There is an ailment gaining grounds around the world, it’s been around for a while, but hadn’t been named until recently. Do you have this ailment? Have you checked to be sure you don’t? I just analyzed everyone in my family that had died at one point or the other, and it dawned on me that they die of this same ailment. It’s terminal, this means you are bound to die once you have it. Would you like to know if you have it or not? Checking the details of how it works and how you contact it may shock you! Only continue if you have the heart.
This terminal ailment is called “life”, the moment you have it, you are bound to die. The moment a baby is born, death is sure. The challenges of life may vary for all of us, but the destination is sure! Our journey on earth, is like the existing in a well funded and glamorous hospital. All the bed sheets are white and clean, the staff are happy and full of smiles, the front desk is so warm and friendly. The nurses are dressed in white and the doctors are like arc angels. Everything seems pretty calm and cozy, you even get better service and warmth from here than you would a bank. Many times we are drowned so much in the tranquility of the environment, that we forget the reasons hospitals exist.
Once in a while however, we are jolted back into reality, by the sound of sirens, the wail of patients in pain, or the cry of family members who just got really bad news. Then we realize that the smiles and the warmth are intermissions in the drama of life’s long play. This world is a giant hospital, we were born to die. Challenges come and go, we overcome and overcome until the hour comes when victory is giving in to temporary death in exchange for eternal life. We try hard to keep our eyes off the obvious – that one day more, is one day less! We live in denial, that we have an inner clock, that ticks away into the hereafter. That the best use of our time, is the investment of it, into things that will continue to be when we are no more.
Many of us struggle, compete and sometimes fight dirty to win an extra blanket, a bigger bed, more sophisticated equipment, a bigger room of abode and so on, as if all of that matters when the inner clock bellows on the last hour of midnight. Who takes our bed is not important, neither is anything else that we strove so shamelessly for. What matters, is the legacy we leave behind, the lives touched and blessed, the difference made, the hope given, the help rendered, the name built, and the selfless acts that push a mortal towards immortality.
In the last few weeks, I have been extremely busy. I have been pursuing my passions – My passion for a New Nigeria, and my passion for empowering people. I have travelled around at dizzying speed – by air and by road. As I write, my body still aches. One thing however has stood out for me as a quote to remember. It was the words of General Muhammadu Buhari as he addressed the BB2011 Volunteers Group. He said, ” In 10yrs, between myself and my VP, our generation will fizzle out, we will no longer be here. This is not about us, this is about you. You have 30-40yrs to live, and can decide how you want the future of your country to be. You need to take responsibility for your future”
We all have the terminal ailment called life, for it is appointed for man, once to die, and after that, Judgement. This reality should guide what we live for, and how we live. The strongest purpose to life is the pursuit of immortality. As we count our days, may our days count!
