted the same thing. We wanted to go to the same university together, get accommodation together, live together. We just wanted to live the big girl/baby girl lifestyle while on campus as we see in the movies (Nigerian movies). But guess what? Lol. We didn't even pass our first JAMB (Joint Admission Matriculation Board) which was even the most important thing, the first thing we should have focused most of our energy on to achieve the plans we've made with our mouth😂. Hold on let me drink water before I choke with laughter. So as I was saying, life happened to us. We all got admitted into different universities in different states, made new friends, lived with different people but that didn't stop us from being friends. Throughout our university days, we were still in touch.
I remember telling my friends in secondary school that I was going to be married at age 18, right after secondary school😂 I was 16 years and in ss2 at the time I told them about this and they all tease me today because I'm past 18 years and I'm still living the baby girl lifestyle rather than being in my husband's house with 5 children already 😂. Well, that's the only plan I'm happy never worked. I mean what would I be doing in marriage at that early age. What do I know at that age? I was not even sure I could even handle whatever challenges I might face at the early stage of marriage. As I grew and maturity began to step in, I realized what was more important was securing a good future.
During my 3rd year in my university, I had a plan. I had just learned a new skill which was makeup skill. The plan was to advertise me to the first-year students so they could patronize me during events such as matriculation, dinner parties, welcome parties, and more events being hosted for first-year students. I imagined making so much money from my newly learned skill if I go with the way I had just planned it. Did the plan work? Yes, but only in my head.😂 I was able to do the advert. Some took my number, but I never got a call😒. The disappointment I felt that period was baffling. Life!!! I thought I had it all figured out.
Again, before I left home to serve my dear country, I had just made a plan. It was so perfect in my head that I never thought of what would happen in the long run. This plan was to serve in a different location, not far from home, get a good PPA (Place of Primary Assignment) that would not stress me and would give me all the time I want, go for an upgrade class in my makeup skill, work under my tutor, save up my salary from the government so that at the end I can become my boss. That plan was going smoothly not just in my head, but for real. The stress-free PPA I wanted including the free time, I got it. I had the whole time in the world, did my upgrade, worked for a little while with my tutor and now this year, it looks like everything was put on a pause mode. (sobs)
I once discussed this with my friend a few days ago. We stay in the same lodge. He works in a tech company so he's sure of receiving his salary every end of the month. He was telling me about his plans to sell his gas, all his kitchen utensils because he was tired of cooking. He had already planned how he was going to be spending his money on food every day. In that plan, he decided he was going to be buying food only at night when he gets back from work. He would take either noodles or coffee and bread at the office since they provided staff with breakfast. It wasn't even up to 1 week after he told me about this plan of his, I discovered he was back into the kitchen making his meal. When I reminded him of his plans to sell his kitchen utensils we both began to laugh In his own words, he said “omo owu na sa m (which means I’m broke) so I gat to enter the kitchen to cook food make I chop”
That was a funny moment because I couldn’t control my laughter. Just a few days ago he had money which made him decide to be buying food rather than cook and today, the money is no more. According to him, he said he used his money to attend to some important needs and he’s awaiting his next salary. Till today, this my friend has been cooking none stop.
why am I sharing this?
I believe we’ve all experienced life in several ways and are still experiencing life. Just as Soren Kierkegaard said, “Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.”
One important lesson I’ve learned from my experiences so far is to always to take things slow. One thing we forget is that life is in stages and everything we’ve always wanted would eventually come to us so long as we keep working hard and doing our part. Everything would fall into place with time.
I believe you’ve had your share of how life has happened to you. Please share because I would love to hear about your experience.
Thank you for reading
