So on Friday evening, I was talking with Ndayeng. Nothing serious at first. Just one of those random conversations that start casually and then somehow follow you home and poke you in the head later.
We were talking about life, growth, where we are, and where we think we should be. And somewhere in that conversation, I caught myself thinking, hold on… this is interesting.
I realised that I honestly cannot remember a point in my life where I did not enjoy where I was.
That surprised even me.
Not because life has been soft on me. It hasn’t. There have been very real ups and very real downs. But when I look back at every stage, I was present. I was not perfect. I was not finished. But I was there.
Primary school, early adulthood, all of it. I remember laughing. I remember enjoying moments. I remember feeling like this was my life and I was actually living it. I genuinely had the best time of my life at all these levels. And there is literally no point in my life where I was in a hurry to leave.
And that made me ask myself something. How did that happen?
I think the answer is simple. I have always known where I was.
At least in a very honest way. I knew what level I was at, what I could do, and what the next step looked like. But I never treated my current life like something to endure until I “arrived.”
There was a time when where I am right now would have sounded like a miracle to me. Back then, I was still living fully. I still had dreams, of course. But I did not postpone joy until they came true.
Which makes me wonder why so many of us do that now.
Why do we live like life is something that eventually starts later? When we get the perfect job. The house. The partner. Or whatever our short-term dreams currently look like.
Are you living, or are you just waiting?
I think part of the problem is how obsessed we have become with growth. Growth is good. Wanting more is human and very important. But somewhere along the way, we turned growth into pressure. Everything has to be fast. Big. Loud. And very visible.
But real growth is usually quiet. It shows up as small changes. Slight improvements. The kind of progress that does not announce itself. And when you are too focused on the finish line, you forget to breathe on the track. You are always chasing the next thing, telling yourself you will rest later, enjoy later, live later.
Later can become a very long time.
Here is something I need you to know. Purpose is not waiting for you at some final destination. Purpose shows up in the process. In the ordinary days. In the becoming. Because if we are being honest, the only true endpoint in life is death. Everything else is movement.
So why do we act like there is one point we must reach before we are allowed to live properly?
Sometimes it feels like we are raising a generation that dreams so much that it forgets to stay awake. Always elsewhere. Always becoming. Rarely here, just living.
And maybe that is all I am really saying.
And here you are. You made it to the end of this article, again. At this point, I am starting to accept that you are genuinely one of the reasons I do this. I probably owe you some chocolate. <a href='https://wa.me/2349041628676?text=Hello+Keys%2C+Read+your+article+till+the+end%2C+here+for+my+chocolates' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer'>Text me and let’s talk about it.</a>
So yes, grow. Want more, absolutely. But do not abandon the life you are already in while chasing the one you imagine.
This level matters too.
I am genuinely rooting for you.