I paid for my first car on the last day of my university exam, and it took two months to arrive in Tanzania from Japan. When I was paying for the car, I did some tax assessments and budgeted for the amount I was expecting to pay.

I thought my first two months’ salary and a small loan from a friend would cover the taxes. My excitement for the car went hand in hand with my savings and budget for the tax.

“Dear Rogers, please find the tax assessment for your car,” the email from my clearing agent began. The final amount from the Tanzania Revenue Authority is twice what you estimated and budgeted. That’s unfortunate.”

I felt confused, so I had to call the agent. I thought I would receive better clarification on the issue, but that was not my day.

“And one more thing, there are fines for each day the car stays at the port,” the agent said. “So, the sooner we pay, the better.” He then hung up the phone.

Well, that was bad news, but I had to sort it out as soon as I could. I checked my budget. If I used all my savings and borrowed more from a friend, I could pay for the car before the fines started. 

I called my friend and explained my situation; he understood and topped me up with more money. Now I had to wait for the salary coming in two days for my numbers to add up.

The next morning, an email from the finance department arrived: “Rogers, some advances you took weren’t cleared or signed by your manager. So, you won’t receive your salary until you sort this out.” 

I called the manager responsible to sign the document, and she was outside the country. She will return after two weeks; I was stranded on this side of the solution.

I had to find a solution to avoid fines and penalties. And I could not go back to my friend. I had some savings to pay rent that evening, so I decided to use that, but it was not enough. I decided to sell some of my precious items. 

I had an iPad, which I sold for half its price. I also sold a phone, but I am ashamed to say how much I got for it. But, in the evening, I managed to pay for the taxes.

Now feeling a bit relaxed, I said, “finally I can catch a break” after sorting out the car issue. Well, the universe had other plans. A family owned the place I rented, and they always fight for the rent. 

This day was the day I was supposed to deliver that rent, which I used for the car, hoping to explain it to them. When I reached the house, I found four of the family members waiting for me, and I did not have their rent.

They agreed to take my things out and rent the apartment to someone else. If I cannot deliver the rent in an hour, I should start moving out. I had no solution to that; I had to take my things out. The good thing is I only have one room. 

I asked a neighbour if I could shift my things to his room. Like putting my mattress on his bed, then folding my bed and putting it underneath. I put my fridge near his fridge and my kitchen on top of his fridge. My neighbour also had one room.

Then I asked my friend if I could sleep in his room. He accepted and decided to leave to go sleep somewhere else to give me some more space. Well, I thought that was the end of the hectic day; it was not.

My crush, who became my girlfriend a few weeks ago, wanted to see me all week. I had excuses to say no. That day, she decided to take matters into her own hands and come. The pain and embarrassment I had when I had to take her to my friend’s room were unbearable. Until then, I had never told her anything about my struggles, like what most men do.

To add to my problems, the electricity went off for the entire night. My crush had to watch me suffer and feel embarrassed at the worst time of my life.

That is one of many stories in my life where everything that could go wrong went wrong. And it went wrong at the worst possible time. People call that situation Murphy’s law. That in life, things will go wrong. And they will go wrong at the worst time. There is nothing you can do to prevent that. But you can prepare your mind to go through that.

As a student, you might wake up late for the university exam. On the same day, you hit heavy traffic on your way to the university. When you get to the exam room, you notice you’ve left behind your calculator and ID card.

As an employee, you may slip up during a presentation with everyone watching. And life won’t give you a break; you might find yourself sweating and farting in front of everyone. While calming down, you realise you are wearing your T-shirt inside out.

As an entrepreneur, you could lose a key client when you expect their payment. That same day, you spill coffee on your laptop. It holds the report you need to submit to the revenue authority by the deadline.

Learn to observe these days. Embrace these moments. They will pass. If anything can go wrong, there is a high chance it will go wrong. Manage your expectations to be able to get through them.

Don’t spend a lot of time wondering why things happened, why they happened to you and why now. Learn to accept that things happened, to anyone, anyhow, at any time. Accept and figure out what is next. 

#iThinkSo

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be free from suffering.

May you find peace and joy.

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Rogers Katuma

Financial Artist, Senior Adventurer, Occasional Storyteller, and Amateur Golfer