THE HUSTLE, THE TEARS, AND THE QUESTIONS THAT WON’T STOP COMING

One of the many questions I often asked myself during my quiet time is what is actually the essence of life? The truth is that it's actually kind of complicated, because one minute you're there celebrating a win and the next moment you're wiping tears off your face from a disheartening occurrence. Like people would often say, this life has no balance; truly it doesn't because the rate at which people come and go in our lives is worth taking a break to question what the purpose of life is. One minute you're inseparable friends, the next you're distanced apart or broken apart by death, time, or distance, and the interesting thing about all these is how they find a way of teaching you a lesson you've got no choice but to learn.

The truth is that if you take out time to study the pattern of how life works and turns out for different people, you won't know when you'll lose the will to live, the zeal to keep going, and the desire to try and chase a milestone. I mean, come to think of it, what's the point of trying or giving your best towards something when you don't know what the next minute has in store for you? Just yesterday I was watching a video tagged the consequences of cheating, and in that video, a man was seen at a beer parlor chatting joyously with another lady, and then came his supposed wife; she shot him multiple times, leading to his death. That video made me realize the thin line between life and death. I mean, there lies the lifeless body of the same person who was laughing seconds ago.

With all the happenings here and there, it'll be quite difficult to blame those who quit or gave up on their dreams and aspirations. I mean, it's not the first time we're seeing someone die at the point of their breakthrough, making people wonder what's the point of all these individual struggles to attain this height.I remember a lady who used to stay in my hostel during my undergraduate days; months later, she posted how excited she was to graduate from the university and become a youth corper, and the next thing I saw was her obituary. She died and left all her dreams behind. What's the point of dreaming, trying, and the like if we'll end up dying at one point or another? What is the purpose of life?

One thing I've come to understand is that death is inevitable, and so is failing. A lot of people are genuinely trying and yet fail in their journey; some die trying, while others die at the point of their success or when they ought to reap the fruit of their labor. But then, should we judge life based on their ordeal, or do we all have different purposes in life? Personally for me, I believe understanding what life is boils down to understanding your purpose in it, and finding one's purpose isn't easy at all;

in fact, it's often said that finding your purpose is like chasing the wind, and that's because you're faced with loads of doubt, such as, what if I fail? What if I'm wasting my time? What if nothing changes and the likes? For me personally, I was about to sail through thanks to my resilience to keep showing up, to keep getting up each time life threw me down, and to keep believing that one day I'll get there.

If I'm to say the truth, I honestly don't know what's keeping me going, and that's because it's difficult to pinpoint; sometimes it's because I don't want to let my loved ones down, other times it's because I really want to achieve something and make a mark that's beyond just passing through the surface of the earth, and sometimes it's something telling me that I've come too far to decide I want to give up. Overall my take is that my purpose is deeply rooted in my loving, crying, and rising again, in giving my best; basically it's all about the process of who I become during the journey and not about the destination.

Going forward, I know I'll still fail, but I know it won't make me give up. I know I've got the hustling spirit to keep going, to keep fighting, and to keep believing till the day I'll know no more. I'll keep being me and keep giving my best in all I do; hopefully that'll be just enough.

All photos are mine.