Lessons Lessons!

h

By Umu Jalo

These past few years have come with heavy lessons that life prior had not prepared us all for. Nobody alive now was there during the last global pandemic of the Spanish flu to prepare us now for the skill set that we required for buoyancy and resilience of having our lives turned upside down. The thing is, this has been a real test of survival, reinvention, risk taking, at least for me, in navigating this new world the best I know how, and here are the lessons I have taken away from this episode of my life.

  • Nothing is permanent. Yes, you heard me, as cliché as it sounds, all the good and the bad times don’t last, so please don’t get emotionally attached to either, because in the blink of an eye, they’ll be gone and instantly replaced by the other. I have learnt to center and ground myself so as not to go with the waves of emotions that come with either of these times.
  • The less you expect from anyone that is not you, the fewer disappointments that you will have in life. This is true with family, friends and colleagues alike. Do not in any way expect to be treated by anyone the way you would treat them, with your big kind heart. Rather, do good, the way you would want to be treated continue with life. If the good comes back to you, well in, but if not, at least you did not expect anything.
  • Love is beautiful. Despite what mess we as humanity have made of this beautiful trait from God our creator, I still hold it to be the most beautiful feeling and trait in the world. All forms of love transcend every trivial darkness that we may be facing as individuals and collectively as humanity. Learn the lessons required for telling apart what is real from what is fake and go on and experience it in every form. I am not guaranteeing that there won’t be some tears along the way, coz oh boy have I shed buckets in the name of love, I’m am simply saying, live and love. What will stick is welcome, what doesn’t wasn’t meant for you.
  • Extend grace to others, but not at your own expense. I wrote a piece on personal boundaries recently and it still holds true. Be a good human, but have your boundaries in place, to make life easy and stop you from being resentful to everyone around you because you didn’t have any boundaries and now you feel you are being treated like the main entrance door mat. Be graceful, but smart.
  • Fear is not real! I will shout this from the rooftops if I have to. I hold this true, and since I learnt this, the hard way, I have learnt to go for things that I thought were beyond my reach and there have been pleasant surprises along the way! Apply for that job, go on that trip, tell them how you feel. The worst that could happen is that they’ll tell you NO. then what? Do it again, until the right door for you opens, all the while taking in all the experiences that life brings to you and learning from them.

 

I could write all day but, let me hold the rest for future pieces, as this is definitely not the last of the lessons.

Spread love today, in the best way you know how to.

 

Bio

Umu hails from Nairobi, Kenya and is an avid communicator. She runs a business communications consultancy, Diallo Communications Ltd, which focuses on providing communications solutions ranging from document translations, meetings and conference interpretation, simultaneous interpretation equipment hire and conference technical services, among other services in the events industry. Together with her team of professional linguists and technicians, she makes both regional and international meetings run smoothly on the communications front.  She works with organizations that are aligned to the sound goals within Africa’s development vision and focus on people led initiatives for development.

 

She is also a student at the United States International University – Africa working on her Bachelor of Arts in International Relations, concentrating on Development Studies. She is also a Toastmaster, currently finishing her Level 5 on her educational path of Strategic Relationship