When we struggle

About 50 years ago, as a young man, I failed my first attempt at the School Certificate examination for High School seniors. I was crushed. Two years later, I took the examination again, and I flunked that too. Then, in a third attempt, I wrote the GCE London in Kaduna. And I needed to do well in at least five subjects to move on in my academic pursuit. I passed only two courses.  My friends and age mates were already students at various Universities at home and abroad. It was a depressing time. Behind me, people laughed. To my face, I was mocked. Close pals and some family members wrote me off. Nothing good was expected to come ever from a boy as facetious and flippant as me. Those who believed in me were few. And people scorning in derision were very many. When we struggle, we do so alone.

My friends, there will always be some people who never expect anything good to come out of you in your seasons of striving and struggling. To them, they wonder what justifiable reason you have to stay alive. They hope that the seed which represents you in mummy’s uterus should have been washed off in the frequencies of her monthly menstrual cycles. Now, they have told everybody you are scum. In their eyes, you mean nothing to the world. After falling short in three examinations, I took a job as a clerical assistant at the University of Ife. The University environment challenged my intellect. The faces of students I saw daily drove me to aspire and bring out the real me. The real me that neither my critics nor I ever knew was hibernating.  Many of the students I saw daily were either my classmates or my juniors in high school. After about two years as a clerical assistant, I took the school certificate examination again. This time, it was a slam-dunk! In radiant colours, I passed all subjects I registered for. The mighty man inside of me was awakened by the inspiring environment on a university campus. I had a second chance to move from the rear to grab the steering wheel. And a fresh journey began. And it has taken me before kings and queens in their palaces around the world. When we struggle, we do so alone.

There is nothing bad about struggle. It is part of life. Some struggles in life are not only necessary, but desirable.  They are the best things that can ever happen to a man or woman going somewhere great in life.  If you are fighting to keep your head above the waters of life, you need not fret.  Every season of struggle is just like a nine-month pregnancy with an expected delivery date. I have seen, met, and heard about hard-working people whose hard work never worked on the first attempt. I know people who were in close proximity to opportunities to get wealth but never did at the first strike. I know people who have struggled to attain a position of power and influence but never did at the initial try. But later on, the struggles brought forth sweet testaments for them. They were given a second chance to attempt a swing at the number one spot. You may fail a few times at any endeavour in life and still pass in the end. The race is not to the swift; the battle is not to the strong. Anyone can come first if given a second chance.

Life teaches that the pestering pain and strangulating struggle we experience as we travel down the lane of life may be fabricated bridges we need to throttle down to the other side of life we yearn for. The pain and struggles we encounter may be the necessary and requisite teaching that we are just one hop, one skip, and one jump away from success and breakthrough that we hope will one day manifest. It’s why you don’t give up in the season of struggles. If you fail as you try to succeed, you have only failed a class, not the entire course. If I were you, I’d keep my mind open and my ears open to hear what life is teaching at that time of portending failure. Are you struggling right now? Keep pushing, keep throttling, and keep moving. You may be closer to the finish line than you’ll ever imagine.

A man from out of town who had not seen his friend in a while one day decided to pay the latter a surprise visit. The last time he visited, his friend lived in a studio apartment in the city where I do business. Assuming nothing could have changed for the better for his friend, he headed straight for the slum that used to be home to his struggling friend. He pressed the front doorbell of apartment 1L; a stranger answered. His friend had moved.  Our visiting friend then decided to call his friend.  Within three years, the friend had moved from an apartment to a mansion in an affluent part of town. A white male employer who sensed great potential in him during a job interview asked him to run his plant. Not too long later, he was offered a chance to become a partner in the multi-million-dollar business.  The visiting friend never thought that promotion could have come to his friend in such a fast fashion. When the two met, the host friend told his story. A story that showed how providence liberally threw on his path a second chance to move to the top. A story that will always confirm that no matter your background or your past ugly story, you can ultimately come first if given a second chance. I pray that the following becomes your meditation. “I am not where you used to see me; I am where you think you’ll never find me. Rivers have opened for me in high places. Fountains have been made from me in the valley. My wilderness has turned into a pool of water, and my dry lands springs of water.  My crying has become beautiful dance steps; and my sackcloth has changed to a radiant garment.  I am not where you used to see me; I am where you thought you would never find me.”