Do you know those awkward times you wake up very tired and you don’t feel like doing anything? Not like Bruno Mars in The Lazy Song, it was more of being sad. That was how I felt on this fateful morn. You see, I’ve just got a not very palatable news a night before and I was a little worried most part of the night even while asleep. However, I’ve since learnt that happiness is a choice and in such situations, I just choose to be happy.
So I took my bath, put on my cloths and another drama started, I couldn’t find my purple cufflinks. Let me tell you a little about my purple cufflinks, they are what you’ll call ‘old faithfuls’ – I’ve had them for donkey’s years and ‘somehow’, they fit most of my shirts. That apart, the most interesting about them at this time was that they were the only cuffs I brought on this trip and I couldn’t just find them!
You know that feeling you have when you need someone and there’s nobody around, that’s exactly how I felt about my purple cufflinks this morning. Funny right? Maybe I also miss home. If I were to be at home, I would have worn a different shirt; use another set of cuffs; fold my shirt sleeves and buy another cuffs from one of the shops around later in the morning or accuse Mrs Akinola of rearranging the room and keeping my cuffs where we can’t find them (you know the ‘baby-man’ thingy).
So, the ultimate search began, I checked my traveling bag, the bathroom, under the pillows, in fact, I checked everywhere to no avail. I was almost calling Mrs Akinola to ask if she’s seen them (face covered) but she’s back in Lagos and I’m somewhere in East Africa.
The search continued. This time, I decided to search through internal reflection. So I started recounting in my mind what happened the last time I saw them: I used them on Monday, I got back to my hotel room, removed my jacket, removed my shoes, removed the cuffs, held them in my left hand or maybe my right hand…I couldn’t just remember a thing after that last step!
A thought came to my mind to check my laptop bag. My laptop bag? Who keeps cufflinks in laptop bags? I was almost discarding the thought but decided to give it a try. So I searched every compartment of the laptop bag and there were no purple cuffs anywhere. I actually gave up, left the laptop bag and I was thinking of an alternative.
The thought came again to search the laptop bag. This time I was getting very livid with my mind. This is pure game, my mind was playing games with me, I thought. But again, I chose to yield to the insistence of my mind.
I searched my laptop bag again, I didn’t find my purple cufflinks but I found another set of cufflinks (yaaaaaaay!). This set was the best for the shirt, I didn’t even know I brought them with me. I was looking for the good cuffs I misplaced but I found the best, most suitable ones.
Finding this set I wasn’t even searching for got me thinking about life in general; sometimes God says no to what we consider good because He wants to give us the best. I’ve lost many things I considered very good and only got better things in their place. You might have lost something very good for whatever reason but God can replace your good with the best for you.
I love the cliche “let go and let God”, because when you let go of a good thing you lost and you trust God, you are letting him give you His best. I know this is tough but God’s got our back every time and He really cares. He has the best plans for our lives.
Permit me to quote God “I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out– plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.” – (Jeremiah 29:11)
When God is in charge of your life and it seems all good things are going away, just relax, holding on to God because the best things are coming in. I hope you’ll find comfort in this? Harry Akinola
