Waves & Winds of Life

Life is just like riding a giant wave. One moment we are up on the crest and the next moment we are just down and down.

We can just go down the step into the pit. There will be a point when we will the bottom. A wise man noted, " You can not go any other direction except up when you at the bottom already".

The most important thing when we are on downward spiral is never to surrender to the circumtances. Never to give up or to yield. It's like the Outward Bound School motto, "never to yield".

I have my ups and down too. When I left Shell in 1990 I was hitting my pit's bottom. I was starting on my own. Things did not go my way. I was living on allowance half my take home pay I was in Tiram Kimia. I had left a secured job in Tiram Kimia. There every month the pay cheque will be ready. On my own business, I have to make my own paycheck.

This was the time I was doing a lot of soul searching. My self-esteem is being testted to the limit. When friends asked me what am I doing for a living, I will curtly answer, "I am a consultant" . What consultant? "Management consultant or whatever," was my reply.

That was the time when 50 and 55 years seemed very far. I was looking forward to draw out my EPF. At times I was looking for my ending day in this world. At least my worry and drawbacks will be over when I am no longer in this world. I wish for the ending to become sooner.

But luckily the training that I received got the better of me. I was trained to ask questions. The questions that turned my life around.

What do I really want from life? How can I have the life that I want? Who are the people that I love and really care? What can I do today, tomorrow and the days that follow? What can make me happy? How can I make things move my way?.... so many questions... and so many answers.

Many wise man used to counsel that the most important thing in life is to ask great and excellent questions and the answer will come. No wonder Cameroon proverb said, " a person who cannot ask question should not live".

The questions made me focus on the answers. The answers enable me to climb out of the pit into the sunshine lit pathway.

Are there any more pits after that. Yes, there are few more. But the experience and training made us resilent and more wilful in facing those turbulences. As the great boxer of 20th century said," It's not how many punches you can throw but how many punches you can withstand before knocking off your opponent".

Whatver it is, never give up. Ask the right questions and we will be directed to the right answers. It's just the way nature operates. And I thank Allah swt for that.