WHEN PASSION EXCEEDS IT ALL

 

You wake up in the morning, there is nothing else you can think about but the game. You’ve got no classes. You are a campus student housed in one of the campus’ hostels. Don’t ask about girls, because currently they aren’t feeling your vibes, at least that’s what we all say. You’ve been friend zoned more times than you can mathematically count. But that doesn’t really matter if you’ve got your awesome female friends who know how to keep you “busy”. Okay, back to the game, by now you know what sport I’m talking about. Rugby, yeah the sport for men. Its takes lots of guts to see lots of the so called short and slim guys playing rugby. You still asking if they are men, yes! , they are you idiots... Oops, sorry, I really didn’t mean that, but if you’ve still got such thoughts then I really did mean it. Just a simple question, how many of you have those huge, heavily built siblings and relatives who are just sissies, they can’t even take a slap from a granny which is just a simple tap in the check without cursing and wailing for decades. It was just a simple question. I’m just trying to remove the negative perception that small and slim guys can’t play rugby.

You’ve exhausted all latest series and movies so you have nothing to do .That clumsy village friend that is always trying so hard to fit in just broke your new pair of pads. Computer playing pads that is, so basically FIFA is a no go zone for you, you aren’t in the mood to borrow gaming pads from your friend next door bearing in mind his unwelcomed tantrums that always seem to pop at the most unexpected moments. Like when he popped up in your room demanding for some ten shillings you owe him, a roasted maize he bought you sometime back. He claims he wants to buy tomatoes, bear in mind its eleven o’clock and all grocery shops closed two hours ago. Leave alone the fact this guy is ruining a perfect date. It’s still nine in the morning and you just can’t stop thinking about training that is eight hours away. This is weird since you are that guy who wakes up three more hours past today’s abnormal waking time. Right now its 12 noon and it feels like it’s been a lifetime. You’ve exhausted all the tricks in your book on how to pass time. Ranging from sleeping to re-watching series and playing random computer games like solitaire if it even still exists. You even tried the latest trick in your book, studying, which is basically reading your lecture notes. This also didn’t go according to plan, you called it quits after “gazing” at the first three sentences.

Finally, its ten minutes to five o’clock in the evening. You are already geared up for training, everything you need is packed and ready. You typically started packing for training two hours ago. You pass by some of your teammates’ rooms to pick them up. In your mind you can’t stop picturing how the training is going to be awesome, just to have a piece of the ball, pass it around, knock out some guys, I really didn’t mean that, knockout is for boxing. You’ve only managed to reach three of your teammates, out of a possible fifteen who reside in this same hostel, the rest are missing, you assume they had already left and maybe they are in the pitch, eagerly awaiting training as you did or still they may be leaving class. You’ve spent your whole day anticipating training that you’d not want the special occasion ruined by guys missing practice. The three you met have told you that they are right behind you so you head to the rugby pitch which is a five minute walk.

To your surprise not even a single soul has arrived at the rugby pitch, leave alone any signs that show that someone might have been there or worse still, that they’ll be arriving anytime soon. The dark clouds that started forming thirty minutes ago fail to even drop a single hint in your mind that that might be the reason no one has arrived yet. It’s now thirty minutes past six, you are all alone in the pitch and it’s raining heavily. You don’t mind, after all nothing is going to ruin your anxiously awaited moment of the day. You run around like a lunatic who just escaped from an asylum, all in the name of rugby .You start thinking don’t your teammates want to progress in rugby, don't they want the taste of glory, your home teammate who is two years younger than you and still in middle school has already been aboard numerous flights to various countries to represent the country. You are yet to board a single flight, your primary school couldn’t even think of organizing a trip to an airport which was always on the must do list of every primary school. At least you would have been aboard a plane at one point in your life. I still thank my primary school for that experience. Your dreams are still valid though, no single bump is going to ruin your journey to greatness you tell yourself. Some people do not understand you, rugby is that kind of game that uplifts your moods to the greatest heights possible. When all the chics don’t feel your vibe rugby knows how to make you feel worthwhile. The sport that makes you enjoy doing something while in pain. You are blinded by your passion for the game you don’t care how much it hurts. That my friend is having passion for something.

This is Samuel’s story, a young rugby player with a passion that draws much love from many, even rugby critics. It’s not other peoples thinking that help you progress in life nor their opinions. No matter how many criticisms you get just bear in mind that that one thing that makes you feel alive and happy about yourself is worth it all. Passion exceeds it all.