5 LIFE LESSONS FROM MY LEISURE TRIP TO TINAPA RESORT
“My articles are basically targeted towards young people who have access to so much information especially as a result of information overload from the internet and this in turn makes them restless a s a result of the many options available. My articles would mainly be on providing clarity based primarily on my personal experiences and a mix of other content.”
With
David Apaflo, ACA
David, a chartered accountant, is one of the founding partners of Shelze Consulting. He also shares his thoughts on his personal blog
Sometime in 2012, I was in the beautiful city of Calabar for a few days and decided to visit the popular Tinapa Business Resort. I had dreamed of coming here and since fate made it possible for me to be in Calabar, there was no way I was going back home without visiting Tinapa.
I assembled a team of friends and we were off to Tinapa to see its very large shopping mall, the beautiful scenery and oh THE WATER PARK!
The water park was a sight to behold with several pools, the lazy river and a 60ft water slide. I was determined to enjoy all the facilities to the max and so I did till I arrived at the 60ft water slide. As much as I wanted to slide down it, it looked so high and so steep, I wondered if I was going to fall off on my way down.
I summoned courage and decided to take the slide. Climbing to the top, I realized that it was even much higher than it seemed from the ground. OMG! I should never have come here. Just as I was about going back, a young boy came by… swoosh! and he was down the slide. He had been up here before and loved it.
I wondered how this young boy could be doing the very thing I thought was so scary. I concluded he had a shorter body so that would help him and bla bla. I was turning back when I heard the chuckle of some ladies who were just beside the entry point of the slide.
The chuckles went down my ears and it seemed they were laughing at me for going back. It wasn’t a good feeling so I decided to brace up and do it any way. Holding on to the bar above the entry point and letting my legs go first, I could feel the pressure from the flowing water – scary!!!! I thought of going back and just stomach the humiliation I thought the ladies were throwing at me – after all, I don’t know them. I had a few problems though:
- My feet had gone so far down the slide that I could not find support to climb back up;
- The rushing waters made matters worse;
- The young boy was back for another turn at the slide and I was the obstruction.
At this point, I had only one option – SLIDE DOWN. Closing my eyes and accepting to take whatever came my way, I slid down stiffening my body until I was at the bottom of the slide.
Oh wow, I had made it what a relief. At least the girls would not laugh anymore J Unfortunately, I wasn’t feeling as fulfilled as I thought I would be. Yes I had conquered the slide but I didn’t have the fun I was to have because I was so scared as a slid downwards.
I considered taking another turn, but decided otherwise. I’d already had enough. I didn’t go back. He who runs away lives to fight another day right??
What lessons did I learn?
- Life is to be fun: Just like the inventor of the slide created the slide for users to have fun, God made life to be fun. Don’t take it too serious.
- People less qualified that you are living your dream: The young boy at the slide was having all the fun I was hoping to have simply because he was taking action.
- Sometimes it’s good to burn all your bridges: I was too far down the slide to go back and with all the preceding events, I had only one option, nothing else.
- Fear would deprive you of a lot: Even though I eventually slid down, I didn’t get the experience. I had performed the action but didn’t get the experience which was the ultimate.
- People only see the action: Anybody watching me would have assumed I had all the fun since I had gone all the way down. Only I could know whether I got the feeling or not. This makes me realize that we should only do things that make me as a person happy and not for the entertainment of others.
My dear readers, these are the few things I learnt from that experience and hope you learnt something too.
PS: I intend to attend the Calabar Carnival this year and I plan to go five rounds on that slide. Gotta face the demons. lol
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