The passage of time has a strong effect on humans, and I am no longer one of those who believe in the saying that age is just a number. In some situations, we might refer to it as just a number, but when it comes to life in detail, age plays a significant role.
In the space of 365 days, humans go through various experiences that change our understanding of the world and even ourselves. These changes influence our perspective on life, and it's one of the reasons why our approach to life changes with time as we navigate triumphs, setbacks, and lessons learned along the way.
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It's fair to say that this change in perspectives is a lifelong process. It doesn't stop as long as we are alive because our new experiences while journeying through life most times challenge the previous experiences, causing our perspectives to shift continuously as we grow, and that's one of the beauties of life.
Growing up, I enjoyed reading the stories of wealthy people especially those who were born without silver spoons. I find their stories really inspiring, and it really motivates not just me but a lot of my peers back then.
I remember how we always talked about becoming successful footballers after winning matches, and those dreams went on and on for us. We were so certain about how life works, but as I grew older, life began to show its uncertainty, and the more it unfolds, the more I understand the unpredictable nature of life. My perspective shifted from life being predictable to something we can't predict no matter how much we are investing or how sure we are.
I saw myself graduating from high school at fourteen, getting admission into the university at fifteen, graduating, and serving the nation at twenty-one, working for three years before getting married at twenty-four, but life had a different plan, like getting admission at twenty and so on.
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I always thought the ride would be smooth because my age, which represents my height in experience, prevents me from facing the challenges on the road.
What many of us saw back then was a smooth road, but growing up exposed us to the harsh reality of the journey.
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It became clear that regardless of how sure we are about our plans or goals in life, we can't be too sure of the outcome, but that doesn't prevent us from trying. I learned to embrace imperfection and uncertainty, which has helped my life in so many ways.
When I lost my job to COVID back then, I was really sad because I saw the job as my ticket to success. I gave my best, but the lockdown came and cut the dreams I had with the job short, but little did I know that the marketing experience I acquired there would be of great help to something I never thought of becoming.
Those sweet talks and tricks have helped me in the past few years as a fish farmer, and my perspective about life was forced to shift from focusing on just the destination to enjoying the bumpy ride, and even when things don't turn out as planned, the disappointment doesn't hurt much, and even failure becomes a win because of the experience and knowledge I have gathered throughout that bumpy ride.
It's a long list of new perspectives for me, and the biggest of all is the willingness to be flexible with our thoughts, beliefs, values, and even actions in life. When we choose to be rigid, we automatically turn a blind eyes to new perspectives and that means we are hindering growth.
