One thing that is very certain about life is that there will be highs and lows; there will be days when you feel on top of the world and days when you will feel like you are drowning with no one coming to help you. No doubt we all want to experience only highs because of the pleasures, joy, happiness, and feelings that come with it, but life is not programmed for us to only experience highs but to also experience what lows feel like. All we can do is to make sure that when the lows come knocking, we don't stay low for long because that is when it becomes really challenging.
My friend Victor, a very good graphic designer with good potential but no opportunity to showcase what he has in store, kept applying for jobs, but only rejections followed. He called me to his room, and I thought it was business as usual to rant and complain about another rejection, but I saw wine on the table and vodka on the ground with disposable cups and a group of our other friends in the room.
"I know today is not your birthday. What are we celebrating?" I asked as we shook hands.
"Use your big head and guess; I know you are not that smart, but guess." Victor teased.
"I am smarter than you; that one I know for sure." I teased back, giving him a bombastic side-eye. "Anyways, tell me you bagged a gig because that is the only reason we are here; if not, then I don't know." I added
"Wawww." Dera shouted.
"I am really proud of you." Victor added as he stretched out his hands for another handshake.
"Come on, take these ugly hands out of my face." I said as I hit his hands.
"It is a miracle, bro. I was just about to give up applying for jobs before I got an email that came in with the type of response I have been looking for, bro. I have not been this happy in years, and since you guys are the ones I always rant to when things are not going well, I felt it was necessary and important that I celebrate this win with you guys to show you all how much I appreciate all of your support, and today we are here because you guys are the realest." Victor said as he poured wine in everybody's cup.
"Congratulations, bro. Go and show the world what you are made of; we are proud of you." We all echoed as we gulped down the wine.
Victor, who always complained about finances and how bad things were, stopped complaining; the pay from his new job was more than enough to pay for all of his bills.
As expected, he did exploit; he rose from being an assistant graphic designer in the firm to being the lead graphic designer, and that kept him very busy. To the point we started seeing him less due to workload, he became distant and hardly responds to chat. We are happy he got a job but sad that the job is now having an effect on our friendship, but maturing is understanding that things were not like that before the job, but Dera could not hold back as he confronted Victor.
"Victor, so you are now too busy for your friends, huh?" Dera asked.
"My bro, I am sorry; I know I have been distant lately, but I will look for a way to make it up to you." Victor apologized.
Like he promised, things changed, and he tries as much as he can to respond to chats even while working, but then the lows came knocking like a thief in the night. The company he was working for was bought by another company, and they had to let him go since the new owner has a graphic designer of their own, and things came crashing down for Victor. At that point he felt like he was drowning; he fell back on his savings, and in no time his entire savings was gone, and he had nothing left.
"We all know that in life there will be highs and there will be lows; now is that period to experience the lows, and we have to face it with so much courage because that is how you survive it. Every setback is an opportunity for you to re-strategize and come back even stronger." I encouraged and advised Victor, patting him on the back.
Victor took my advice and decided to learn UI/UX design as an added skill to complement his graphics design skills and got back to applying for jobs as both a graphic designer and a UI/UX designer, and in no time he got another job, and this time they needed both skills, which makes the pay higher and better than the last job.
"I got a new job, Kachi, and this time it is better than what was lost," Victor said to me over the phone. "Indeed, life moves like waves; you get to experience highs, and you get to experience lows, but what keeps you going in both cases is your courage to keep fighting," Victor added as he hung up.