Andrew
Hunt for Greatness
Milton Kamwendo
With much anticipation, we jostled our way through the crowd. It looked like the whole city had come to the station.
My mother held my hand firmly to ensure that we would not miss each other. Vendors were peddling their wares.
The trains were moving up and down. The occasional train marshal would blow his whistle.
This was a world of journeys.
Firstly, we had to survive the entrance, where the sentry seemed to take pleasure in watching the small gate that he had opened, then the ticket office.
It looked like we were there until we entered the actual train. As we edged towards the front of the train, we passed through the sleeper classes and its sophisticated and relaxed passengers. They seemed to have won this space. They could rest and enjoy the night ride.
We finally got to the coaches that were near the front of the train and it was a different world.
The place was a market, a fair, a bus, a theatre and every imaginable human community on a train.
This was the place that only had brown wooden benches. They called it mbombera.
There was real life here in the ghetto-class, the economy class.
People were sitting facing each other. Some places had only bags on them, reserved by those who came early.
People were just milling up and down. Some were selling fruit, sweets, drinks, matches and all sorts if trinkets.
There were some singers. I still remember the name of one — Mr John White, who was a guitar maestro — begging.
The whole affair was something different, dynamic and seemed natural. You created your own luxury with the blankets you brought.
I could feel the emotion of the journey pulsating through me. This was my first train journey to Harare.
Life is a journey
Life is a journey. Sometimes you make choices and at other times you have to live with what you find and start a journey of improving on that reality. You have to make decisions.
Decide what you will carry and what you will need along the way.
You have to decide what you will pay attention to and what you will ignore.
Determine that you will enjoy the journey and make the most of every experience. You will meet people who will affect you. It is up to you to choose to grow better or bitter.
Know your destination
The life train stops in many places. Some people, with their many belongings, alight, while others will board.
Sometimes, the train will stop in the middle of nowhere for what seems like eternity. Such is the nature of signals, controls and surprises.
The brief stops along your path do not mean the journey is over.
When others get off, it does not mean you have to blindly follow them, even if you enjoyed or endured their company for a while.
Know your destination and be clear about your purpose.
The destination is printed on your ticket. Respect your destination regardless of what other people may feel about it. It is your journey, it is your destination.
No free ride
Throughout the journey, we had two men in blue uniform, with two extra railway police guards, who would herald their coming.
The two had shining sophisticated-looking machines they carried.
They would come by frequently and everyone would be woken up and asked to show their tickets.
This irritated me because my mother had created a comfortable berth for me to sleep under the brown wooden seats.
Our tickets would be punched and this ritual would go on through the whole night. The ticket inspectors were at work, ensuring that there would be no one who would get a free ride.
In life, there is no free ride. There is no swift elevator; you have to take the stairs. In life, you have to pay your way through. Everything worthwhile has a price.
Different compartments
We are all travellers. Unfortunately, we are not all on in the same travel compartments.
We are all travellers, but we are not all from the same country.
We are all travellers, but we do not all have the same budgets.
We are all on the same train but we have different reasons for travelling. The train of life is a collage of journeys, purposes, histories and destinies.
Every journey experience is valid and important.
The value of my journey is not diminished by the class that I am travelling in. Take a humble and determined view of your journey.
Know yourself and love your journey.
Fall in love with your journey of life. It may not look as glorious, and as luxurious but it is yours.
Respect it and love it. It is your experience of life.
The real journey is not what you are going through but a confluence of your expectations, hopes, memories and growth experiences. As you journey, life also journeys through you.
Believe and trust
When you take your seat on the journey of life, you just have to believe in the captain.
No amount of worrying will improve your experience of the journey.
Knowing what you can and cannot control matters.
Knowing what you can change and what you cannot matters.
The things that you cannot change are mere facts of life.
You just have to learn to journey with or through them. Believe in greatness and keep journeying.
Trust in God and you will have a well-spring of hope.
Keep your vision before you. Outlive the current pains and keep a higher purpose in mind.
You will never know everything but with each day, each stroke of effort and each stride, the clouds begin to clear and the journey becomes more bearable. Keep hope alive, grounded in faith and moving.
Greatness is a journey, best taken daily and extended.
It starts as a dream, the dream is translated into action and a step on the journey is success in motion.
Merry Christmas! Enjoy your journey and may this Christmas be extra-ordinarily special to you. Best wishes for the 2023 journey.
Committed to your greatness.
Milton Kamwendo is a leading international transformational and motivational speaker, author and a virtual, hybrid and in-person workshop facilitator. He is a cutting-edge strategy, team-building and organisation development facilitator and consultant. His life purpose is to inspire and promote greatness. He can be reached at: [email protected] and his website is: www.miltonkamwendo.com
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