Much like losing yourself to drug addiction, travelling long hours two times a day in rickety trotros on the pot-holed dusty Kumasi-Kwanhoma road can make you lose yourself too – you alight looking like you mistook your body splash for cocoa powder, only, you didn’t so how is that not losing yourself??
One morning, despite the cloud of dust, I found myself straining my eyes to peek at a woman by the roadside. She was not particularly striking in any way but I noticed her because she was an unusual occurrence at that particular spot. She had put up an umbrella where she was going to sell local brown rice and stew popularly called ‘quinquin’ in Kumasi.
As I watched, she mounted a pot on a table with the usual quinquin delicacies; spaghetti, gari and other salads in a plastic bag hanging over the pot of rice like a ‘hoodie’ just like the lot of quinquin sellers here. The stew and shito were in small plastic containers on the table. She had other things in a small basket; I guessed it would contain her fish or meat. The eggs were also in a clear plastic bowl on the table.
As the trotro hobbled past, I was thinking, ‘I would never buy that’ because the woman looked a little unkempt and the spot she chose to sell was too dusty. I saw her that morning at about 7:30 and when I was returning around 5:30 pm, she was still there. The food in the size five cooking pot was not finished.
As the days went by, I started noticing that she was not always there at 5:30pm when I was returning from work. She was also coming earlier now, one day I was leaving at around 5:30 am and I saw her setting up her umbrella.
One year down the line, the woman who did not look striking in any way now dresses up in fancy new dresses, puts on makeup and has stopped covering her hair with that old woman scarf. I had no idea that she was that pretty and young; she looks like she will be in her late 30s, I used to think she was in her 50s.
She has a bigger table now. She had taken the spaghetti, gari and salad out of their hoodie bag, the size 5 pot of rice has been changed to a size 10. Her client base has increased. She has variety of food now; plain rice and tuozaafi have been added to the menu. Recently, I overhead some of the mates talking about how humble, hardworking and skillful she was at her job. ‘Her food is also very tasty’ they added.
I am very amazed at how much transformation has come into her life through work, hard work, diligence, dedication, and a hidden passion somewhere in her to succeed.
There are so many elements necessary for recovery from drug addiction. One of those is a purpose, something worth waking up to. It could be a skill or a hobby that makes you happy; you could turn it into a money making venture in order to help take care of your basic needs.
Do not expect to be dependent on your family for everything; you will definitely need their support for many things but do not be dependent. Do not be a burden. Find something to do, be creative, get busy and enjoy the fruit of your labour and creativity, you will be surprised at how much better you will look, think and feel.
If you are wondering how to find your purpose, here’s how.
1. What is your talent?
The easiest way to find out what you are meant to do is to discover your talent. Many great people have made their mark in this world by discovering, honing and perfecting their talent. Discovering your talent is like coming into an inheritance. It’s a free gift, you just have to know how to manage it, use it and maintain it for life. If properly managed, it brings about fame and fortune, it brings one up among the elite in society but if mismanaged, it can be lost.
So what are you good at? We are all good at something, find it, develop it and make a living out of it. It is bound to bring you joy.
But if what you are good at may not be what you want to necessarily pursue, if that is the case, then you can try something else.
2. What are you passionate about?
What do you love? What drives you daily? Pursue that. Because you are passionate about it, you will do it with all your heart and out of that will come good results.
3. What desire keeps burning in your heart?
Finally, you can also decide to go after something that you’ve always wanted to do. Your lifelong dream. It is never too late to go after your dreams. Just put your ideas on paper, make a plan as to how you want to go about achieving it.
In doing all these, seek support from people who have your best interest at heart.
Keep thinking, don’t worry, it is going to work out.
Recovery Aid 