My name is Joseph, and for nearly ten years, nothing in my life seemed to go right.
Every business I started collapsed. Every plan failed before it could grow. People in my village began saying that I was simply born under bad luck. At first I ignored the gossip, but as the years passed, I began to believe them.
I sold vegetables.
The business failed.
I started a motorcycle transport business.
The motorcycle was stolen within months.
I borrowed money to buy dairy cows.
One died suddenly, and the other produced almost no milk.
I reached a point where even my children asked why other families were progressing while ours remained the same.
The question broke my heart because I had no answer.
One evening, after returning from another unsuccessful business trip, I found my elderly grandmother waiting outside my house. She looked at me for a long time before speaking.
“My son,” she said, “sometimes when the heart is heavy, people need time for reflection, reconciliation, and hope.”
She encouraged me to visit a respected traditional healer by name Dr Magongo in a neighboring county.
Although I was uncertain, I agreed.
When I arrived, the healer welcomed me warmly. Instead of asking only about money, he asked about my family, my childhood, my relationships, and the burdens I carried inside.
After listening, he explained that, in his tradition, symbolic ceremonies are meant to encourage people to release bitterness, renew their determination, and restore harmony in their lives.
The ceremony used items I had never seen used together before.
On a woven sisal tray, he placed seven smooth river stones, explaining that each stone represented one burden I had been carrying for years.
Next to them stood a small clay pot filled with honey, symbolizing the hope that difficult seasons can eventually give way to sweetness.
He placed a handful of dried baobab leaves into a carved wooden bowl, together with frankincense resin, whose gentle fragrance filled the room as prayers were spoken.
A traditional leather bracelet was tied around my wrist—not as a source of power, but as a reminder to remain patient, truthful, and disciplined in my daily life.
Finally, I was asked to plant a young fig tree seedling near my home after returning, as a symbol that lasting success grows slowly through care and perseverance.
Before I left, the healer smiled and said something I will never forget.
“Do not expect tomorrow to erase yesterday. Instead, become the person who is ready when tomorrow arrives.”
Those words stayed with me.
I went home with a different attitude.
I stopped rushing into risky business ideas.
I took a bookkeeping course at the local training center.
I apologized to an old business partner we had parted from in anger.
I began saving small amounts of money instead of borrowing large loans.
Several months later, an opportunity came to supply farm produce to a nearby school.
The profits were small, but I managed them carefully.
That single contract led to another.
Within three years, I had opened a successful produce distribution business employing eight young people from my village.
People who once laughed at me now came asking for advice.
Whenever someone asks what changed, I tell them that the symbolic ceremony marked the day I decided to let go of despair and rebuild my life with patience and integrity.
The stones, the honey, the tree, and the bracelet became reminders—not of magic, but of hope, responsibility, and the courage to begin again.
Today, I no longer measure success by how much I own.
I measure it by the peace I have found, the family I have rebuilt, and the lives I am now able to help.
