These weekend we had a staff retreat at olepolos. The scene at this place is the most amazing. The valleys and the bushy hills and the horizons with blurry mountains are the most breathtaking scenes I have ever set my eyes on. I must confess that I did not have these thoughts at the beginning. What I saw was bare land, old tired shrubs, animal forsaken planes and hot hilly semiarid environments. I did not fall in love with it.
The complicated things
The party is already set. There is barbecue everywhere, roasted goat meat fills my plate, and the music is loud. Drinks of all kind have been served. My colleagues decide to have a jig. And I stay back to watch. Am thinking this is life at its best!!!. A lady colleague of mine walks to me and says “let me show you something.” I agree. She holds me by my hand and guides me to a cliff. She asks me to close my eyes for a moment then open them. When I open my eyes, I see a bare valley, and a bushy hillside. This is not anywhere near amazing.
The simple things
She then points to the hills and says “take a deep breath” I did so and I must say that it was the most refreshing breath of air I have had in a long time. She then points to the hills and the valleys and asks “what do you see?” “A hilly landscape” I replied. “No! An empty space!” she exclaims. That is what life is…..an empty space. Until people come in to our lives and make it meaningful and crowded, it is just an empty space. Appreciate the people that fill the empty spaces in your life.” she then pointed towards the blurry mountains and asked me again, “what do you see?” “Blurry mountains” I replied. She turned to look at me and said, “If you think with an open mind, you will realize that that is a horizon; in life we are always pursuing something; a well-paying job, a flashy car, a good house and so on. The horizons in our lives are our dreams, our New Year resolutions and aspirations. I want you to imagine if you may, supposed we were two eagles; if we mount our wings and fly over this valley to that mountain top and then look yonder would there still be a horizon beyond the mountain? That’s the tragedy of life. Sometimes we are so much focused on our horizons such that we forget the most important thing about life; the breath of life! We forget to live in the moment. We forget the very core of humanity; life. No matter how much we achieve our goals; there will always be another goal just like the horizon goals have no end. As you pursue your goals do not forget to spend quality time with yourself, your friends and your family. Life is too short.”
The greatest things about life
She then pointed to the hills and the plains and said, “Life is just like this landscape. There are moments when we are descending down hills, there are moments in life when we are in the plains and then there are moments when we are climbing hills. We have ups and downs. The valleys and the hills make the landscape beautiful. The high moments and low moments in life make life more interesting. Embrace your problems and difficulties, they make life rich.” She then asked me to close my eyes one last time and take a deep breath and when I opened my eyes, I had a different view of the landscape. It was so beautiful and breathtaking. Then she said, “That is what life is; beautiful and breathtaking” and I agree with her “the greatest things about life are the simplest.”
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