Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. You may not know what you want to do in life. But often, you know what you do not want to do in life.
I have told this story before. In my third year at campus, I forgot to apply for internship places. I was stuck. For those who were stuck, the university always had some placements with some places. But it was usually the kind of places that would not excite you.
I have always hated ‘settling’ in life. I do not know how to deal with that feeling. In fact, I was having a discussion with my mother yesterday and I was asking her about the qualities of a good woman. And then she said: ‘but you cannot find these in one person.’ I told her, mum, that is not my life. I will always find these things. It is just some patience and prayer.
So back to the story, I decided to check out some of the places that the university had secured for us. There was that place at the National Curriculum Development Centre. It was responsible for manufacturing equipment to support the centre. From test tubes to metal works. On the first day, I knew this was not my place but I held on for three days.
A call came in from a friend. He said there was another placement with some Turkish road construction firm somewhere in Kawanda. Thursday I made the trip to the farm, we saw the managing director – Turkish lady. She assigned us to the engineering section and said we could start internship immediately.
Now at lunch, this company had a policy; everyone was required to exit the premises. Mbu to combat theft. Wait, so they were not even serving lunch. As we left, we were hit by the mother of rains. I remember in that moment, it hit me that this too was not the place. Now I was confused. Should I return to that place in Kyambogo and settle there?
At that time I was also working at Daily Monitor, so I thought to myself, may be I could just look for some moments in the printery and sign-off this internship. You know what? I rejected every option and decided, I would rather pass out these internship marks and graduate late. But I am not settling.
The moment I made that decision that I was not settling., that was when things shifted. Eskom decided to make an exception and give me a placement (long after other people had applied and joined). Since then, I am skeptical of decisions where I just ‘settle.’ Things where you do them for ‘nakolantya.’ It requires some pride, some little arrogance, some kajanja. But so be it. The people with kajanja always get the things they want in life.
So yes, it is true you may not know what you want in life, but you definitely know what you do not want. And just because you do not know what you want does not mean you should do what you do not want.
I am comfortable with voids, with moments when I do not know what I want but I am choosing to also not engage in what I do not want. Those are the moments when the thing you want gets created. For example, why should you pursue a course you hate for the sake of having a degree? Why should you be in a relationship with someone you despise?
Be comfortable in the waiting places, in the voids, in the moments where you seem to be hanging, where nothing is happening. We over settle in this country and that is a problem.
For More News And Analysis About Zimbabwe Follow Africa-Press
