Daniel Sampayo

“The Road Less Travelled” is one of the popular poems written by poet Robert Frost. The poem talks about two roads – one less travelled and the other often travelled. Looking back at society today, many of us have been skipping the road less travelled, and hit the one often travelled. 

I would like to closely emphasise more about the life-changing message of this poem with regard to one of the major problems we currently have in Namibia – unemployment. While many of the youth are crying for employment, there is another major hidden problem we seem to overlook – the “aftermath” of being employed. Have we ever paused to take a closer look at how far the people getting employed going in life, or do we simply just assume giving the people jobs automatically kickstart their lives for the better?  

The popular assumption that having a secure job solves your problems is nothing but a fairytale – job security is a myth. Let’s talk about the facts and life in practice rather than opinions and life in theory.  There is a difference between theory and practice. For example, in some of the conversations I hear often from those who have secured jobs, a number of statements surface, such as, “Though I have a job I am really struggling.” “You won’t understand, but you will when you get employed.” and lastly “I am considering to resign.” Many of us also dread Sundays and have lost passion for our work. Monday mornings have become our biggest nightmares.

Many of us have found that when our labour is not aligned with the income we receive in return, our labour seizes to have the same quality as in our early months or years. Supposedly, that is the reason why many of us are unfriendly at work because our incomes are totally maxed-out in debt, resulting in poor performance at work, lack of passion, and lives haunted by turmoil. 

In hearing and seeing such whining and an attitude, one can be taken on a rough ride and in a world of wonder. What is the point of being employed, is it to do what is right to “yourself” or conform to the status quo of the society? And why are we not taking the road less travelled? Are we living our excitement and achievements through other people? Why are we blindly letting disastrous history repeat itself? Has life regressed into conformity? In his book, ‘Man’s Search for Himself’, Rollo May wrote, “The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it is conformity.” This statement boldly summarises many of our lives. 

Today, while the government is fighting to create employment for the people, the people on the other hand are literally “converting” such opportunities (jobs) into failure by being desperate and unnecessarily going deeper and deeper into the debt pit with no prospects of ever climbing out. Is debt unavoidable? The answer is “Yes”! How? Well, try to live your life as if you don’t have a paycheck (pay slip) which gives you access to taking debt, even if you have problems. Because if you never had one (paycheck), you would find other alternatives to solve your problems. So, do the same with it. It’s that simple. 

 Most of us talk about good debt and bad debt, and almost every one of us can tell the difference between the two. Interestingly enough, however, many of us are deeply into bad debt. Again, theory does not always play out in practice. Of course, the economy is tough, inflation is at an all-time high, consumer prices are soaring, and our salaries are stagnant. Yet the main cause is our tendency to conform to what others are doing. 

We are not regimented to conform to the status quo of buying things we don’t need with money we don’t have. Conformity has become a parasitic fashion. It’s like when we go and collect our appointment letters, we are also given a code of conduct or a number card to go in line and do “exactly” what everyone else is doing. We need to have double-edged swords. That is, while looking for employment, let us also equally do thorough soul-searching of what we will do if we are fortunate to secure a job. In addition, learning from other people’s mistakes is the biggest advantage you can ever get, while ignoring learning from others is the most expensive price you can ever pay.

When we secure jobs let’s use it wisely to build content accomplishing your emotional, mental and financial freedom. Let us use our jobs to make a difference, impact lives, and support our families and communities by becoming better versions of ourselves rather than use jobs as opportunities to finance and buy success. For instance, when you finance a new car or any other luxurious item for a number of years because you are short of cash, in essence, you are “buying” success instead of earning success. True lasting success comes to us in instalments – it is a process. 

In summary, let’s not let debt and conformity conquer us, we are all wired to accomplish different purposes. We are supposed to be unique just as the world has over eight billion people, each with different fingerprints. Let’s all gather the courage to take the road less travelled because a new beginning is always exciting. Note, however, that change does not come from new things we will do, but more from what we need to stop doing. 

* Daniel Sampayo is a freelance teacher and writer.