Jay Pillay: Double vision, cows and potholes
We will always need to maintain two views of the road ahead.
In the late 1990s, I worked in Maputo, a six-hour drive from home in Richards Bay. Most of the trip through Eswatini was in darkness; homecoming was between 21:00 and 22:00.
The Eswatini roads had two major hazards; potholes (which stayed where they were) and cows (which also stayed where they were, but you could never tell where they were).
So, as you drove through the darkness, you watched out for cows in the far reach of your headlights.
But, if you focused exclusively on the cows, you missed the potholes. You learned to maintain two views of the road ahead – the near view for potholes, and the far view for cows.
This double focus is true of a lot of life.
You need to live on your salary from month to month, but you need to do far more than that: planning for death, for retrenchment, for retirement. There has to be a double focus.
You need to apply all your energy to what you are presently studying, but you need to keep a lookout for the new goal after you pass the examinations. The dual view is important.
You need to watch the friendships you make now, for any one of them could lead to marriage later. This two-fold vision is not an eye disease.
Driving will be a lot safer if potholes were fixed, and cows were kept off the roads. In theory, that can be done.
But living will continue to challenge us – for we will always need to maintain two views of the road ahead.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Like the South Coast Fever’s Facebook page
