A WIND OF SURPRISES

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Life often appears as an unannounced storm. It is all plain sailing, then comes a sudden thunder and flash in quick succession. For me, the festive season should have been a time of joy; instead, I found myself walking through the valley of despair. I had accusations heaped on me for crimes I did not commit, deserted by those who trusted me, and my livelihood taken away from me; it was as if I could feel the walls of a prison closing in around me.
Friends and colleagues who had known me as a jolly good fellow were shocked to see me in such a state. My face, so beaming with excitement, now wore the mask of sorrow. In two weeks, the weight of anxiety siphoned off 10 kilograms from my body. Accounts frozen, career jeopardised, and reputation hanging in the balance. As the adage goes, “When it rains, it pours.”
Yet even in the storm, I clung to faith. I like believed that truth, like the sun behind the clouds, would eventually break through.
My neighbours, who always shared my joys, could not allow me to drown in sorrow. They organised an outing, a simple kind act that became a turning point. That day, music became medicine. The 16th Angelic Choir sang melodies that pierced my bones, and before I knew it, I was dancing my worries away. The orchestra was playing, children sang and danced ballet, and joy flowed like a river.
It was then that the realization dawned on me: “A single stick breaks easily, but a bundle cannot be broken.” Community had become my bundle of strength.
Shortly afterward, my attorney had news that the case against me was dismissed. The truth had finally come out: my second in command-the same one whom I had groomed and trained-was the snake in Eden. He had betrayed me, stolen, and then put the blame on my feet. Treachery cuts deeper than a sword, and my heart burned with anger.
My urge to seek revenge was strong, but the wise elder came up to me and said, “He who seeks revenge digs two graves.” According to him, one needed to forgive to find peace. And so, I freed my conscience of ill will and forgave.
Forgiveness didn’t wipe the hurt away, but it liberated me from the bitter feeling. Thus, it allowed me to rise from the ashes, stronger and wiser.
It is in my journey that I learned storms will pass, faith endures, community survives, and forgiveness reigns. Life can take away from us all material possessions, but it cannot take away the choice to rise. And as the saying goes, “The darkest night produces the brightest stars.”
So, to whoever is walking through their valley of despair, hold on. Dance when the music plays, lean on your community, and choose forgiveness over revenge. For, in the end, it is not the storm that defines us, but how we rise after it.