Matatu wisdom, tales of a man called Gichugi
of Girls, the waste of manly days and investments
Proverbs 31:3, and I quote,
Don’t spend all your energy on sex and all your money on women; they have destroyed kings.
So, you know that thing, where it seems like as if God or the universe(if that is your cup of tea) is trying to tell you something?
If you have read the tale of a boy named Santiago, in the famous book, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, then you read about a thing called Omens and personal legends.
In the book, the alchemist tells Santiago that omens try to lead us to our personal legends and they come in many forms, but if you do not listen to your heart, it will keep quiet and no longer remind you of what you should do to get there.
If I am counting correctly, three is the number, the number of times I have been, not so subtly told to keep away from girls.
The first encounter,
It was in a matatu, a clear sky with the shade of night blue, after all, it was past 7 pm, or so I recall. In came a neatly well dressed man, sat beside me. And in my opinion, the meticulousness and neatness of this man was his. Part of his identity, like how some people make sure the table cloth is well aligned every time they take a seat or leave the table. This was not the effects of a woman’s grooming. I liked that. At his age, clearly he was my elder, I felt a profound respect for an identity so well carved and I craved his wisdom.
A little while later, we were in a conversation, and I had to ask, “what would you tell your 20 year old self, if you were to meet him today?”.
Clearly, I was asking for myself, but you have to make the beginning of a story worth telling, right?
“Invest in land, it never or rarely depreciates, in fact, it’s value rises the minute you buy it”, he begun. I was in for a treat.
“Women run on more or less the same software, just tweaked here and there, he added. But deep down, women are all the same. So if you can, and you should be able to, settle down early.”, he added.
“Many men, younger ones, most of the time, spend a lot of time and energy chasing skirts. Hopping from one woman to the other, in pursuit of the perfect woman. But they come to realize, more often than not, when it is late, that they should have reigned themselves in.” He paused, as if to let that blank look of youth, fade and he added, “Retrospect, is expensive and it costs time.”
I came to know that his name is Gichugi, a quantity surveyor, If you are reading this, I hope I remember your name well. Thank you once again.
As are some encounters, we did not exchange contacts, each individual went his way, feeling an eerie satisfaction. Some sort of closure, that that was that and life went on.
The second encounter was via a meme. You gotta love how they hit just right, and captioned was the verse above, proverbs 31:3–7.
The night can be treacherous in terms of unwarranted lamentations, yet they are sometimes veiled in comforting truths.
I remembered an elder of mine, someone I love echoing a similar truth, not so subtly, telling me to steer away from girls. Wisdom and insight?
That was the third encounter.
So, what is a man to do? Tales of another day perhaps. But before I go, there was a time when I choose to be alone in the sense of relationships and interactions with the opposite sex.
I had a sense of clarity you might not be able to put a price on. I went head first in a new experience, won my first award ever. I had a thicker skin and avoided “makasiriko”.
But then again, I have been loved and loved and known what it meant to know a love that changes. I grew in that time too. Quit some addictions, started new habits, risked a few things, came out of the other end scarred but willing.
To every man, their freedom of choice. Where my heart leads, I will follow. If you have a love that makes you want to grow, by all means, keep it as long as it was meant to stay in your life.
But if you are pondering, like I am, on what to do, perhaps the words of the mother of King Lemuel or matatu tales of a man called Gichugi might offer some guidance.
“Everybody got choices…” E-40
