 |
| A little child looking at his mother. Image: Tolu Bamwo for nappy.com |
I returned to Yola, Adamawa State, at the end of May 2016 after being away for five months. I came in at night and didn’t notice all the changes in my house; and there were many. I, however, saw that the security man’s house was filled with people; a woman, her children and a young man. I ignored them and went into my house.
The next day, I woke up to the sound of a crying baby. I got up, looked out of the window and saw that the compound was littered with bits and pieces of household materials. The woman I had seen the night before was right in the middle of the mess preparing their breakfast while calming the wailing baby.
I went out to my neighbor and asked who they were. He told me they were renting the place. I was shocked! How could they be renting the security man’s cubicle? He told me that the place was even going for ₦40,000 and I balked further. I went back to my room and from the window, watched the family.
The husband – the young man I saw when I came in – was a laundry man in a hotel close to my house. Without even asking, one could tell that he was not formally educated. Seeing this, I knew the wife would be uneducated too. I continued watching.
 |
| Front View of the Security Man’s Cubicle |
They have five children; two girls and three boys. The boys were the middle children. The first girl looked like a teenager but it was very hard to determine the ages of the boys because they were smallish, thin and had an air of malnutrition about them. After a while, I made my decision and left the window.
Since I was away for such a long time, you can imagine how dusty my house was. I started cleaning. Soon enough, I had three piles; what I wanted to take back to Kaduna, what I wanted to give away and what I wanted to destroy because they could not be used by anyone.
When I had the clearly defined piles, I went to my neighbor and asked if the woman would feel some type of way if I gave her the pile I wanted to give away. He said she would appreciate it; very much. I decided that I would go to her at night with the things to spare her any embarrassment…or spare me any.
I went back in and pulled the things I wanted to destroy out of my room and towards the refuse bin. After that, I went back into my room to continue working.
 |
| Side view of the security man’s cubicle. |
I was interrupted by gleeful shouts in Hausa. I went back to my window and saw the kids jumping and shouting.
‘Mama, look what I got!’
‘Mine is better!’
‘No! Mama look! See what I found again’.
They were rummaging through my trash and rejoicing at their ‘finds’.
A veil of shame came over me. I had been in a dump for months because I felt like my life was at a plateau. I was unhappy about my finances and wondering whether my career would ever pick up. I was depressed about everything and every situation in my life. I stopped smiling genuinely and literally became a recluse.
And before me were children whom, going through my trash, were happy at what they ‘found’! Their mother collected their finds and kept them in her room. When I saw that, I was even more ashamed.
Why did I make a choice to be gloomy? To be sad? To be unhappy?
I lived alone in my house and seven of them shared a cubicle that was about a third of my apartment. Yet, they maintained their joy and happiness. I was ashamed that I had become ungrateful for the many simple pleasures in my life. I had become a serial complainer who spent most of her time whining about the things I lacked.
For days, I watched this family and learned that the children did not go to school; the first girl was a maid somewhere; the mother used traditional medicine methods when the toddler was sick; and the father beat the kids so bad that it bordered on abuse. In all, I never saw them without a smile on their faces and though they look gaunt, they look happy.
This family gave me a reality check. Yes things are bad. Yes things are not going the way I planned. But I control the way I react to the lemonades life is throwing at me. I can decide to be gloomy and sad or I can choose to maintain a bright demeanor in spite of it all.
This family reminded me to enjoy the simple things of life. It is never as bad as we think.
I hope we can all remember to smile through whatever we are going through at the moment. My prayer is that we remember to be grateful for the ‘little things’ in our lives. Know this; someone has it worse than you! Someone always has it worse than you! This doesn’t negate your emotions when you are faced with tough choices or a tough life. I am just saying that it works to walk through your process with a positive outlook to life.
If you can, do something for someone who has it worse than you do. It doesn’t matter what you choose to do; just do something!
