Living

Apologies for my failure to post last week and failure to post on Thursday as per usual. I've recently taken on more responsibility at work and I'm trying (and failing most days!!!) to prepare for an examination. I really am trying not to fall off and keep my commitment to post once a week, the Lord being my helper.

Today's post is a bit of a sombre one.

It was Langston Hughes who said "Life is for the living. Death is for the dead. Let life be like music. And death a note unsaid".

I woke up on Sunday to news that a friend of my sister's had passed after an illness. On Wednesday, one of my closest friends also lost her dad. In this same week, I celebrated both my brother and mother's birthdays. I had a moment of serious clarity; while I was celebrating, people were in mourning. That's just life but it helps you put things into perspective. This is however not the crux of this post.

My sister's friend's death hit me so much. I wasn't exactly friends with him. I can count the handful of times I saw him. But the thought that such a young, meaningful, innovative life had come to an end was too much for me to bear.  

Apart from being such an amazing friend to my sister, I admired his business savvy and go-getter attitude. He started a fantastic online business that my friends and I swear by. He told my sister that the business stemmed from his laziness. We laughed about that statement at the time. But here was this young man, who didn't like to do certain things, noting that no one else seemed to like to do these things and the market had not responded by providing an alternative to doing those things. There was a huge gap in the market and he stepped up, conceptualised a business, floated it  and it worked!. He was big on legacy. He started his business to leave something for his kids like his father did. He never got to have those kids but he left a brainchild behind that has the potential of growing exponentially. He had begun diversifying and conceptualising other projects before he passed. He made business development and execution look so effortless.  He worked hard and played hard too.I loved that so much about him.

When the news of his death broke, a couple of us were sitting together just talking about what a great, selfless, generous, vivacious, innovative guy he was and reading instagram comments about him. The testimonials that poured forth were amazing. He had touched lives. He had actually impacted people. My sister made a comment that resonated with me. She said "at least, we are not all just talking about how young he was". This hit me where it hurt. This was so true. For a young person, he was extremely accomplished. We never looked at his accomplishments critically till he died because he was so fun loving and just did things effortlessly. He actually lived a reasonably full life. He loved, he lost, he achieved, he laughed, he lived. Above all, he had time to make things right with his God which is a great privilege. 

During the time he was unwell, he shared with my sister that if the sickness had taught him anything, it was that the lives we had was not ours. It was a gift but it was a gift we would someday account for. I'm happy he had a moment of clarity where through the pain, he understood his mortality in the grand scheme of things. This is our joy and why in accordance with 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-14, we do not mourn like they that have no hope. Does it hurt that he's passed. Yes. A whole lot. People across the length and breadth of this nation and beyond are crushed that he is no more. I drive past his house everyday and I'm hit all over again that such a light has gone out of this world. BUT we have an understanding that we shall meet again to part no more. 

 Matthew 25:14-30 tells the story of servants who were given talents by their masters and who had to account for those talents upon the return of the master. The first and second servants was given talents which they doubled in the period their mater was away.It struck me that if the master was away longer and they'd have more time to trade with their talents and made even more profit. My sister's friend made reasonably good use of his talents in the time he had  and if he'd been given more time, he would have done a heck of a lot more. 

He did most of what he purposed to do. He wanted to do more; was conceptualising more while he was sick, alas, time was up. He has inspired me to do away with my analysis-paralysis for good. I decided to take life by the horns this year and do more. This news has motivated me to do even more. He's no more but he has left a legacy behind; in his business and in the way he touched people's lives, visions and businesses. 

Living is the business of the living. Please let us live the best possible lives we can make happen, God being our helper. There are no second chances. Now is all we've got and we should make the most of it. Let us also bear in mind the fact that we are here temporarily and keep our minds focused on the hereafter. Tomorrow is not guaranteed any one of us.

To you: You,sir, were such a visionary. Such a fantastic man; generous of spirit, faithful with that which you were given and a lover of life. You led an impactful life. We are sad that you are gone but we rejoice because you have gone to a place where there is no more death or mourning, pain or crying. Thank you for your service to humanity and for the legacy you left behind. May your soul rest in the most perfect peace.