On that particular day, we had a family outing to the beach, and to be honest it wasn’t quite the ideal beach day; it was a very rainy, wet, windy type of day. The children didn’t make it seem like we picked the wrong day to go to the beach though; being children, they dug right in as soon as we got there. The feel of the rain on their bare skin thrilled them; it would seem like being at the beach on a rainy day was a prayer answered for them. As soon as we got into the cabana, they got out the toy shovels, buckets and what not and began to play with sand and build castles. The sheer joy and contentment of being ‘free to play’ was priceless; they clearly didn’t share the sentiment of “this rain has ruined our plans”.

We adults on the other hand could not release ourselves to the freedom to live in the moment without being plagued with worry and regret. We wondered why we picked that day of all days to be at the beach. We wondered why we did not check the weather forecast for the day before heading out of the house. We wondered why we didn’t deck the children up in warm clothing before heading out. We wondered why the food we ordered for the children was taking forever, when the children were visibly hungry. We wondered so much, it was impossible for us to ‘look away’ and just have fun.

Before we headed out that particular morning, we had grand plans. 3 of us, women, had come together to celebrate our husbands on Fathers’ day with our families. We had bought gifts for our men, brought different board games along and just generally planned to ‘relax and be taken kiarof’. “This rain is our undoing”, we thought, and that’s how our time on the beach slipped by.

‘Keima’s naptime came by at some point and I had no clue how to put him to sleep. I worried my head off, as I could see how he was fighting sleep off, just because he wanted to join the other children to play in/with the sand. My worry did nothing productive; a long walk by the calm waters, snuggled on his father’s shoulder did the magic. In a short while, Kamba brought back a sleeping baby to me, I laid a blanket on a beanbag, and I watched my baby sleep with absolutely no worries at all in the world.

Somewhere between when ‘Keima fell asleep and when our food arrived, Kamba and I found the courage to fight for the kind of day we had envisioned when we left home that morning. We decided to go for joy, even if it literally meant ‘dancing in the rain’. I said, “Kambz, come and sit down, let me quickly beat you at a game of ludo”. He responded laughingly, “Iwo, you are trying to mess around with a grandmaster, I will show you today.”

We both laughed, and the game started. At the first roll of a dice, I got 6-3; the game started on a high for me. Kamba on the other hand waited quite a bit before he came out of his ‘house’; about 3 of my ‘seeds’ were already out and moving before any of his came out. Trust me to taunt him with my progress; I teased his life out and he took it all in stride. In a short while, he got the “6” he needed and his “seed” came out. Being a skilled player/strategist, he started chopping my “seeds” anyhow in no time. The 1st time was fine, the second time, it pained me but I didn’t show it too much…..you see that 3rd one ehn? It entered my bone marrow. That ‘seed’ was almost ‘home’, and then Kamba cut it in its prime. It got to me, especially with the annoying soundtrack of Kamba’s taunting, evil laugh that trailed each win. I said to him, “Kambz, I am done with this game”, and I meant it. His attacks on the ludo board got to me personally, I couldn’t go on anymore and I legit called it quits. Based on the game so far, I concluded that he was the winner and I wanted to walk away without getting to the finish line. 

He encouraged me to continue the game, which I did, albeit reluctantly. Minutes in, the tide changed; I chopped some of his ‘seeds’, got some of my ‘seeds’ ‘home’ successfully and generally ended up being the winner for the day. You can’t imagine the extreme joy I felt at winning; that priceless “stand-up-for-the-champion” moment. At that point, it no longer mattered how the game started, what was most important was how it ended. Guess who was most thankful for not giving up? Funmz of course. I broadcast my victory with glee, and generally made a show of how I beat him hands down at the game. 

As though to mark my outstanding victory, our food finally arrived; I gobbled up my meal very quickly, the hunger was real. Just before lunch was over, a friend retorted “I am not quite a fan of ludo, there is no skill in it; it’s more a game of chance, where your fate is determined by a roll of dice ”. I laughed at the thought jokingly and responded, saying,” there might be no skill in it in that sense, but there are life lessons in it; I learned today not to give up so easily, especially in the beginning.“ 

A while later, I reconsidered what Bisi had said and thought to myself, “while a lot is determined by the roll of dice, a lot more is determined by what is done with what is rolled out.” To win at Ludo is to decide to play what you have strategically and to remain patient, dogged and optimistic, even in the face of defeat.

This year 2022, regardless of the blessings or twists that life may bring, we choose to ‘stay jiggy’ and keep our Spirits up, knowing that all things work out perfectly for our good. Just as in my unlikely win in that day’s ludo game, may we uncover many wins in 2022. 

Happy New Year!