“Life is like a beach chair.” – Jay Z (Beach Chair)

I ‘ve had to fight with myself these last two weeks over what my first post of this year would be on.

I was in the bathroom when I reminded myself that Sunday was days away and I had nothing down for the week.

Na like this you wan start this year?

Two weeks ago, I wrote an unpublished draft on the New Year and productivity.

It was filled with gems that have personally worked for me, and which I was very sure would have made 2020 your most productive year yet. But I had to stop writing it. 

I had to slow down on completing it because as much as I already knew what I needed to say to make it compelling, it sounded hollow and rather incomplete to me.

There is this thing about the completeness and the mental state.

Something from deep inside that assures you that you have done as much as you should about something. It’s rather hard to explain.

And though one of my rules is that nothing is set in stone, as anything could happen, and I believe that anything and everything can be edited or resized – added to or reduced in a bid to be made better. This is the sole reason why I usually leave room for a second look sometime in the future. So, most of the time, I have lots of half-finished writeups.

But since I operate on the whim of an internal compass that tells me when it’s time to stop, I do not write it if I don’t feel it. 

Completeness matters to me, whether in daily chores or set goals, it is pertinent to finish whatever you start.

Grand satisfaction comes from that.

Asides praying, writing is the closest I feel to being spiritual. So, I don’t write with the target of polished oratory or perfect testimony in mind.

Even though I’m somewhat of a perfectionist and I feel my writing skills grow every single time I manage to put my thoughts into words and somehow string these words together into something cohesive, I don’t write to wow you.

I write as a way to express myself. I write as a way to let out the thought patterns that form in my mind from when I read. From when I listen, think, look around and observe. 

I write because there’s a lot going on in my head at every point in time, and I have to write so I don’t forget. I write because I have a personal target to publish at least one article on this blog every week until this year runs out. Lol 😂

But I think I write because I’ve tried everything and nothing worked, and somewhere in my heart of hearts, I hope faintly that this does.

People write for one or more of four distinct reasons:

-to educate.

-to entertain.

-to inform.

-to inspire.

I write because it gives me satisfaction. 😁

This past week, my friend turned a year older and we had to go to the beach to celebrate.

Going to the beach reminds me of how life is.

Look at the waves. The rising and falling tides. See how they go up and down.

That’s exactly how life is. Up. Down. Up. Down. UP! down! On and on and on.

I stood at some considerable distance from the water’s edge, and the waves washed up at my feet at least twice over the span of thirty minutes.

I stood there thinking about all the possibilities my mind could spin.

I thought about the uncertainties of life. All the highs. All the lows. The miracles. The unexpected.

Shocks. Rude awakenings. And something inside of me kept saying this over and over again, “this is exactly how life is.”

I know that I sound really philosophical right now and you are probably wondering if I’m any fun at parties, but below is an excerpt from a devotional I read this morning by Nicky Gumbel:

I have never forgotten a talk I heard over thirty years ago. The speaker started by saying that the Christian life is ‘battle and blessing, battle and blessing, battle and blessing, battle and blessing, battle and blessing… battle and blessing…’

At the time I thought, ‘Why is he going on like this? Will it never end?’

But he was making a memorable and profound point. When we are in the battle it is hard to believe that it will ever come to an end. When we are in a period of blessing we sometimes expect it will go on forever. But life is not like that.

There are battles and blessings.

Wins and losses (or lessons, depending on how you chose to spell your L’s).

No matter how covered, safe, secure or invincible you think you are, it always gets to you. With everything.

The good and the bad.

This means no matter how bad things are in your life currently, life must surely happen.

But I can’t tell you what’s going to happen next.

I can’t assure you what’s going to happen next won’t be worse.

I stay positive though, and I always remind people that even though life isn’t easy and it doesn’t get easier, I think it always gets better.

It could get worse, but it could get better. It always does.

There would be good days and bad days, but faith in the complete enjoyment of those days no matter how hard they are is the only way we know how to live.

Please, drop a comment. It helps shape up subsequent posts. Thank you.

PS: I’m the life of the party. 😁

• Life
• Self Development