Thanks Renegade Expressions, I’m sorry it took so long to get this started as I was quite excited to have inspiration for a post.
Rules of the challenge:
- Three quotes for three days.
- Three nominees each day (no repetition).
- Thank the person who nominated you.
- Inform the nominees.
My first quote for this three days quotes challenge:
‘A nuh di fus day buckit go a well di bottom drop out’ – Unknown
Translation – The bottom of a bucket doesn’t fall out on its first trip to the well.
This expression has been playing in my head for a while. It’s a pretty straightforward quote – the first use of something isn’t usually the instance when it falls apart or fails but wear and tear will cause damage even if something is being used for its intended purpose.
That’s a life statement if ever I heard one. The times I have heard it used are more demonstrative of the way life can wear you down, about how we take things for granted. Important things like our health, our families and even our very selves.
When I use this statement it’s often with my temperament or my patience in mind. It’s often not the first annoyance, the first slight, the first instance of disrespect that will cause us to lose our tempers, to fall apart. We all have a capacity but one day something will happen that will break us.
But it can go so much deeper than that. People tend to take resilience for granted. We go to our jobs, we cater to our families and too often they don’t realize that we’re doing more than we were built for and that it’s causing wear and tear and that one day the bottom of the bucket is going to fall out. One day, we’ll have done as much as we can do and that will be it. Some of us are forced to carry more water than we are built for and even then, it’s not the first or even the hundredth time that will prove to be our undoing. Some of us are carelessly maintained, tossed aside and forgotten when not in use.
For me this statement is a reminder of the value of the vessel and the importance of caring for it, respecting it’s capacity and accepting that it’s life span and usage are finite. The vessel is me and I have come to a point in life where I refuse to be used beyond my capacity, where I try to ensure that I am taken care of and properly maintained. Most importantly, I have a newfound respect for my mortality, for the finiteness of my existence. One day, regardless of the proper usage and care, the vessel will break down and I will be no more. Until then, I’ll be the best bucket I can be.
I nominate:
The Happiness Paradigm 