Dear reader, I know you are probably thinking that this is one of those books about how one grew up, or ways to become rich, or other similar kinds of a things. Well, it’s not, but I promise to keep it PG 13.

I have always wanted to write a book, but I never knew where to begin. Strange enough, I have never even read a book before … okay, to tell the truth, I remember reading “Nothing But The Truth” at some point, and it has become an old time favourite of mine. But, even with that, I remember that, when I was in Grade 10, I wrote a poem titled “A Critical Life”:

“We plan to live,
We die to dream,
And we suffer through our lives to embrace our careers,
It’s funny, they say it’s a life of skills, even though we hustle like snails,
We dream and do less drugs,
And they say it’s for our stability, but it’s actually for our ability,
We conquer, but we are constantly unappreciated,
We are like morons and mockers,
We vote for the president, but he does not fight poverty,
Even though it carries on and on,
We give him the power to rule, but what’s in it for us?
We pledge to do right, even though failure crowns us,
The plan is to never give up,
A critical life!”

You know, in life, you go through a lot of phases wherein you believe you are meant to be something. Then, when you try things out, you find out that they are not the right direction for you. That does not happen to all of us, though. Some of us can spot our futures right away, and then there are those like me: ‘Yours truly’!

People like me usually get to their destinations after trying everything out for a while. I once thought that I was a poet, but that really did not work out well for me. It did not end there, though. At some point, I thought that I sang like one of the members of Destiny’s Child. I know what you are probably thinking, but the person I thought I sang like was definitely not Queen B. I probably tried pitching those high notes, but I know that it all ended in disaster.

I then tried college, but I did not finish. Do not ask why, though, because I am still searching for some comfort after that experience. After college, I felt motivated to go to the university, but I assure you, some things work for us, and some, you know, just do not.

So, after years of trying other things, I picked a new venture of writing, and I wonder if I will finish this one. But I do pray that God gives me the wisdom and strength to finish things I start, though.

One of the things I hate is the phrase “Lord help me to accept the things I cannot change”, which I heard from someone I know. It just sounds like an easy way out for me, because if the Lord is going to help me out of a deep situation, then I am going to give it my all. That is what the problem is with people like me is, we pray and hope for things to be handed to us on a silver platter.

I always complain about people that receive things without having to work for them because when it comes to me, I have to sweat, and I have never received anything on a silver platter. Receiving things I worked hard for tastes like chocolate on the noon, though, and I hope that, by writing this, it will end up in the hands of someone that feels the way I do, or has tried all means like I have, because I want to let them know that they are not alone.

If there is anything that life has taught me, it is that an easy path has a quick ending, and the honest truth that will always haunt you is the fact that life is too short. It feels like yesterday when I passed my matric, and every day ever since is just another day of trying to pick up where I left off the day before. But then again, there is nothing wrong with being different to others.

Well, you are probably wondering what I am doing for a living now. I am employed, but not permanently, but I am definitely not where I imagined I would be at this point in my life. Nonetheless, I have motivated a lot of young people, but it always depends if the person I am talking to is willing to listen.

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Tell us: What advice would you have for someone who feels like they have not achieved the goals they set for themselves?