The whole compound was quiet, his grandchildren had gone to school. The visible companions are the hens and their chicks frolicking around him for their breakfast.
He looked back at the balcony and realized that the millet container had been dropped in a visible location by Joy, his youngest granddaughter before leaving for school. He was willing to attend to the hens - they were desperately jumping over one another and over his legs in search of what to eat - but the energy to stand up and get the bottle wasn't forthcoming.
Then two of his goats appeared from the backyard bleating for their own breakfast too - cassava tuber. The disturbance of the goats with the hen wasn't what he could handle and he stood up to get the millet and cassava.
"Good morning Sir," Daniel greeted him as he was making his way into the house.
"My son, give me two minutes to get something." The bleating of the goats had turned the whole atmosphere into a noisy one.
He emerged a few minutes later from the house with the millet and cassava.
"Is there no work today?" He asked Daniel whom he'd expected to be at work at that hour.
"I developed a serious headache this morning and I decided to rest. I have informed my boss." Daniel began.
"Papa," he called John's attention afresh. "I see myself as a failure. My colleague who is on the same level as me is living in his personal house and riding his personal car while I am still in a rented apartment without any means of mobility. We started the job the same time."
"I can now understand where your headache is coming from." John dropped the final part of the cassava tuber in his hand to the goat and held Daniel's hand to join him to have a seat under the tree from him to share some experience.
"My son, can you see this house? I built it almost at the point of retirement. Do you know why?" John asked.
"Probably, you were not being paid well during your days." Replied Daniel.
"You are wrong. The value of my income during my active working years is more than what you are earning today.
"My son, before you compare yourself with another person in the race of life, make sure you know the story behind the success and failures of the other party just like you know yours.
"I was the firstborn of six siblings. My father was a retired army veteran. He married late due to his postings and military careers.
"As a result, the children were under normal circumstances supposed to be his grandchildren.
My father died the year I graduated from high school. The last of my siblings was three years old then."
John continued to reel out his experience.
Life became difficult for him and his mother in sustaining the family. He would join his mother to fetch firewood to sell in order to survive. That was how he was seen through university before getting a job with a company.
The loads of sponsoring five younger ones rest on his shoulder immediately.
"I didn't care to know the story behind the achievements of my colleague, Harry and I began to see myself as trailing far behind in the race of success."
He was sipping his coffee intermittently while Daniel was nodding his head to the wise word coming from Elder John as he was fondly referred to in the community.
Daniel was the first to notice a Mercedes Benz coming towards their direction.
"I think you have a visitor," Daniel posited.
The car packed and Ali, John's youngest sibling, emerged from the car. He rushed to his brother to prostrate to greet him.
"My son," referring to Daniel, "this is Barrister Ali," he pointed to his brother.
"Ali, sit down, I need to finish the story I was sharing before you came."
"The burden of my siblings and mother didn't allow me to build a house on time nor did I buy a car. I was training my siblings and at the same time seeing myself as a failure because my close colleague, Harry, was riding the latest car and living in a mansion. I wasn't fair to myself."
Ali was smiling being aware of the topic and he is always eager to praise his brother's sacrifice.
"After some years, I discovered that whereas I was the firstborn, Harry was the lastborn whose older brothers were serving in top government offices. Most of his cars were given to him by his brother. We were in a direct opposite situation.
"My son, now it's your turn to tell me how you manage your income," he asked Daniel.
Daniel, breathing deeply, was dumbfounded.
"Talk to me," John reiterated.
"What you have explained is almost the same story as mine." Daniel responded
Like John, Daniel was the first child in a family of four children. In his two bedroom apartment, he has two of his brother's under his sponsorship.
"I put my mum on a monthly salary, sponsoring my siblings and taking care of my immediate family."
"Hope you have savings, no matter how little?" John asked.
"I am able to save 10% of my income."
"You are not doing bad. Don't put yourself in a race that gets you depressed. How much do you know about your colleague?" John asked.
"I don't know him beyond meeting and talking as far as our work demands."
He advised Daniel to stop such self punishment by running a race with an "unknown" person.
"He may be enjoying the fruit of the labour of generations before him while in your own case, you are the one setting the pace for generations to come. Life is a race in which many factors come into play when running such a race and comparing yourself with someone else. Make sure you maximize your potential and be justified in your actions. Run a race with yourself to be better tomorrow than today." He advised Daniel.
