Head Above Water

Every morning we wake up, we usually forget to say ‘thank you’ for the gift of life. We forget that it is a rare opportunity taken for granted – the opportunity to live and breathe in fresh air. We go about our normal duties like no one’s business and take for granted the events surrounding us that give us a ‘upper hand’ over the unfortunate. Many are mourning their loss of loved ones while others shed tears over loss of limbs and other essential body parts.

Along the roads of Ghana one can see the disabled striving to make ends meet by begging pedestrians and passers-by to support their goal for survival. There are others who refuse to kowtow to such practice and strive to work in any field to attain the same goal. They do not kill themselves over the fact that they are disabled – NO! They regard themselves as capable Ghanaians who can work so long as they have life. Thus I began wondering… If those, who unfortunately, have lost some parts of their bodies have not lost hope in life then why do we who have a ‘complete’ set of parts loose hope at the slightest misfortune?

Life has challenges. And our ability to handle such challenges determine how much of a success or failure we become. It is disturbing to note that a beautiful young lady would want to kill herself or attempt suicide because her boyfriend decided he wasn’t in love with her anymore. It is equally frustrating to hear that a young man would refuse food or want to destroy his life because his sweetheart cheated on him with another man. There are more disturbing issues that surpass the examples given and even they would have called for drastic measures but the question we should ask is, is the action I’m about to take worth the problem?

I had an encounter with Esinu who gave me a lot to think about. She is a very beautiful young lady who recently graduated from one of the prestigious Universities in Ghana. She comes from a lovely home and is loved by all who meet her. Esinu is a lively person but has a dark past. She was raped by her uncle when she was in JSS or now referred to as JHS (Junior High School). She was eventually molested by different members of the family and that affected her psychologically. She had a supportive family who did all they could to make life comfortable for their only daughter. The issue of rape was settled at home and the uncle was eventually set free. This haunted her right up till the Senior Secondary level. She contemplated suicide and other means of ending her life and was at a point sent to see a psychiatrist. She was eventually invited by a friend in the Scripture Union to an SU rally. There she met Christ and gave her life to him. It took some period of counselling for her to finally forgive her uncle and herself and move on with her life.

When she gained admission to the University, tragedy struck again. Her family was robbed and she was raped by the gang of robbers while her father was shot for trying to save his daughter. (I shed uncontrollable tears because am pretty sure I would have tried to kill myself if I were in her shoes). She simply smiled and told me she quickly ran to the church opposite her house and prayed to God. She poured all her pain and anger and everything to Him and she felt a sudden peace come over her. She recalled going home and supporting her family through their loss of a father. She gained strength to come to the University and amidst other struggles; graduated with first class honours in Psychology.

Many of us would have gone mad at the second rape scene or worse committed suicide yet this young lady who was drowning in so much problems, lifted her head above the water and saw land ahead. We usually stay in the water and don’t come up for air. We allow simple and smaller problems or worse than that of Esinu to drown us in self-pity. There is light at the end of every tunnel. We need to understand that when life presents us with challenges, we need to be strong and wise to find solutions to them.

I commend Esinu on her bravery and strength to move on amidst her challenges. She said it made her a better person and her goal is to encourage other victims of such or worse circumstances to lift their head above the stormy sea and see the land ahead of them. No situation is hopeless.

No problem is beyond our God. I learnt not to complain about the little challenges I face and to draw strength from God to face them. Like Esinu, I will always lift my head above the water and see the light at the end of the tunnel. People are facing worse than I could face in a day yet they are stronger than I am.

In the face of your challenges, will you lift your head above the water or drown in it?

Choose wisely…