The Best Blog Comment ever

Two weeks ago I wrote a post on my big move to Zambia and the challenges I was going to face. The response was great as always, we'll never get over the fact that people all over the world are reading our little blog. It gives us the warm and fuzzies. In the spirit of warm and fuzzies I had to share this message I got on facebook from a friend in response to the post. I was truly humbled by the effort put in and the wisdom this young woman was willing to impart. I'm sure as you read you'll agree such wisdom deserves its own post.
I hereby present to you..... *drumroll* Moyo Ngubula. Passionate Lawyer, Woman of God and an Honorary Lekgarabe. I hope this warms your heart as it did mine.
" Any advice on new beginnings ? I have a bit of advice.I have had so many new beginnings but I think the best ones to refer to are the ones I have experienced in my adulthood. So here it goes;
1. Change is good but that doesn't mean that it will be easy. I have found that there is a period of disorientation, irritability and adjustment but eventually there will be some calm. Then you will miss the past badly but you will in time adjust to the new. A year and three months after moving from South Africa back to Botswana I am yet to fully adjust . Sometimes if you stay too long into one place you become comfortable and then complacent but change makes you step out into the unknown and learn new things, you grow. Often you will not immediately see the growth but you will reflect some time later and you will realize just how much you have grown. We grow I think, through exposure. Exposure does exactly that; exposes us to a different world, to pain to love and to possibilities. So in that sense change is good.
2. Be Easy on yourself; When i moved to South Africa In 2006 I spent 80% of my time surrounded by other Batswana. They were the ones I went shopping with, sat next to in class and lived with. Terrible idea! In 2007 most of these Batswana opted to go to different towns, a few stayed in Cape Town but only one person decided to come to The University of Cape Town with me. I was constantly on the phone with her, we constantly had to meet because we were both so scared and school was very real. This was just unrealistic; I was studying Law she was studying Property Studies, I was staying on campus and she lived in a residence a bit far off from me. Eventually we simply just had to adjust. So I withdrew to my room.I took my meals from the dining hall to my room, ate, studied and went to church on Sundays. I was so scared of the unfamiliar and didn't think the girls I saw in the dining hall would have anything to say to me let alone be interested in me. Then one day I decided to start getting involved in church, in societies on campus and in conversations at the dining hall. I eventually ended up with friends from all over the world with whom I had common interests; girls who were passionate about God, about the law and who loved the same cultural activities as me. Sometimes I wish I had done things differently; put myself out there more but I realize that it might have not have gone the same way, caution is necessary. Most of the people I became friends with were people that I had watched from a distance and realized I could be friends with. I messed up because I made a lot of assumptions that I shouldn't have; because she is from Botswana we should be cool, because she is white and I am black we can't be people's, she is doing humanities and I am on my way to lawland and money, her life is too chilled I cant have that in my life. BE UNASSUMING but be cautious as well.
3. I know you are from Zambia and you probably have lived there for a bit or used to visit and most likely think that you know Zambia and the transition is gonna be easy. Well its not. You will get culture shock! I am being for real. I got it when I came back to Botswana and some things still disturb me to this day. It might sound snobbish but it's the truth of the matter. I hate the fact that you queue at the ATM, I'm still to get used to speaking Setswana to service providers and every other person that assists me. I am still getting used to people looking at me funny when I address them in English and I am also trying to get used to the fact that people do not say thank you here. Yes this is the place I was born and bred but that like I said you adapt to certain places and they become your new normal so when you go back to the old it will not instantly come back to you. Just because its homes doesn't mean you should feel guilty about the fact that it irritates you sometimes. It will come back to you with time. Do not be hard on yourself but also be careful who you share your frustrations with. Guys that were at UCT understand what I am on about when I complain about South Africa but people from the University of Botswana think we are being unnecessary. Oh and you may have old friends you stay connected with via social media, you will find that trying to play out the friendship in real life may prove difficult. I have learnt to let go, not in a mean way but to just know that it's not what it was. For some friendships it will be like you never left. Learn to know who to keep and who to let go of, at the end of the day a girl over 24 has at most 10 true friends. Those friends, no matter where you are or where they are will come through. I have such, and those Luwi, are the ones that matter.
Enjoy the transition! Its part of your growth, its part of your story and it really is up to you to ensure that it's well written, do you BUT do not be selfish, honour the ones that are yours and above all remember to ask God to journey with you in this chapter; know that things will not always go your way in this process; we tend to envision things a certain way and when the tide doesn't go our way we are disgruntled we look at God unhappily. BUT just yesterday I was reading Hebrews chapter 3. The chapter warns against disbelief and calls it a sin. I know we read the text over and over again but yesterday I got a fresh perspective, especially when I considered the verses that talk about how the children of Israel saw God's hand and saw his signs and wonders and yet they would turn and rebel. It was a beautiful yet stern and rebuking reminder to me that I need to count my blessings and continually praise even when things do not go my way ( I am still unemployed, with an LLB and an LLM, I am on government internship earning P1320 per month) but I have seen God's hand in my life before and so this temporary situation will pass. So say your prayers when things are tough and stay true to your maker. xoxo