Hey dearie! How are you doing?
It’s been almost a year! The last time I wrote you, little did I know it will take me a year to return to journaling. But it did! And what a year it has been……….
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, lemme try to tell you all what I’ve been up to. Well, as much as I can share. 🙂
So much has happened- to me and with me in this past year, it’s really been a roller coaster year. I’ve been occupied with school; completed an MBA within the past year (well I’ve submitted my last coursework, waiting for the final award of my degree). Part of the requirements for my school’s orientation was that you are required to write a letter to your future self, indicating when and how you want to complete your program. I’m happy to announce, that despite taking a month off due to a personal loss, I met the projected timeline and grades! 💃 💃 💃 💃 💃 It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it!
I lost someone so very dear to my heart in November 2022. It remains the most painful loss I have had in my life. It broke me! It was like I had been given hope for a new beginning and that hope was snatched away. Unexpectedly, inexplicably! I mourned and I still grieve today.
I embarked on a project to heal some of the loss I felt, the project failed woefully and painfully! I felt so much despair and believed na my own bad pass.
Then hope came in the form of a suggestion, the timing, the resources, everything seemed against this hope springing to fruition. But I went with it. Fam! It did blossom! And in the fullness of time, I will make an announcement that you may all share in my joy! 😊
Amid all this, Nigerians have battled with a keenly contested election that saw many vested emotionally and financially. I thought of writing to you during the elections but I thought better of it. Emotions and tensions were heightened already and the best gift anyone could give at that time was the gift of de-escalation. Nonetheless, the elections have come and gone. I hope you are happy with the choices you made during the elections. As they say- elections have consequences. Oh right! The elections haven’t been concluded. We await the outcome of the PEP Tribunal.
Still on Nigeria, we’ve been buffeted by all sorts this year- cash crunch, electricity tariff review, elections, elections violence, removal of fuel subsidy, Naira devaluation, etc, etc…… The Nigerian citizen has even become a joke to our leaders. Lemme reframe that- the events of the past few months have given us the gift of seeing how much of a joke we are to our leaders. I hope you get it! 🤷♀️
In all of this, coming up for air, I’m reminded to count my blessings. I’m reminded that a significant number of my plans and desires always come through for me. Even in my deepest moment of despair, when I mourned that which I had lost, I never doubted God was in my corner. Rather I wondered if I wasn’t perhaps hoping amiss. I couldn’t understand why God could give me so much that I had asked for and even that which I didn’t request. Yet take away a gift so freely given.
I chose to count my blessings through the pain. I chose to count my blessings through the anxiety induced by Nigeria with all its vagaries. And we all know Nigeria really tests us. It does. For someone like me who overthinks things, my anxiety level has been on steroids. Just when you think you are on cruise control, you’ve worked your fingers and brains off and moved yourself up economically, you have plans for the future…….. Nigeria (read Nigerian leaders) will come and sweep all that away with their self-serving and ill-thought-out policies.
Whew!
In the past year…… I turned 35! 💃 💃 💃 💃 💃I am very grateful to God for life and it was indeed a happy celebration. It was my first in-office birthday celebration in over five years and it rocked. I’m grateful to my team and colleagues, they made the office special and to all my loved ones who always come through 😘 😘 😘 😘 😘
Anyways…….. enough about me. How have you been? How has life treated you in the past year? Did you miss me? I certainly missed writing to you. I promise to return to it soon. I will keep you updated.
I’m going to leave you with something I learned recently about how to do a self or partner assessment. It’s a physical, inspirational, emotional, and spiritual assessment (PIES). I encourage us all to ask ourselves and family, friends, and partners, how we are doing in these four areas. Be very honest with yourself, for a lack of wellness in any of the areas will impact on others.
So I ask you- how are you doing physically, inspirationally, emotionally, and spiritually? Be honest with yourself and write back to me.
Count your blessings, count your pain, count your stressors. Name them one by one. It will really surprise you what the Lord has done. It will also help you assess how best to approach the outstanding issues.
PS- Did I tell you I welcomed the most amazing niece this year? How remiss of me. But those of you who know me personally know this already. My mini-me🥰 Gazing into her lovely face does help with all the pain and anxiety 😍😍😍😍😍 She’s just a few days shy of 3 months and I feel like I’ve known her forever 🙂 Share with me, what good things have happened with you in the past year? Counting your blessings is healthy, it helps to keep you centered.
Bonus tip- FOCUS will help you remain centered. In the good, in the bad. Identify your WIG (yes wig, your best one lol) and stick to it. WIG stands for Wildly Important Goal. The goal on which everything else rests. It is to this wig that you should trace your blessings and pain. It is to this wig you should align your actions. If it isn’t moving you closer to your WIG…………
I have a wig story just before I go. I forgot my wig at home today (I think I have done this a million times already) and I had to drive back home to get it. I had everything else, work tools, shoes, me, and my corn rows were freshly made ……… but I didn’t have my wig (the completing part of my work armor) and I just had to return home to get it. Thankfully, traffic was light, and I still got in in good time (advantages of being an early bird).
I’m sure you are seeing more pointers as to why you must stay within your defined WIG 🙂
Anyways, until next time, subscribe to the blog to receive emails when I post………. Lots of hugs and kisses.
Do write back to me and tell me how you have been. Also, share your coping mechanisms with Nigeria of today.
🤗😘🤗😘
CE