But
something was missing, and though he didn’t directly see it himself, he had friends who could see farther than he could then. Although they were contemporaries, they knew better than he that more is better… there was more to life than this! Some of them were already enjoying something of what was meant to be like. Lucky for Sola, they were in the position to point him in the right direction… Sola wasn’t sure about it, but he went along with it; after all these are friends whom he could easily his brothers. It was out of his league, but he plunged in, took a dive head first into what seemed to be a dark river. Little did he know that it was a start of a journey of a fresh new life; a life he would come to love. As nights dawned in days and seasons changed one to the other, he rose steadily soaring on the wings of eagle, building a life for himself, the like of which had not crossed his mind as a crazy daydream while he was on his first job. He started a family and they live comfortably in one of the best residential areas of Lagos. Life is good and pleasurable; he now could afford to go on trips that were beyond his imagination of his then life. He can even dare to give out gifts worth more than twice his then salary and not feel the impact on his pocket; he was large and living as such.
But again something is missing… This time, he was first one to notice, not his friends. What could it be this time? Revisiting his dreams as a child and a university undergraduate, he was sure how he needed to move. It was time to move again, but where to? How does he go about it? He had always wanted to be a school teacher, but somewhere along the line he changed the course of things. I won’t blame him, teacher were not well appreciated in his part of the world. The meager income of teacher in the country was enough discouragement. Since he knew a couple of relatives and family friends who were doing well enough in the Legal Profession, he filled himself into that line. Legal practice was enjoyable, but right now, could pleasure be good enough reason to plunge into the unknown? Unknown, not because the practice had changed, but because comfort was more desirable… He wondered where to turn to, how to start out. Though he was something new, he was ready to get out to this comfort, yet there is no assurance that he can be able to keep up with this lifestyle that he’s lived for the most part of seven to eight years. Going to work as a teacher was even less attractive, as the only people that had anything desirable for teacher are the private schools, whom were known to use every ounce of strength in you. This looked like a red alert for the private school option. So, he sought after counsel. Since his friends were the ones that pointed him in the right direction the last time, they were the first he asked.
But while they agreed that it was truly time to leave; there was a move in the air, they themselves were not sure how to go about it. A move that would determine who would stand and who would remain crawling, as a lot of people that could walk before were about to be crippled. Hmm… this move was going to be a great one. So, one of them mentioned he heard some people saying things about how to know when to move, how to go about moving and the attitudes to have as one prepares to move. So they all decided to go for the meeting… And yes, they were glad they went. A young man, about the same age as Sola and his friends explained how he had got to a point in his career where he didn’t have to make effort to be known, even in a country like this and then left that post to go back to school, when he sensed the hunger for it stirring up on his inside. He explained his struggles and fight to keep from getting out of his comfort zone… How, in spite of all warning and admonition not to go back to his previous place of employ, he had gone back and had almost gotten himself trapped in, until the unseen hands changed the course of things. He is now at a fresh point of his career, taking a day at a time; living in and under the instructions of the Instructor.
As if that was not enough, two others were there to give their take. Though slightly older than the first man that spoke, they didn’t have much to say that was different from what he had said. One had narrated how it had taken about 20 years to come in terms with the instructions had been given as a young undergraduate, though he had been blazing with the fire of those instructions when they first reached him. But a comfortable career quickly took that from him; he lost sight of the instructions while he was on the rat race course. The other, on the other hand had learnt early the hard way that it is hard for a person to kick against the pricks. One would have to give and it won’t be the pricks. So thereafter, he had learnt not to go in the opposite direction of instructions and he made he was true to his lessons. Everyone in that gathering agreed, or so it seemed, that instructions were paramount to getting on to the next move. But then, that raised the issue of how instructions are gotten. That was simply cleared… develop a relationship with the Instructor. He has the map, and knew how to go about the journey…
For Sola, his questions had been answered. But, as he drove down to his home, he realized that answers to his initial questions only raised new questions; fresh question that would never had arisen had he not been to this gathering, had his initial questions remained unanswered… So, he resolved in his heart that he was going back; there were answers in for his nagging questions in that gathering; he was going to back, he would be at next date for the gathering and he was to be early…
I’M TRYING HARD NOT TO SAY THAT IF YOU WERE NOT AT YESTERDAY’S LAGOS ALUMNI MEETING, YOU MISSED… BUT TRUTH BE TOLD, YOU DID. MAKE IT A DATE 21ST AUGUST, 2011… WHAT’S NEXT, PEOPLE? WHAT’S NEXT!
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