The Scar on My Foot
The Meat Seller and His Boy
As I made my way home through the alley of the bustling Egbeda market, traders called out to passersby as others haggle. Okada riders honk indiscriminately jostling for passengers. In this potpourri of confused sounds I noticed a mild drama that brought back memories of a childhood experience I had. A meat seller had his son on his laps screaming, with his left hand he held the lads hands and, with his right hand, he sharpens his knife. And when our eyes met he said laughing, “Don’t beg me o! I am going to cut off his hands.” I laughed too.
How I Got the Scar
I was six years old when my Dad threatened to cut off my leg if I do not stretch it for treatment. And in my innocence I believed he would as he kept the machete beside my leg. The thought of a greater pain of having my leg chopped off made me surrender it. The incident that led to that event happened a day before. There was a burning bush a block away. Someone had set fire to dried stalks of corn on his farm and this, as expected, attracted all the children around, including me. I found a comfortable place to sit in the middle of the road and watched how other children went in and beat the fire with sticks that had nylon tied at the tips.
It was fun watching how excited fire flakes jumped into the sky with exploding sounds. And as I watched in awe I saw how a burning nylon went beyond the radius and descended, not knowing that it would land on my left foot. I cannot remember the pain but I cannot forget how I cried as I was carried home. The scar, still obvious on my foot is a daily reminder of the inherent dangers of being a spectator on life’s stage. How come the children that played in the fire never got burnt?
A sitting duck is an easy target.
Life Rewards the Bold
It is more risky for an airplane to remain on the ground than being in the sky.I was told by my Mom that when I was a kid I rarely played with other children. I always sat a distance and watched them play. It was this behavior, though not bad in itself, that gave me a permanent scar. I am really glad this happened to teach me a valuable lesson that life rewards only those who go out and make things happen and not to those who wait.
He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.
- Ecclesiastes 11:4
Take that Risk!
Why are we sitting here until we die?
-2Kings 7:3-20
The Biblical event of the four leprous men sums up my reason for writing. They were ostracized from society to be onlookers but that day they decided to become actors, they did not only save their lives but those of countless others in the city. Today I no longer sit and watch. I have gone beyond throwing my hat in the ring to building it because I have experienced the consequences of being an onlooker and also, I have tasted the rewards of putting my best foot forward.
I will end this piece with the story of the crow and the rabbit. A crow was sitting on a tree doing nothing all day. A small rabbit saw the crow, and asked him, ‘Can I also sit like you and do nothing all day?’ The crow answered: ‘Sure, why not.’ So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the crow, and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, he jumped on the rabbit and ate it. The moral of this story is, to be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.
The ball is in your court. Do with it as you please.
PS
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