THE ONLY CONSTANT THING IS CHANGE….. BE IT OR LET IT BE.
By: Audu Maikori
Tags: Change, Relationships, Life Lessons, Cannabis, Marriage

“ Everyone want to go to heaven, but nobody wanna die”… 😁 says an old Carribean saying…or was it off a movie?

I have always been amused by the fact that everyone wants to live a successful, fun, happy stress free life and die at a ripe old age — then fly first class to Heaven. When we were young our parents gave us the recipe for a happy life- obey them ( our parents that is)absolutely, work hard in school, focus on your grades so you can go to the best universities and graduate with a first class degree and get a nice job in some huge company and then viola!!!

You will find a prince or princess charming- marry them , have loads of children and live happily ever after. Oh and don’t forget the need to be very religious — pray countless times a day, give alms and generally live like a saint and when you die you will go to heaven.

On the love and romance side- you must not have sex with a person who isn’t your husband or wife. You mustn’t get divorced no matter how bad the marriage is for the sake of the kids and if not them , at least so that all the people that attended the wedding ( your folks most especially) don’t get disappointed.

You see most of what we live today , we’re yesterday’s realities- but the fact is the world has changed and keeps changing at a much more rapid pace than anytime in the history of man.

The way we communicate and work today was totally impossible even 50 years ago- but with the speed at which technology and human advancements have changed our society- I think we have to rethink and redefine how we think and define things.

Example 1: SEX IS ONLY FOR MARRIED PEOPLE

This is not so much a lie as it is unrealistic- the truth is not everyone will want to get married . Or find the right partner or even live long enough to find the perfect match or have the same sexual orientation- :so what is the fate of a man or woman who doesn’t find the perfect match? Will they live a celibate life till they die ? Secondly, statistically there are more women than men globally, this coupled with the fact that more men die compared to women ( due to job hazards, heart disease and other health factors ) means there will always be women who can’t find a husband and vice verse- do we have expect them to die alone or live a full life of sexual frustration become an archaic convention states that ? To put it in context — I am not saying everyone should go on a spree- at all. I am saying that a lot of the laws are we are bound by where culturally and socially relevant then for certain reasons that are no longer relevant today- so should we keep them for the sake of history or should our laws reflect our current realities?

Another example is the whole cannabis situation. Just 30 years ago, you were jailed for several years for Indian hemp/ Cannabis possession. Indeed thousand of people around the world had police records and served ( and are currently servings) time in prisons for cannabis related crimes ranging from possession to dealing weed. Today Cannabis is legalized in many parts of the USA, Europe and even Africa — what then is the fate of those currently in prison? Will they be released? Will they be compensated? More importantly, since the stigma around marijuana use is gradually abating- does that mean that it’s now “cool” to be a weed head?

Point here is things change fast- laws and customs change- one minute It was illegal to be gay — now you can be jailed for discriminating a gay person because of their sexy orientation. Many years ago , smoking was the best and coolest thing you could do- it was recommended that you use that to calm your nerves — today you can’t smoke in public places without being fined. whatever the situation- we need to know the most importnat thing is that there is nothing that isnt subject to change…so that old saying that the only thing that doesnt change is change…so be it or let it be….