Life is wrapped in the expected and unexpected turn of events.

Life is not only, when what we want or expect happens. It is still life even when the unexpected happens.

We often fight to control life, I say fight because we put effort. So we fight because we believe life is that which we know not the unknown.

But babe, life is like a river. It flows naturally, following its course, requiring no push nor shove. Even when you try to block it, it will find another channel and still move. It flows sweeping along with it whatever it will find on its way.

When the day breaks, and we refuse to get up, life still goes on. That made me to think; what is life?

Is life what we plan every day? Is the rising and setting of the sun what life is? When we say he/she has lived their life, what are we talking about? When I say my life what do I mean?

And this is what I found out;

Life is what happens when we are busy making other plans.

I got this line from a movie I watched sometime back and I’ve observed it to be true. When I was in my early 20s, I had so many serious plans, and by the effort I was putting, it was true I was really working to have the plans established. And the people I met most of them used to say

"Girl, live life".

What did they mean? I wondered, then. Am I not living?

But now I know.

Life is the daily occurrences. You meet someone you love. You get so convinced that this one is the one meant to be with you for the rest of your life. You start building on your future with them.

But no sooner than, something you had not totally anticipated happens and the relationship comes crushing down, shaming all your plans.

Wueeeh!

You feel so bad. Of course it feels bad. Bad is even an under expression. My God the pain of losing someone you love is just inexpressible. Most people become depressed and even some commit suicide. A large percentage of mental illness today in Kenya, stems from love gone wrong. Because most times we feel our lives have been distorted.

But is it really distorted and lost in meaning? Is it true they have destroyed your life?

No darling, your life still is. That tragedy was all along part of your life. It is the story of your life. It is an episode of your life. Long known but little known by you.

Don’t hate you!

Don’t curse you!

Don’t shame the event!

Embrace it instead and find a way forward. Because just like the way the tragedy came, the solution is also on its way or just hidden somewhere inside the same tragedy. When something tragic happens in my life, I tell me; this must be a setup for a greater comeback.

Remember again Life is what happens when we are busy making other plans.

I don’t know your spiritual orientation but I know you must believe in something higher than yourself. I believe in God and I have a personal relationship with Him. He calls me his child, I call him papa. So my father says,

‘Many are the plans of man, but it’s God who executes them all’

See while you are busy saying you’ll get married by the end of 2022, life had in store something else for you. Probably a scholarship, or promotion to glory of your partner etc. Surprises of life are both good and bad. You celebrate one, you cry another and that’s life.

Kenyans we are famously known for this line;

“nimaisha”

But even when we say that, do we normally mean the talk and walk it. You lose your only child and we hear you say ‘nimaisha’ well as hard as it is I think we should be brave enough to say yes it is life and we should move on.

So now that we’ve debunked what life is, what are we to do?

Simple;

Align with life

Abide by life’s offers

Embrace life

And how do we do it, by living one day at a time.

A day comes;

You thank God for it,

You positively state your expectations.

Set your energy right for the day, you prepare yourself ready to face whatever the day will offer.

The day rolls on and you actually stay put for it.

The day ends;

You again thank God for the same.

You thank yourself for managing everything that the day offered.

You rest with a smile.

Babe that now is taking one day at time. No blames. No complaints.

JUST ONE DAY AT A TIME. Again babe I repeat, Life is what happens when we are busy making other plans. Don’t feel bad next time when life hands you a spoon while you wanted a plate. Yes you wanted a spoon but it is the plate you needed not the spoon. Life has the tendency of giving us what we need not what we want. Or better you have a plate not the spoon you wanted, so? Will you cry or use what you have?

Hugs babe. Ni maisha.

- Yours truly, Rehema Kiteto