Around this time last year I was sitting on a cold concrete slab in the early hours of the morning, roughly around 3am at the Noordoewer Border post between South Africa and Namibia. I was sitting in the dimmed outside lighting alone,whilst slowly filling my lungs with the toxic smoke of a tobacco cigarette and patiently waiting for all the passengers on the bus to be cleared by Namibian Immigration authorities as I had been one of the first to disembark and be cleared. I was on my way to a family visit in Cape Town, before heading home for the December holidays after a long year away at school.

One of the gentlemen aboard the bus behind us had been mischievous and skipped the line and gotten ahead of my fellow passengers but to no avail as he found himself in hot soup with the authorities. His papers were not in order and he seemed not to understand English or any of Namibia’s native languages, he knew a meagre amount of English words. His accent seemed to indicate that he spoke Portuguese, to cut the story short here……………. This gentlemen delayed us!!!

Halfway through my cigarette, a white guy about a few years older than me approached me in a lackluster manner and asked for a “light”.  “Can I have a light?” and “Do you have a light?” two of the most universal conversation starters, we started a conversation that would endure for every stop till we reached Cape Town Station 900 or so kilometres away. I gave him the lighter of course and we began to converse on several different topics whilst covered in thin blue streaks of smoke.

Of all the things we spoke about ranging from politics, sport, culture and landscape (basically the mountain around the border) what caught my attention was how by only the age of 28 he had done so many things, I wouldn’t have imagined to be possible by that age. He narrated to me his story on how he had grasped at an opportunity which came by his way and from then on he was enjoying his life to the fullest.

He was born and breed in the Land of the Brave (Namibia) but attended his university in Cape Town, South Africa. One thing he always loved to do was travel all over the world but for obvious reasons (money), which was not going to be possible till maybe he was retired with grey and no energy to see the world. Whilst at university he met a couple of exchange students who introduced him to some Europeans who were travelling all over the world on a very tight budget. They travelled all over Europe taking small jobs in farms and Inns to sustain them, it was only when they came to this part of the globe that they did not manage to work. Enticed by the opportunity to achieve his dreams at a very young age he found himself on a plane to Istanbul Turkey soon after his last exam.

In Turkey he worked as a temporary English teacher often in different cities and towns, I don’t remember what he had studied at university but I remember being surprised that he was teaching English without a relevant qualification. After spending some months in Turkey he crossed into the EU. Passing through countries such as Belgium, France, Germany etc and taking small jobs at farms which would pay him cash and sustain his travels. According to him it was not always easy work and paying good but he enjoyed the experience. By the time I met him he had travelled to over 16 countries and was on his way to South East Asia!!

What inspired me the most about this story was that he took the opportunity to realise his dream when it came to him, despite constraints on achieving this dream. Sometimes we often find ourselves lacking a drive to be happy and often giving up on the desires of our heart due to circumstances that hold us back. Sadly most of these circumstances we cannot change, especially if it is of a financial matter or a situation which you have no control over whatsoever (most things in life). Despite all this I believe we should capitalise on the small and sometimes unclear opportunities that are presented to us, for many only come once! Of course you will have to exercise due diligence in making a step towards achieving the desires of your heart, no one wants to be the victim of a scam, an uncalculated risk or self-inflicted wounds (these hurt the most).

Let’s take chances in life and not let the negative circumstances surrounding us determine when and how we can be happy. FORTUNE FAVOURS THE BRAVE, without taking a leap of faith we can never know that it’s not the edge of a cliff but just a small furrow. Find yourself in your “Turkey”

 

Oh Yes! If you are reading this and you are a smoker I encourage you to quit.