Traynta Ekwatro
A few days ago, I celebrated my 34th birthday, which means I have now officially walked Earth longer than Jesus.
And it has been quite a hike.
I have walked through sceneries of joy and pleasure, and wandered through dreadful valleys of doubts, heartbreaks, and despair.
And now, I have finally arrived and settled into my own little corner of this world.
With nothing but gratitude for everything, and I mean everything, that have happened to me in this journey.
Looking at the life I have now, I realize that most of the things I once prayed for have already been given to me by God.
And for the things that remain unanswered, I steadfastly trust that God will give them to me in His own proper time.
For that, I am eternally grateful.
And so, here comes my little expression of gratitude to those who made me feel that this speck of dust somehow matters in this incomprehensible universe:
Awesome Friends
To my awesome friends,
I am truly blessed to be surrounded by the goodness in you,
God knows I needed your good influence around me,
To hold down my reckless abandon behavior.
While the realities of life have made us
Coming and going, in and out, of our lives,
Rest assured that I am always here waiting with
An open door for our paths to cross again.
To those who stayed, to those who left,
To those who returned,
To those who returned only to leave once more,
I wish you all nothing but true happiness in life.
I hope that you have found your life’s purpose and meaning,
I hope you found fulfillment or on the road towards finding it,
I hope that you reach the aspirations you carry in your heart,
I hope that life will give you moments of rest and kindness.
To my friends, who have been such a blessing in my life,
Thank you for making my life tolerable.
Siblings I’m proud of
To my brothers and beautiful sister,
I am proud of the people you have become,
You have gone and overcome adversities,
And yet you have remained good human beings.
Now, you are living the life of your dreams,
And you deserve every bit of happiness coming your way.
I am grateful for the love, respect, and patience,
We have for one another,
Thank you for being persons worthy of emulation,
I look forward to seeing your further pursuit of happiness in life.
Aging Parents
To my parents who dedicated much of their lives,
In putting us in a good position to achieve our dreams,
Thank you for all your sacrifices.
All your children are now living the life that they dreamed of,
And none of this would have been possible,
Without your guidance, support, patience,
And countless sacrifices along the way.
Now my parents are way past the age of senior citizens,
But I’m glad that they are responsible in taking good care of their health,
I hope they find something fun to do in their golden years,
Something they genuinely enjoy and find meaningful,
Without much physical exertion,
Although they now seem to be stubborn kids,
Who do not want to be told what to do.
As they enter their twilight years,
I would be happy to personally look after them,
After all, I owe them my life,
If they have not raised me the right way,
I would have been living a different, dangerous life right now.
Most of all, I am immensely proud that my parents are good human beings,
They are a prayerful couple and I am certain that when their time is up,
God will welcome them to heaven with open arms.
Matters of the Heart
Simply put, it’s broken.
While I have lost in love,
I take solace in seeing my loved one win.
While I wallow in misery,
I take solace in seeing my loved one happy.
After all, to be hurt meant one have truly loved,
And to love makes life worth living.
So hey now, hey now,
The eclipse of the moon and sun,
Has now come undone,
Time to gather all my wounds,
Inked deeply in this forsaken heart.
Time to let my mortal self,
Leave it up to God,
to decide who and when,
to send an angel my way,
to mend what is broken,
to make whole what is wanting.
34 Years of Learning
The naivety of youth often prompts us,
This vision of how great were gonna become,
But then life humbles us,
By introducing us to our own limitations,
And then left us with the realization,
That not all we think is possible is actually possible.
Not everything we want is meant for us.
34 years of existence allowed me to understand myself better,
What I am, and what I am not,
Who I am, and who I am not,
And I am thankful that I no longer feel the need,
To become every version of myself that I once imagined,
I am thankful that I can accept my limitations without seeing them as failures,
I am thankful to be content with the person I am today,
While still remaining hopeful about the person I am becoming.
Maybe that is what growing older really is,
Not becoming everything, you once dreamed of becoming,
But becoming comfortable with who you actually are.
What the future holds
God has already blessed me with so much,
And I am grateful for all of it.
And if life still has more to offer me,
I hope it comes in the form of a few personal projects,
That I intend to complete within the next three years:
Casa Adela
Kwento Bar + Café
Longino Dairy Farm
Casa Adela – is already around 70% complete,
I intend to attain 100% structural completion by this time next year,
And hopefully start accepting accommodations by December next year.
Kwento Bar + Café – this is a passion project of mine,
I intend to open it by January next year,
I do not expect to make money from it,
If it earns enough to breakeven then I consider it satisfactory,
If not, then I will subsidize this for one year for fun and then be done with it,
Either way, I will have the satisfaction of finally making this dream project of mine since college a reality.
Longino Dairy Farm – I have always wanted to be a farmer like my late grandfather,
But so far I have been a failure at it,
My next attempt at farming is through a dairy farm,
I think I have a solid overview plan,
I will work out the specifics by next year,
Hopefully I can start the actual execution of this project by last quarter of next year,
With the goal of becoming fully operational by 2028,
And if everything goes according to plan:
Who wants some fresh milk?
I have little respect for those who like to talk a big game,
But do nothing to make it happen,
I want to be known as a man who does what he says he is going to do,
Whether these projects succeed or fail,
I will still find satisfaction for the simple fact that I have tried my best to make it happen,
If I did as much as I can possibly can, then I will find contentment in the end.
I am now at the last stretch of my personal projects,
It feels like running a marathon and I have just passed the 32 km point,
I am tired, I am sore, I am boring,
I prefer silence to mentally focus on finishing the race,
Naturally, I am bound to lose a few friends during this period,
Afterall, who would want to hang out with a boring, timid, and uninteresting guy?
But I suppose that is also part of life,
I am sure the friends I lost,
Will eventually find their way back,
Once success is upon me,
Or perhaps stay away if everything fails.
Hahahaha.
Life’s Purpose
I am one of those who question why am I here on earth?
It has been 34 years and I am still figuring this out,
I am left with finding clues,
From my experiences,
From people who have come and gone,
From myself, who I am, who I am not,
From my job, what I have done, what I have not done,
And I have come to the assumption that perhaps,
My purpose is to be a small refuge for those who need it.
With that in mind,
I now intend to keep a small campfire going,
A little fire for the tired and weary wanderers of life,
For those who have been walking for far too long,
For those who are lost,
For those who simply need somewhere to rest,
Come if you need some warmth,
Leave when you are ready.
So here’s to 34.
To everything that was.
To everything that is.
To everything that will be.
I have now walked Earth longer than Jesus,
And I am curious to see where the trail goes next.
