By John Ekongo LIFE is complex, and that is what makes it so amazing. But life can also be harsh and daunting. Dreams hard to fulfill, and the paradox easily crashes. Life can make or do. It can surrender or it can surpass, but the trick is persistence, to keep going is to keep dreaming. Many times, I ask myself and I am sure a lot of you out there have asked the same question, what is my purpose in life. Do we have such a thing, or is it just a myth to follow routines, patterns, rituals, beliefs, faith, thinking, sociology. Did it become a life-less unison? But, we are all too afraid to fall off that all important bandwagon. We are scared to be called due: reaching that milestone of thirty years is a huge calamity to all mankind. More so to the female hood. You need not realize how vital it is to find a good job, and house, starting a family and everything else falls in place. As regards the male species, this comes with time and usually that means you only start pondering about this fact, deep in your thirty some-where’s or on the borderline. True it might be indeed, but it can be tricky. However, there are remnants of some men who yearn for such a life, not out of spite, but out of sheer passion just as much as women do. The only obstacle is that, the one person you so look for cannot be found. Maybe it is a question of too much imperfection, high expectations or extravagantly unrealistic dreams. Whatever the case may be, finding the right soul mate to cherish forever and eternally is not an easy task. Try finding a human needle in a giant’s haystack. Whoever said fortune hits those that go out searching for it was right, but he also failed to note that not all wants fortune. What are we getting hit with … at 26? “Yes I am a young duckling, I am feeling a dÃÆ’Æ‘Æ‘ÃÆ”šÃ‚©jÃÆ’Æ‘Æ‘ÃÆ”šÃ‚ vu, am I about to get off the bandwagon, is it too early or is too late.” A lady friend of mine ponders otherwise, with guys life starts at thirty or forty. I say that is “femme fatale female chauvinistic discrimination,” no pun intended. I can let go of laughter when I alongside a group of journo’s spend a night in the desert, and this Afrikaner gentleman said, ” ‘n Mans mens se lewe lyk nes die woestyn, leeg maar ryk.” Loosely translated, the life of man is desert-like, it possesses nothing: emptiness, but still rich in vitality. I could not agree more. But you might notice that desert might not have anything, but its existence is and being is absolutely necessary. The core of the matter remains that we well want to settle down, some guys want to do that early, unfortunately some gentlemen thought only start trickling well above their 35th birthday. Before that their reclamation exists only in their own self-pampering and enjoying the moment. Mind you though the moment never lasts forever, and that is what our female colleagues should learn. Where does that put me? Somewhere on the verge of the bandwagon, it would be a miracle if I stay longer on the bandwagon. But I am just not proposing marriage yet, it is not far from my mind, however, if I could just find that person, before the wagon pushes me off the biological clock. In the end we all want to settle down before that all-bandwagon gives us the marching orders. Now that is the tricky part, and it looks easier than done, any body willing to teach me how? Eewa