With SSP fluctuations, we are able to know whether the citizens are optimistic or pessimistic. Optimistic citizens know things will change very soon.
Pessimistic ones have no hope for change. Those who are optimistic in life treat things as normal. They don’t complain. They look for solutions. They smile when things are very hard. What can kill a pessimistic person in a minute will kill an optimistic person in an hour. Optimistic citizens don’t blame the government. They work hand in hand with the government to change things. Whoever is optimistic takes every tough life an experience. They have a positive story to tell while pessimists will have the worst story to tell. Countries should be led by optimists. They can bring joy into a country. They encourage hopeful living. They leave the world a better place. They will never curse God for any painful experience they encounter in life. They know very well that life has two sides. There is always happiness and sadness. There is joy and there is pain. I choose to be optimistic. If the dollar goes to a million pounds, I will just set my mind to that and take it normally.
Pure gold is differentiated from impure gold by the test of fire. True character is known in like manner. Tough times test human character. You know a thief when tough times come. You know a greedy person when food is inadequate. You will identify a corrupt person when life becomes very hard. A person who gives because he/she has enough is not a true giver. True giver gives when what he/she is to give is almost what he/she is left with. You know someone is your friend when he/she can still walk with you when there is nothing to share. Our relatives are our relatives when we still move together with them when there is food or money to share.
So many people hide their true colour when things are normal. People who could not deny their relatives before denying them now. Families who were together before are never together now. Marriages which were strong before are very weak now. People who weren’t disciplined before are much more disciplined now. I think these SSP fluctuations have not come to destroy. It has come to purify us. This is the time for us to know ourselves. If we love because of food, then we should understand it right now. Love is meant to be unconditional. I know very well food unites people, but we should also know that it should not destroy our relationships. Food or no food, money or no money, we should remain normal. We should carry one another’s burden. We should care for one another. I should be lacking today. Tomorrow will be your turn. What happens to one human being is what will happen to all human beings though in different time frames.
SSP fluctuations help know who has survival skills. We are born to survive. We don’t survive by crying. We survive by doing something to change situations. I only hear people complaining and crying. We must know that SSP fluctuations will not stop because of our complaints and cries but it will only stop because we manage to do something to balance the equation. There is always a solution for whoever needs a solution. This is a period when we should learn to be problem solvers. We should learn to face hard life with courage. We must work very hard to change life. Life is beautiful when it is lived hard. With a hard life, we have very many survival skills.
Cattle keepers keep moving till they find where they can graze their cattle. Hunters go hunting when there is no food to be eaten. Fishermen go fishing when there is no food to be eaten. What do you do to survive? We must live life with many survival skills. When you cannot get food in Juba, go to the state. Things must not be as hard in the state as in Juba. When your job doesn’t pay you well, find another job if you can; but don’t leave that job until you guarantee the other one.
Through creativity, you can survive. It is important that people know how magical is being creative. Through creativity, I am able to write. With creativity, I can create a job for myself. By being creative we can create a new world. If we are creative, we can use our natural vegetation to make us survive. We have trees, bushes, rivers, lakes, among many others. Such things can make us rich. It is sad that people who live with fish in the rivers also complain that things are hard in South Sudan. They can fish and have what they need. The few who are able to fish are very rich in Juba. Fish is sold so expensively. We just need to be creative to survive.
I term this SSP fluctuation as a switch to flexibility. We need to be flexible in life. A rigid life is the worst life. We should set our minds to flexibility. Flexibility helps us to live happily no matter what. You will remain normal even when things have gone so bad. A flexible mind knows that whatever happens to him or her happens to all. If everyone goes through the same situation, why should one worry him/herself? A flexible mind treats even death as a normal thing. He/she knows that humans are liable to death. With that flexible mind, they are not heartbroken even if they lose the person they love most. We all need to dance according to the tune of the nature. We can’t dictate the nature. It is nature to dictate to us. Let’s develop a flexible mindset. It is normal that the dollar should go even up to a million pounds this year.
Thank God! With things becoming hard in Juba, people can now walk! Walking is the best exercise recommended by many doctors. We become sick when we don’t exercise. At least so many people can walk now. A person who was driving last year is probably walking now. A person who could take a taxi each time he/she left the house last year is probably balancing now. I believe there were no cars 200 hundred years ago in South Sudan. Why should people call walking a punishment when they could walk without complaining before? Walking is the best aerobic exercise. Shouldn’t we thank SSP fluctuation that has enabled us to walk at least for a day? I believe we should!
Many of us are financially illiterate. I believe there are people like me who are poor managers. This SSP fluctuation, I think has helped some of us to plan well. Life is not about how much one has. It is about how one manages what one has. You can have a lot of money. If you don’t plan on how you can spend it, you aren’t better than someone who doesn’t have any.
For the wise, the little is always bigger than the big that the fool has. We must learn to plan well. The little we have can make us live longer if we manage it well. Most of us which we must not deny think of planning when things become tough. You must plan to run off fire when the fire becomes hotter. I have learned to plan well for the little I have and continue to live free of stress. What of you, my reader?
One thing I know happens when things become hard is that big thinkers celebrate it! I myself think big when I become sick. When I am challenged by life, it is the time I think big! No human can live without thinking. It is only when we think that we meet the purpose of living. We cannot change life if we don’t have time to think. When we think, we find our true worth. We get somewhere very far in life when we think.
During this crisis in Juba, I have realized many people have time to think. Sometimes we forget to think when we have enough of everything we need. Most children who are given everything by their parents almost tend to become failures in life. They blindly assume that what their parents own is theirs forever. I advise parents to expose their children to the two seasons of life. It is seasonal that we have enough. It is also seasonal that we lack enough. We must prepare for the two seasons.
The SSP fluctuation too calls for revival and reformation. As we continue to live, we should continue to revive and reform. Maybe society should reform. Maybe we should revive our governing policies. Maybe our government should assess if it should go through some reformations. A state with brilliant leaders like South Sudan must always and constantly go through a thorough revival and reformation of its policies and rules.
Take every situation positive. A dollar going to one million or more should not be your problem. It has to go with your mindset too. We have the power to live free of stress. Your happiness comes from you. Be kind to yourself.