THE CORRIDOR

It’s one evening at work and after a couple of engage videos. I find myself staring at the corridor right after our office. It’s a short corridor with green tiles. After a long stare I see someone’s whole life being equivalent to that short distance. The beginning of the corridor being the day we celebrate the birth of a child while the end of the corridor being the funeral of the same person. Then there is the middle of the corridor. The distance between these two events which is how we live our lives.

As all these thoughts rush through my mind I begin to see how life can pass us by waiting for something to happen. The only thing that’s happening is that time is passing us by and the sand in our hourglass is almost running out. We spend a lot of time looking and   searching for things for tomorrow instead of living. 

I know your mind is like “Lwala we’ve heard this story before and you’ve written about it a couple of times.” But that’s the thing no matter how many times we hear it or we read about it we never seem to act on it and before we realize it our time has run out or their time has run out. Yes we might die any time or lose a loved one at any moment, the sad part is we never see it coming.

Allow me to quote a few people I have been watching lately : Caroline Mutuko, June Gachui and George Ikua. All of these characters have one thing in common: they all stood on the same platform and in those few moments they were given they redefined time and life.

Make your time count…

Caroline Mutuko talks of running out of time and how it ran out on her four times. How you may ask? Well she had people she loved and kept planning on meeting them however before they met up it was too late and they were all gone. Time ran out on her. 

June Gachui redefined life and what it means to have a good thing. Allow me to quote her words, “According to me a good thing is simply the things that happen to you that make you feel good.”  It’s that simple, I think that is the same for all of us. We try to define good things as only the major events of life as if the other things that happen to us do not matter but the truth of the matter is even the little things matter. The people who crack us up and make us smile, saying “Hi” to the watch guard or the janitor at work. It may not be a big deal to you but the fact that you recognized their presence and acknowledged them and their work, does mean a lot. It’s to the simple things like a stranger helping you when stranded or a morning forehead kiss from a lover and an “I love you” from your mum or dad. Every simple act that puts a smile on our face is part of the middle of the corridor.

When we come to one George Ikua there is one important attribute he teaches us and that is the art of kindness. Be kind to everyone whether you meet them on a bus, in a pub, in church or on the bank line. This life is interesting because on this corridor there is a place where another corridor crosses and in that case we have to be kind to whoever crosses our paths. It’s the smile you give a stranger or an ear to listen to, it’s the hug we give when we don’t have too but when it’s needed. Seeing the kindness we show every person we meet goes a long way and eventually comes back to us in the most unexpected ways but when we need it as well.

Also read: Love yours

That’s the corridor for me. It’s life and don’t forget you don’t know when or where a bulldozer might decide to bring your corridor down so make the most of it while you can. Make sure you don’t run out of time, enjoy every good thing that comes your way and don’t forget to spread kindness like confetti.