5 Comments
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Excellent article! We will be linking to this particularly great post on our site. Keep up the good writing.
https://snaptik.gdn
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Cakhiavx.cc tải trang rất chậm, gây khó chịu khi truy cập
https://www.cakhiavx.cc/
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Transitionus.org hiển thị không tốt trên thiết bị di động
https://www.transitionus.org/
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Tôi đã thắng lớn nhiều lần khi chơi tại Fun88link2.com
https://fun88link2.com/
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Thông tin trên Thelookoutedinburgh.co không được trình bày rõ ràng
https://www.thelookoutedinburgh.co/
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Tôi đã giới thiệu Xin88z.info cho nhiều người và ai cũng thích
https://xin88z.info/
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Prospectlakepark.com không tương thích tốt trên điện thoại di động
https://www.prospectlakepark.com/
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Nạp rút tại Sky88z.me cực nhanh, không gặp lỗi gì cả
https://sky88z.me/
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
St66605.ink/boddy/ thực sự là sân chơi đáng tin cậy và đáng thử
https://st66605.ink/boddy/
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Bạn bè tôi ai cũng chơi Gamedoithuong.homes vì quá uy tín
https://gamedoithuong.homes/
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
What are some really good hip hop songs to download?
http://rodzinkacafe.pl/jak-wybrac-idealna-lodowke-ekspozycyjna-do-sklepu-lub-restauracji-poradnik/
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Aw, this is an extremely good post. In concept I have to put in writing similar to this moreover – spending time and actual effort to manufacture a great article… but so what can I say… I procrastinate alot and also no indicates manage to get something completed.
https://one-med.pl/przewodnik-po-aromacie-wedding-cake-strain/
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
https://69vncom.app có chương trình VIP hấp dẫn dành cho thành viên thân thiết.
https://69vncom.app/
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
https://69vning.com sử dụng hệ thống bảo mật tiên tiến, đảm bảo an toàn thông tin người dùng
https://69vning.com
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
https://kubet11a.org/ sử dụng hệ thống bảo mật tiên tiến, đảm bảo an toàn thông tin người dùng
https://kubet11a.org/
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
https://69vn.mom cam kết bảo vệ quyền lợi và thông tin cá nhân của người chơi.
https://69vn.mom
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
https://iwebsy.com/ hoạt động hợp pháp với giấy phép từ các tổ chức uy tín như PAGCOR và Curacao
https://iwebsy.com/
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
https://bay789z.com/ có đội ngũ hỗ trợ chuyên nghiệp, giải đáp thắc mắc nhanh chóng
https://bay789z.com/
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
https://69vn.review/ có tỷ lệ thưởng hấp dẫn và minh bạch
https://69vn.review/
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Tỷ lệ trả thưởng của ok9393.com hợp lý và cạnh tranh
https://ok9393.com/
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
curry4s-shoes.us.com có hệ thống lọc và tìm kiếm sản phẩm rất tiện lợi
https://curry4s-shoes.us.com/
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Tốc độ truy cập 8xbetcast.com rất nhanh, không gặp tình trạng giật lag
https://8xbetcast.com
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
8xbetcast.com có hệ thống bảo mật cao giúp người dùng yên tâm khi sử dụng
https://8xbetcast.com
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
8xbetwebsite.com thường xuyên có chương trình khuyến mãi lớn cho thành viên
https://8xbetwebsite.com/
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
propranolol365.us.com bao mat thong tin nguoi dung rat tot
https://propranolol365.us.com/
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
vancleefarpelsjewelry.us.com tốc độ tải nhanh không bị giật lag kể cả lúc cao điểm
https://vancleefarpelsjewelry.us.com/
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Hello, There’s no doubt that your blog might be having browser compatibility problems. Whenever I look at your website in Safari, it looks fine however when opening in IE, it has some overlapping issues. I simply wanted to provide you with a quick heads up! Aside from that, great site!
https://www.akurat.co/infotech/1305989931/cara-download-video-tiktok-offline-tanpa-aplikasi-dengan-mudah-dan-cepat
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Không thể biết game nào đang hot từ giao diện của webgamedoithuong.com
https://webgamedoithuong.com/
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Đăng ký tài khoản trên webgamedoithuong.com khá rườm rà và lỗi thời
https://webgamedoithuong.com/
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Good day! I could have sworn I’ve visited this blog before but after looking at some of the posts I realized it’s new to me. Nonetheless, I’m definitely pleased I discovered it and I’ll be book-marking it and checking back regularly.
https://www.globalvoicesmedia.com/
This comment has been removed by the author.
I do not see the relation. Mine is a blog and is Shades of Brown, NIGERIA. If there was a problem, google would have prevented my registration. Thank you.
I do not see the relation. Mine is a blog and is Shades of Brown, NIGERIA. If there was a problem, google would have prevented my registration. Thank you.
https://www.facebook.com/AllShadesbrown
https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/115403074129942862894
It also has a tax identification number
This is indeed a call to reality. Often times we are oblivious of what is going on around us simply because we only concentrate on ourselves.