What do you stand for?

There is this one time I was seated on the couch watching some rock music which I had just collected from my usual movie shop along Moi Avenue (a street which most of us who reside in Nairobi associate with or rather I would like to think that you do) and my mother was just right next to me knitting a sweater for her yet to be born grandson. Then the song ‘Some nights’ by Fun started playing. I must confess I really love this song, and don’t ask me for which particular reason because to be honest am just in love with rock music, as long as we ain’t talking about ‘metal’.

“What do I stand for?…” is a lyrical question in that song that got me thinking for a while until it occurred to me that I didn’t have a definite answer. To find solace I decided to pose the question to my mother. Maybe, just maybe we are quite a few sailors in this boat of self unawareness.

“Mum, what do you stand for?” I asked innocently

“I stand for my children and my family.” She answered without hesitation.

Ooh my!!!! Looks like am the lost sheep here. Still I stared on the screen to avoid any confrontations.

“What do you stand for?” She asked.

Silence….

Then she coughed, ” Nimoh, what do you stand for?”  This time with a smile and dimples well featured on her face.

“Sometimes am not sure what I stand for.” I answered while wishing I inherited some of those.

“If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything.” Was the answer I got.

I didn’t try to explain my answer because to be honest she was absolutely correct, I might end up falling for anything that comes my way, which would be a disgrace for a person who has managed to secure the Kenyan identification card (since we tend to relate it with maturity). Anyway that was then, later on I got the chance to find Nimoh. I stand for my principles and I instill them in fulfilling my lifetime goals.

Maybe some of you will relate with me when I say that some times one feels off the hook and you just can’t define your stand anymore. The truth is, if we get stuck on such feelings we might end up loosing ourselves. At some point in life we have to promise ourselves to do us and only us. If we live trying to please all then we might end up falling for their desires, dreams and ambitions. our aim should be to find our inner selves first so as to attain the strength needed to embark on our aspirations. Whatever it is we want will never come to looking for us, never!! Take a chance on that rough and rocky path to success.

Nowadays the cold is getting into my skin and now that I have remembered that sweater she was knitting, though they later on pilled up to more than ten, I can’t help but envy my nephew. I asked her once to knit me one and she told me I had my chance when I was a toddler and still, it would take a while since am a grown woman. Maybe I should just rush to one of the shops around and buy myself one. Hence forth I will stop insisting, since I still do. Wait, I hope am not the only one who got a strong attachment to sweaters. I think that you, yes you also fancy sweaters. If not wholly then partly, don’t you dare doubt it’s reflecting in your eyes… okay let me quit with the persuasion.

So here is my question,  what do you stand for? It’s okay if you still have no idea. But here is something we should keep in mind, if we don’t stand for something there is a chance of us ending up like desert travelers running after a mirage, driven by persistent of water and thirst. We can only quench it once we find the means to curb it, otherwise the thirst will keep recurring. once we define our stand, the dimension in which we view life changes and we may get a chance to see a fertile land at a distance.

‘Is my thirst for soda, cold beer, coffee, tea, ice cold water or juice?? ‘ Is a question that may go unanswered if we don’t find ourselves and what it is that we stand for.