1986 meets 2026,by Muya modern elder

1986 meets 2026

You may have seen these images before; and no, I’m not apologizing for resharing them. Because today, the message is different.

In 1987/88, I was the kid who lived more in hospitals than in classrooms.

The boy with fragile lungs.

The one exempt from anything that raised the heart rate.

Wrapped in heavy clothing, armed with medicine, warned against pollens, and told to limit movement.

I was the fragile kid.

But life moved, and grace moved with it. Healing came slowly, then suddenly. Prescriptions reduced, then disappeared. The skinny boy grew into a burly adult; still sedentary, yes, but with a quiet longing for the outdoors.

Running first flirted with me in my undergrad years. A cameo. Later, it became intentional.

From wheezing through a 10km to grinding through the Comrades Marathon; it reads like a fairy tale. But it isn’t. It’s a story stitched with lessons, setbacks, resilience, and a horizon that keeps expanding.

I have contended with asthma.

I have contended with a sedentary life.

And now I contend with maintaining a lifestyle that demands discipline.

There are no guarantees.

Battles won don’t mean the war is over. The enemy simply regroups and returns with new tactics.

Yet here I stand, amazed, grateful, delighted by how the story has unfolded. But I’m not calling it a happy ending. Not even close. This feels more like the opening chapters of new, beautiful beginnings.

I don’t know what the future looks like; and I’m perfectly fine not knowing. The beauty of this journey is discovering the path as you walk it. More like carving a trail through a jungle that once had none.

If 1986 could meet 2026, it would whisper one truth:

Fragile beginnings do not disqualify powerful futures.

Selah.