Hello friends,
hope all is well, I went completely off this list here. I have no idea, I guess it’s because someone asked me a question that I felt shocked about, yet I was like “Wow” because at the back of my mind I was like, “yes, sure, this would make an awesome article”.
Now, why would I be shocked? I mean throughout my 18-year travel experience I was actually asked this question so many times… Can you guess what question that was?
Let me give you a couple of seconds to guess …
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Give up? Alright… here is the question.
“Patel, how did you do it?” Now that question went for so many things such as, when people hear about how I went to the UK after being held at gunpoint in my first full-time job which I write about in my book based on a true story, titled The South African: Roamer, then leaving with everything I have saved up, i.e., rounding off close to £1300 which I didn’t see as a big deal at the time but today it’s something else altogether. I get asked that question that I just pointed out up there.
While feeling the anxiety, and not receiving my first paycheck when I arrived at my job in the UK until six weeks from the day I started, I was stressed. Why? Because when I looked at what was left in my pocket, I was left with a ridiculous amount of money that scared me, something that almost sounded like 500 ZAR because the value felt really small. I felt like the boat was starting to burn and boy oh boy, did the universe really play out that scene, but somehow at the age of 21, I just seem to get the hang of this phase that it actually got me used to the idea that it’s under this pressure, i.e., anxiety and discomfort that one works better when they are forced to survive. It’s likely the road for most of the leaders amongst us or for those that are no longer here. I believe, in the book Think and grow rich by Napoleon Hill the point about burning the boat comes up.
Trust me, if you’re doubting yourself and want to test if you really are what that monkey voice tells you, in some cases even what others might tell you, you’ll find out quickly if you are in a situation where you might not do or die (could be for some) but similarly, make it or face it, where a massive consequence or massive consequences are close to becoming the reality. Now, in my entire twenties, after the gunpoint incident, I have been facing the do or die (figuratively speaking) scenario that quite frankly if a person at that age had never come across mentors, entrepreneur communities, or the circulation of what books are worth reading and which ones are worth putting aside then it’s quite likely that they will be learning a lot through experience but also not entirely defining their existence by straight shots so that they can learn other mistakes better suited in the direction of the mission, vision and purpose. So, one such example was me, when I reached one of the strongest awakenings from many in the year 2009, I, just one day, suddenly woke up when I burnt the boat, 90 francs to last me for 3 months.
You should hear these incidences man! I mean seriously, you might be saying who does such a thing in their twenties. Like there were times where I’d get it, and just when I think I am out of the woods I’d have a new challenge, but you know what was cool? Each time the boat burnt I ended up on a whole new level of knowledge and more compared to the last, I got better at it, and when that last awakening hit me (speaking of 2009), i.e., the boat about to burn … my entire nine years made sense, heck, my entire life from the day I remembered it made sense and that’s when I transitioned from being a poet to a writer and a novelist. I just started pouring everything onto my word document as I sat surrounded by pure clean air in the mountains of Switzerland. The year 2009 was tough, and since my boat was already burning, I figured I’d make it burn like f*****g fireworks, by this time I didn’t know how to manage what ate at me meaning before making the decision where I was six months away from making the money I needed to take my parents around the world, and then, boom! The crisis… That’s when I had to choose between me (even the life in Spain including all the paperwork that went with it), them and the economic crisis. I don’t know something died in me after that, and a series of things just led to my broken heart, I guess that really finished me after that (hey, that’s what I thought, but I’m still here), and by the time 2009 came I knew I couldn’t make up for the part, I lost with all the faith I had. This crisis was nothing like I’ve ever experienced which got me to question how different Spain was from South Africa, there was just about the same feeling in the air and just as much unemployment.
So, knowing that the amount I had left and what I’d need to make up for the surprise trip for my parents to go around the world was far from reality I decided to do a test, a test about faith, to see if faith really exists or if destiny really exists, and so as I went through the rest of 2009… I went through it by choosing where I should try my luck next, I chose between two decisions, often two destinations, chose a side of a coin, and flipped it, then went with it, and said, “I am not re-flipping, I am not letting me have that choice.”… And so, 2009, has a pretty cool story, that had many heartbreaks cracking me open, to extents that became sabotaging, and the last coin flipping incident in 2009 landed me back in Spain.
Truth be told, how I made it to the end of 2009 is again that story of burning the boat, and how I ended up in Spain, or even ending up in Ibiza to try and start a business, all were surprises that I had never known were even going to be there, how the money even came about (trust me, nothing dodgy), and it goes to show how the universe has your trust fund looked after least of all when good karma begins to get repaid in the time when one most needs it, least expects it in such a damn miraculous way…
Now, it’s time COVID ends, and it’s time my parents get that round the world trip. What say you?
Amen!
Yours sincerely,
T. Dench Patel
P.S. This year, 2009, I mean if this article is so long, imagine how long it would be if I took you through every single incident and coin flipping detail… I mean some things will really shock you.
I think I’m done with burning boats as much as I have done over the years, I’ll let someone else take over, it’s time to do greater things, and most definitely if I’m burning something, I hope at least it’s the right quantity to get to a greater impact, mission, vision and purpose…
I know for certain, some people cannot wait to uncover the depths of this part of my story…
Thank you for the comments and support. Thank you for offering to donate if there was a donate button on here. I prefer not to take donations. You can support by purchasing my books (Paperback or Kindle), The South African: True Colours, The South African: Roamer or my children’s book Light. These books can be found on Amazon mainly and other sites in your country.
The audiobook for The South African: True Colours is available on iTunes, Apple and Audible. The South African: Roamer and Light will be released soon.
Note: Do keep referring back to this site as much as possible, as I grow, a more profound perspective may form and so I will always come back to each of these articles to re-evaluate them.
