I’m sure we’ve all been there, just looking at those two
words might be bringing back some not too fond memories of the studying
(cramming for others), countless hours of paging through thick textbook
volumes, nerves, sleepless nights and and and, we’ve all been there! One thing
we can all agree on, the exams that really mattered back in school never hit us
by surprise, we’d never get to school one morning and be told to head straight
to the hall because the finals would take place, never. They would announce
themselves like ships to the harbour, one can see it clearly yet it’s still
quite far away. They even had names like mid-terms or end of years, meaning you
knew exactly when the rain would come and if you were diligent enough, you’d
have ample time to get preparations going.
Life on the other hand isn’t structured in the same way,
unfortunately, even though this is where you write some of your toughest exams.
You wake up one morning, unsuspecting that anything out of the ordinary is
about to go down, not knowing that you just woke up to your exam, mind you,
just one of many. We never know how to prepare for these, how do you prepare
for something you know nothing about? How do you prepare how much resilience to
put up? How much patience to have? How long to maintain a brave, game face? The
answer is, there isn’t an answer.
Not such a smart response for a very serious topic, true,
maybe not smart, but certainly practical and real. How often do folks throw in
the towel because their particular exam has “gone on too long”, or “the
situation has remained the same”? People don’t give up because they don’t have
enough hope, or aren’t strong enough to sit through their entire exam, people
give up because they live in the anticipation of when the problem or challenge
will go away, fair enough a reason, you might think, but I think that’s where
we get it all wrong.
Unlike those exams back in school, where the end goal would
be to have your paper marked “after” the exam is out and the verdict on your performance
passed thereafter, where you can then see what you got right, and also what you
got wrong; mind you, most of the time you are most likely to get another chance
to do things right, life’s exam requires you to do something very brave,
something many fail to do, one exam after another, life’s exam requires
you to pay attention and learn something
“during” the exam!!
The aim is not for us to ride the storm out, or stay strong
for so long until the storm passes, the aim is for us to learn something at that
particular time, something that will be necessary not only to be applied in the
next sitting, but most importantly to pass on to someone else sitting through
an exam you’ve already been in. In the words of Kahlil Gibran, one of the
finest philosophers of the olden era “Therefore,
trust the Physician and drink his remedy in silence and tranquillity. His hand,
though heavy and hard, is guided by good plans yet unseen. The cup He brings,
though it burns the lips, has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has
fashioned with his own sacred tears”.
Life will go on, and you can’t alter the length of your
exam. It may last far beyond what you thought would be necessary for you to
learn what you have to learn, on the other hand, it could be so short that it
leaves you more confused than educated, however, when you go through a session,
the time is right to evaluate oneself. What have I learned, how have I changed,
what did I find different about myself during that time, was it good, was it
bad and most importantly, what needs to be changed and what needs to be
fortified.
You can bet your steak and knives that life will never set
you through an exam simply for the fun of it, its all in accordance to a higher
power for a higher purpose, and there aren’t any retakes, a lesson missed today
can impact your approach on an exam one day when you’re all grow with kids and grandkids.
Live through the exam, yes, endure it, shut your eyes tight in a bid to close
the pain off, its fine, you’re human after all, however, regardless of the way
things turn out, remember that you have to keep your attention at its sharpest,
the bigger picture behind it all is a learning one.
All the best my fellow apprentice.
Keep well and stay winning.
Lethu Kheswa.
