Difficult Times Dont Come To Destroy But to Build
"Hardship often prepares an ordinary person for an extraordinary destiny.” — Christopher Markus
A lot of times we dread difficult times, we see them as misfortune because of the weight of pains and suffering it comes with but one thing I got to realize about hard times is those who endure hard times while preparing themselves, often end up being victorious.
All of us have been through one moment of difficulty or the other, no matter how rich or poor one may be, going through times like that is certain. One thing I love about such times is that they don't last forever and they never visit and go without making us better personalities.
I was scrolling through Facebook yesterday and I came across a random post, it reads; for those of you who said, "Everything that has a disadvantage also has an advantage, tell me what the advantage of poverty is". When I saw the post, I was moved, so I decided to check the comment section and the first feedback reads "It humbles you and makes you understand the value of having fortunes in life".
That feedback really caught my attention, of a truth every hard time in our lives has a good side. This is why anytime I am going through any challenge in life, I encourage myself with this line, "This too shall pass away" a Persian quote. Nothing will last forever, Instead of killing yourself and feeling sorry, have it at the back of your mind that the condition will not remain forever, no matter how terrible it is.
After I graduated from college, my Mom kept looking for means to get a job for me and my immediate elder sister because she knew that with time, she would no longer be able to fend for the family alone.
She sought jobs until she got tired and gave up. That same year, my mom's youngest brother gave her some money to get farm products and store for him which she did. Unfortunately, after keeping the goods for some months, insects infested them in the store.
My Mom then thought it would be wise to sell them out and get something else if not she would be at a loss, in the quest to get a buyer, she stumbled on her old friend who introduced her to a prison service officer who was looking for the exact kind of goods my mom wanted to sell.
That sounds like good news, arrangements were made, and the goods were conveyed from my place to the prison where the goods were needed in Kuje Abuja. When it was time for payment, the buyer told my mom about a job vacancy. She said they are currently doing replacement, she doesn't know if my mom has anyone who isn't working.
Quickly, my mother, told her she had her daughter, and that was where the problem began. She told my mother that she would have to buy the slot for my sister and since the money for her goods is here, why don't she just use it instead? My mother being too blind to see that it could be a trap, bought the idea.
A few weeks later, the woman asked my sister to go to Abuja and submit her credentials which my sister did and we waited for what was like eternity without hearing from the woman. At first, she was picking up our calls but with time, she stopped and her lines stopped going through.
That was when it became obvious that my mom was scammed, my uncle started making demands for his goods and they were nowhere to be found. It got to a point my mother had to open up to him that she sold the goods but she was scammed. He got so offended and asked her to pay him back.
My mom spent everything she had to refund the money, if she was doing something tangible, it would have been okay but she wasn't. Life suddenly became tough for us.
Everyone started fending for themselves, we couldn't depend on mom. The debt drained her pockets completely. Sometimes we barely eat twice. It was then it occurred to me that I am a man, I had to start looking for jobs for myself, anything that could generate income as far as it was legal, I do it in order to survive.
I continued job hunting and I stumbled upon a teaching job, from there I didn't relax, I kept doing my best and looking for other things to do to survive. That was how I became a hustler and the man that I am today.
Lessons
One basic thing I learned from that difficult moment is that difficult times force us out of our comfort zones, pushing us to become better versions of ourselves. If it were not for what happened to my mom, I am so sure that I wouldn't be hardworking and I might not even know what it means to be independent.