That Thing in your head

             As the evening breeze carried the stink of garbage across the street, the stench of the decaying substances saturated the air. The sun had ducked behind the tall palm trees and the scorching heat had mellowed to embracing warmth.

 On a corner of the street right on a heap of garbage lay a man, his skin bathed with dirt and stinking fluid of all colours. As  I approached the figure, the terrible stench saluted my nostrils. The man was lying still on his back with his head placed on his hands which were carefully crossed under his head. His limbs were stretched out, one equally crossed over the other and both relaxed over a heap of discarded sacs. He looked so calm and relaxed as though he was lying or floating on a waterbed . 

      He was undisturbed by the zooming and noise of the vehicles and passers by nor by the eyes that constantly stared at him. He didn't seem to care about anything or anyone, he was a mad man in his own world!  

            Insanity they say is a curse, one of the worst ailments to befall a man. In Africa, its often attributed to  voodoo, demons and evil spirits. Each time I saw an insane person, I always felt so sorry for him/her but on this particular day , an entirely different and crazy feeling stirred up within me. I had a lot of problems all mingled in my head and as I starred at the mad man I could hear my heart screaming ‘’God, please don’t tell me I’m envying a madman right now!’’. 

 The one thing that struck me about this man was his seemingly calm and relaxed disposition. He seemed to be untroubled. I thought to myself, “ this man might actually not even have any thought in his head as he lay so. He wasn't thinking about how to make money, what to put on ,what to have for dinner, or how to pay his rent and bills. He definitely wasn't  thinking about what people said or did to him. He just didn't care about anything in this world! 

      It’s pretty difficult for normal people to have that much peace and calm (if i’lld call it that). The difference is,  all the stuff we've got in our heads;  the dreams and plans. Man is always struggling. Then again, the heavy burdens in our hearts that always steal our thoughts; past failures, debts and unpaid bills, circumstances like  catering for sick relative, broken families and relationships, etc.  

      Thoughts gives birth to ideas and thinking  and worrying are natural. Sometimes however, we may not realize  when we over do them such that it begins to affect our interaction with people and our daily responses to situations and the society at large.

            Some time ago I was really upset about a certain situation in my life that I became so moody and depressed. I would drift far away in the middle of a conversation and would overreact and scold my colleagues in the office over simple issues. Thank God I called myself to order on time.  Finally, man can try to find peace in the world around him though but only the inner peace that God gives can see us thought our difficult moments.

         By Chioma Morah