I trust you are keeping well and coping with the current situation.
I do know that quite a lot of you are not in a very good place right now, however, circumstances and situations can change on the drop of a hat and where ever you are, things can and often change quite swiftly. As a motivational speaker, sometimes the story or the example you use has a rather difficult or not so pleasant message to get across.
Here I will go back to my Seychelles story in order to illustrate this. You can imagine being in solitary confinement where nothing changes from day to day and as each day melts into another with the same food daily, same ablution times, 10 mins in the morning and evening, and no news of any kind. It is difficult to feel anything, but the what happens now syndrome.
This is the time to keep faith, from a time of lying in my cell 24 hours a day in total light, when suddenly in the early hours of the morning, things changed. There were a few doors slamming and a bit of shouting and suddenly our lights went out in our cells. After 9 months of being bathed in light 24 hours a day, we were suddenly thrust into darkness. Now you can imagine how the brain works overtime and the fear of the unknown gets a grip of you. Are they coming to take us away? Will our families know where we will be going? Will they carry out the death penalty? It is never ending and how the mind races away.
The guards would not tell us anything and by the mid morning, the first of the mortar bombs hit us – loud explosions and much shouting and screaming. A little while later we were to learn that our guards had taken captive two of the loyal soldiers and that they had demanded the resignation of one of the Majors in the ruling military junta. This was declared a mutiny and for the next few days we would be the target of a number of mortar bombs and attacks from the loyal troops, while they attempted to put the mutiny down.
Over the next few days it was not a very pleasant place to be. A number of our guards were killed, along with chickens and pigs. One can image the horrific sounds and smells of bombs going off, pigs squealing, chickens, dogs, etc. They were very eventful days and very unpleasant. One of our men managed to escape from his cell through the roof. He was being held in the old waiting room and got hold of the keys and released us. On our way to the kitchen (where we locked ourselves in), we managed to free the two officers that were being help captive, thus saving their lives and this was later to play an important part of our future. We then awaited the outcome of the fighting over the next day and a half.
Once the mutiny was quelled, the military had a bit of a headache figuring out what to do with us mercenaries and we were then placed into a very large laundry unit. No solitary confinement, no bars on the windows and plenty of space. In our old cells where we were kept singularly, our guards were placed, probably 8 – 10 in a cell.
This exercise was to illustrate to you that even in the most of extreme conditions and against all odds, things can and will change. You see that the human body and mind can withstand a tremendous amount of extreme pressure. So no matter what you circumstances are now, things can and will change. They say that times are always darkest before the dawn and I feel sure that it will not be too long before everything starts to get much better, as the world gets to grips with this pandemic.
I would like to share with you that my Christian belief and the power of prayer brought me through this really tough time and will continue to do so in the months and years that lay ahead. If you are feeling low and are not coping well, I would like to urge you to use this time to regroup and look at a new fitness regime, change your diet, learn to play a musical instrument, in other words, all the things you have really wanted to do but you have just not had the time. Now is time to connect with nature, listen to music and have some me time.
Keep a positive outlook and in the not too distant future we will be able to get on with our lives and look to a bright and happy world in the new order, where I hope there will be a lot more compassion, tolerance, forgiveness and understanding.
Until the next time, take care and be happy.
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