Easy come, easy go. This is well-known wisdom that teaches that what has been gained without effort is just as easily lost or discarded. 

The opposite, then, must be true: that what has been desired, dreamed about, planned for, and worked towards diligently over time, is more fastidiously maintained, and not abandoned or discarded as quickly. 

This is an indelible truth.

One merely needs to consider the skills that have been earned through dedication despite the abundance of talent; the wisdom that has come from the hardest lessons and, sometimes, the bitterest of teachers; or precious moments without measurable value gleaned after long periods of struggle. What has been paid for with effort becomes deeply ingrained, almost habitual, embedded so close to the fibre of one’s being that they are an aspect of one’s personality so that even a period of absence from something the reflexes honed over time spring back in next to no time at all.

Once one commences their journey to making movement a part of their life, it becomes hard to turn back. Because the gains are dearly earned, and the maintenance thereof requires numerous small sacrifices which, if ignored, can undo weeks, months, or years of hard work.

This, ultimately, is the gift of taking the right way around. It might not be the shortest route to one’s goals. But it most definitely is the best way.

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Rémy Ngamije is an award-winning Rwandan-born Namibian author, editor, publisher, photographer, literary educator, and entrepreneur. He is the founder of The Forge.