42 LIFE LESSONS

BY: MIYINGO Ivan, MPhil, B.Pharm, MPS

YOU'RE DEAD IN THE YEAR 2089, 

Your ancestors survived centuries of floods, slavery, and world wars, thinking of which whoever named it World War One (I) knew there was going to be a second. 

They survived the Holocaust, where six million jews were exterminated in gas chambers by Adolf Balikuddembe Hitler. 

They survived plagues and pandemics, and in the year 2099, you will be an ancestor who survived the COVID-19 pandemic. 

For you to sit on the toilet and scroll through people’s fake lives on Instagram and Snapchat whilst comparing yourself to people you have never met is not only an insult to your ancestors, but a disturbance to the peace of the walking dead as well. 

You don’t need more, you need less of what doesn’t really matter. Freedom starts when you stop needing to be liked. 

As long as your thoughts and decisions are constantly filtered through by what they will say or think, then you’re in prison, and you need to break free. 

Love is difficult to find, discipline is impossible to master. 

The best moments of your life will not look like the best moments while they’re happening. 

They will look like a random Wednesday with Atiah Miyingo at the movies to celebrate your 30th birthday.

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Fear occurs in proportion to importance; the more afraid you are to do something, the more likely it is that it's exactly what you need to do. 

The best relationships only come once you've learned to be at peace alone. 

Confidence is the ability to unapologetically like yourself. 

Self-discipline is the ultimate form of self-care. 

Not gym memberships, treats to fast foods, and mental masturbation. 

But the most loving thing you can do for yourself is to show up and do the hard thing you know your future self will thank you for. 

Boundaries only piss off people who benefited from you before they became us-wholes. 

If they get angry and hungry when you tell them no, that simply tells you everything you need to know why you needed to start saying no in the first place.

You don't need more motivation. You don't need a role model or mentor. 

You don't even need a plan; you just need the boles to withstand the highest form of pain. 

To deny pain and discomfort is a perfect recipe for stunting your growth. 

Every little thing you've learned so far was a spinoff from the hurtful endeavors you have taken. 

Not from a motivational quote, not from a viral TikTok commentary, nor a YouTube documentary, but from a moment when life punched you in the teeth, and you bled into your throat as you pulled yourself together to figure out what to do next. 

The cost of inaction is exorbitantly higher than the cost of the wrong action. 

Always be in motion, no matter how rough the road is.

Strength is not being tough. It's choosing not to be an us-whole like others that step on your little delicate toes. 

Folks can lash out, cultivate revenge, rain incantations on you, and curse your entire ancestry, but you choose to do the opposite and vice versa. 

The most important thing family teaches you is how to love somebody without necessarily liking them. 

Struggles will never get easier, you just have to evolve into being gumitte around them. 

This is important because folks tend to think that at some point, things will get easier. 

They won't, and they will never get easier, except tougher. 

Stop getting surprised at difficulty, because the entire life as we know it is difficulty. 

Slavery, the Holocaust, racism, wars, floods, earthquakes, disease, and before you figure any of that out, DEATH.

Not every problem needs a solution. 

Some need time, others need acceptance, and some aren't even problems at all. 

They are just discomforts that you have taught yourself to fix instead of feel. 

When life gives you lemons, lean back and squeeze that sheet into your dear old eyeballs. 

Then stare back at your sucking life and scream, 'IS THAT ALL YOU GOT, MOTHER-FAR-CAR ? 

Your ancestors survived centuries of floods, slavery, and world wars, thinking of which whoever named it World War One (I) knew there was going to be a second. 

They survived the Holocaust, where six million jews were exterminated in gas chambers by Adolf Balikuddembe Hitler. 

They survived plagues and pandemics, and in the year 2099, you will be an ancestor who survived the COVID-19 pandemic. 

For you to sit on the toilet and scroll through people’s fake lives on Instagram and Snapchat whilst comparing yourself to people you have never met is not only an insult to your ancestors, but a disturbance to the peace of the walking dead as well. 

You don’t need more, you need less of what doesn’t really matter. Freedom starts when you stop needing to be liked. 

As long as your thoughts and decisions are constantly filtered through by what they will say or think, then you’re in prison, and you need to break free. 

Love is difficult to find, discipline is impossible to master. 

The best moments of your life will not look like the best moments while they’re happening. 

They will look like a random Wednesday with Atiah Miyingo at the movies to celebrate your 30th birthday.

________________

Life is ultimately in your hands. It’s your full responsibility. Don’t expect anyone to come to your rescue. They also have a load to carry of their own. Undeniably, support from your siblings, parents, or friends will exist, but it’s not something you should rely on to fix your addiction and masturbation problems or build a beautiful house for your father's wife or your mother's stepmother in the future. 

Furthermore, waiting for luck, extradivine intervention, ancestral hijacking, or a double coincidence of fates and destinies to push your life over the horizon is a complete waste of time and calories. Take the driver’s seat; it’s okay to ignore the seatbelt, for as long as you don’t hit the brakes and clutch pedals simultaneously and instantaneously.

Life is going to be a deek even when you are a sweetheart. Every five years that pass, things will change in the form of victories, setbacks, limitations, responsibilities, disappointments, and one million other things that come with a combo called LIFE. Instead of banging your chest, stomping your feet, and blaming your co-workers and in-laws for a seemingly bad life you are harvesting, accept it as is and move on. Yes, your in-laws and co-workers don’t like you, but they have nothing to do with your miserable life.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

TellTales from a freelance pharmacist and Atiah Miyingo's daddy documenting the unseen human condition through illness, survival, music, and truth.