[b][/b]

Francis and I met at the airport. There was a delay due to bad weather. We got talking and he told me this inspiring story. “My parents had always told me that life was not easy. My father for one would go on with the sordid journey he took in becoming a man, marrying my mother and raising us. Consequently, I imbibed that mentality that nothing in life comes easy. But, on the other hand, my father taught me how to live with hope even when there seems to be no one in sight within my horizon. These two lessons became the focal point of the life that I pursued.”

It was over one hour since we started waiting. Francis flashed a look at his wristwatch and went on. “When my father died, this was two years after my mother left, I became heartbroken and desolate. I was born in the time before the war. Education was not at the top of the list of the average Igbo family. The war came and we emerged from it striving so hard to make ends meet. When I could not find a good job owing to the visible challenges in the post-civil war era, I picked up my late father's jalopy and entered into the taxi business. Less than two months into the business I was involved in a fatal accident that took the lives of two passengers in the other vehicle. The taxi was damaged beyond recognition and I was told it could never be fixed. I almost lost one of my eyes. Till date, that eye became impaired and my vision became partial.”

The announcer came on and with the usual foreign accent, those going to Lagos were told to get ready to onboard. Francis continued, “I was warned never to drive again. Luckily, an old family friend got a job for me at the printing press. I felt good at the start and I gave the job my best to make sure that I remained in favour of the white men who managed it. Another disaster struck again- one night I forgot to monitor the printing press and went to sleep. The machine malfunctioned and messed up a printing job for a political campaign. That job was to be submitted the week before but it was delayed for some reason. But I ended up messing it further on the eve of the delivery date. I was fired the next morning. My situation began to look irremediable like a fish struggling for life on the bare floor. I was fired from two subsequent jobs within two years. I was lost between two opinions; whether the problem was from me or with the system that hired and fired me at will. In simple terms, I can say it was like a Sisyphean struggle”

He said, "There were perilous moments in my life but I kept thinking when things became very tough for me,

‘Father would have expected me to keep hope alive. I won't give in to despair’

At this point, we were told that our delayed flight had arrived. Francis concluded, “It got so bad that family and friends started telling me that I lacked the preparedness and discipline to keep a job. They conveyed the impression that I was the problem and advised me to return to the village and start tilling my father's land. My uncle told me I had no business with a paid job and he charged me to return to the village and do something with my life. That thinking got to me one day that thoughts of suicide came up as options. But I pushed back at those voices in my head and kept hoping that one good fortune would change it all. It didn't take long before my prayers were answered. One day, I came across an advert on the pages of the newspaper. I submitted an application and it was a success. Like you see in a science fiction movie, months became months and months elongated to years. I later left the printing job and started my own printing business after serving my employer for 15 meritorious years. Presently, we are bursting our budgets in all financial indices. We are on course to extend our business beyond the shores of our nation.”


REFLECTION
As a kid, one of my best moments was watching the aeroplanes take off. Now an adult, I alluded this take off to the same way people allow hope to grow wings and fly out of their lives. The moment you let hope go, the centrifugal force that tethers grace and joy, alongside hope, in a tripartite arrangement existing at the core of your system disintegrates.

I recall vividly the miracle of Dammam. It was that one goal, and the first one, that the Flying Eagles pulled back after being 0-3 down that gave them that flicker of hope. The rest became history. Therefore, it doesn't matter how many times your life has been messed up by either you or the system. What matters is your resolve to keep pushing in spite of the difficulties. No matter how bad or tortuous the journey has been, just hang on and seek for that one thing that will keep creating that flicker of hope. For the Eagles of Nigeria, it was that first goal that whispered in their ears, ‘we can do it. You’ve still got time’.

Look for that first goal that would help you turn your situation around!

Plenty of goodies await you if you make it to the end of the tunnel. And always remember that after the night, comes the sun that brightens the day and illuminates our life.

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