17/09/2025
"The Drowning Man Who Refused to Die"
There was once a young man named Rafiq who dreamed of becoming a great swimmer, though he had never even seen the ocean. Born in a small desert village, he only heard stories of the vast sea. Everyone laughed when he said, "One day, I’ll swim across an ocean."
Years later, after saving for a long time, he traveled to the coast for the first time. The ocean was larger and more terrifying than he had ever imagined but his dream hadn’t changed.
So he trained. Every day. Every wave that knocked him down became a lesson. Every breath that burned his lungs became motivation. Until one day, he set out to swim across a channel that had claimed the lives of far stronger swimmers.
Halfway across, a storm hit.
The sky went black, the waves towered over him, and the cold pierced his bones. Exhausted, gasping, Rafiq felt himself being pulled under. He thought, “This is it. I’m done.” He sank deeper, surrendering to the weight of it all.
But just before he lost consciousness, something inside him sparked.
He thought of his mother’s prayers. The laughter of the people who doubted him. The little boy who once dreamed of the sea. And something inside screamed, “Not like this!”
With the last of his strength, he kicked upward. He didn’t know if he’d make it but he chose to fight. He clawed through the waves, spat salt from his mouth, and shouted at the storm: “You will not drown me!”
When he finally reached shore, hours later, his body collapsed. But his soul stood tall.
Moral:
It’s not the waves that drown us it'’s when we stop fighting to rise.
Sometimes, life will pull you under. You’ll be tired, defeated, ready to give up. But if you can find one more reason to keep going just one you can survive the storm and come out stronger.