The lunch walkers

I went to work at the University of Limpopo for nine days. Now, you must know how extensive a university campus is. There are many paths that meander in numerous directions. Getting lost became part of our daily routine. I’m not one to stretch the parameters of my comfort zone easily, so getting lost is really quite undesirable. 

Imagine my despair when the group of ladies decided to walk to the lunch venue. Just the thought of it made me perspire mentally. I don’t walk much unless it is necessitated. For example, I will walk away from an offensive vile smell, a burning building or if I’m exposed to pending danger, like a lion that’s loose on the premises. Walking to a lunch venue at midday, in the insufferable Bushveld heat, is not my idea of an option when there are cars available to take us there. 

They mentioned that the venue was not very far, but you know how it is with people. One person’s definition of far is alarmingly different from that of another’s. Nevertheless, not wanting to be a killjoy, I joined the lunch walkers. 

Going to the venue, we walked quite briskly – not because of hunger, eager enthusiasm, or team spirit. Our pace was set because we were walking downhill most of the way and also because some of the walkers actually participate in regular physical exercise. 

Breathless, with a heart palpitating in my unfit chest, I reached the restaurant every single day and went up the steps with flaccid legs, relieved to be alive. I ate my lunch because I was there. My hunger had been curbed from the long walk. After lunch, we were faced with the exhausting journey uphill back to the lecture room. In a sense, it was very educational because I discovered that I have more muscles in my legs than I have ever been aware of. 

Will this experience inspire me to start exercising, walking, or running? Will I enroll in a boot camp? No, no! Let’s not be silly. Just enjoy the photos, will you? If you’ve read all of this, you might as well stay a little longer and look at all the photos. These photos were taken from the restaurant, Glenda's Take 5, en route to the lecture room.

 

Existing for a greater purpose

We have many problems. The world is filled with problems. Many people turn to God and pray that He will give them a positive outcome so that problems will end. God did not create these problems. Yet, people want Him to take responsibility to solve them.

Each one of us goes through life unable to come to terms with it. Life hits us with all kinds of experiences, good and bad, and we don’t know how to cope with any of them. Our decisions, our choices in life, determine our direction and problems in life. All our decisions impact our lives and we suffer. One decision leads to another and it is impossible for all the consequences to always be good. As imperfect people, we make mistakes. Even the people in our lives and our circumstances act as enablers or catalysts for our problems and we suffer.

Everyone has some specific burden to carry, whether it is cancer, a broken relationship, loss of a loved one, or financial worries. That’s why we turn to God and pray so that He will help us. We ask Him to end our problems or strengthen us to cope with our problems. What we desire, we expect Him to fulfill. That’s Grace, right? Wrong! Grace doesn’t mean that we can talk to God and ask Him to solve problems He didn’t create.

Our lack of knowing how to control our lives, our emotions, and our circumstances are the reason why we suffer. We need to learn to be responsible. We need to learn to think for ourselves. No one on earth can breathe, think or make responsible decisions for us. No one on earth can make us feel fulfilled. We need to find inner peace and accept our imperfections as well as the imperfections of others. Only then will we grasp the concept that we can never fully understand life and eventually accept it for what it is.

Imperfection is the heaviest of all burdens we carry. Therefore, we all carry suffering within us. Knowing that we carry this suffering within us should motivate us to focus more attention on ourselves than on others. We need to make time for quietness with ourselves so that we can attempt to understand ourselves. We can only be complete and whole when we realize that if we want something, we alone need to work hard to achieve it and not rely on empty prayers of desire, imperfect people, or worldly power and status to gain it. 

Nothing on earth will go the way we want it to go. Nothing on earth will bring us happiness. The laws of the universe are not governed by us. The sun doesn’t rise because we are alive. The ebb and flow of the tides are not set in motion because we exist. Instead of always expecting life to revolve around us and flow in the direction we desire, we need to pray for wisdom and courage to continue existing for a greater purpose: humanity!