Charity begins at home

As far back as I can remember,the one prayer point I never fail to say each day is,…“Father Lord, bless me and bless the people around me. Also, bless me so that I can be a blessing to everyone around me”. I say this like an anthem, subconsciously.

I school in the University of Nigeria and every now and then, actually everyday, blind, deaf, dumb, epileptic, critically ill, basically people with different kinds of illnesses walk into our classrooms to solicit for financial aid. It isn’t uncommon to us. We have gotten accustomed to it.

For me, I’ve been on this campus since 2012 and I believe I’ve become familiar with a couple of faces.

Being on campus for this long, I’ve come across some of these people whom I’ve seen before, perhaps in 2015 and they come in and repeat the same stories, atimes with the same photographs (in cases like victims who were set ablaze). This made me wonder if they were making these stories up.

For some time I decided I wouldn’t help the familiar ones and other times I gave reluctantly. I was really skeptical about the whole situation.

Fast forward to a few months ago, I was in deep thought, wondering when God would bless me financially to be able to help others and then a thought was laid in my heart. “Everyday you have more than enough money in your purse to last you the whole day, that extra 500 or 1000naira can put a huge smile on someone’s face”.

It isn’t our duty to decipher if someone is telling us the truth or not. If you are in a position to help, give freely. Give with a cheerful heart.

You want 1 million? Who have you helped with the 1000 you have? Charity, they say, begins at home.

P.S. Home in this context means your immediate surrounding,

Love and light,

Pinkhy

 

Confessions of a Recovering social media addict

I quit instagram on December 31st ,2016.

• Reason: All i did was “like” pictures every other minute and i spent a better half of my day on it. I wasn’t really gaining anything.
• My masterplan: To quit till I was able to control the number of hours I spent on instagram. (Btw…this was probably the worst plan ever…wanna know why? Keep reading)

Why was the plan a bad idea? : Instagram wasn’t eating up my time anymore, so i found something else to obsess over..>Snapchat. The same routine of always checking the application continued. You’d think at this point I’d realise that quitting wasn’t going to solve this addiction. Well, I didn’t realise this. So yet again, I quit Snapchat in August, 2017.

At this point I want you to guess what happened next..

I decided to go back on Facebook. I joined facebook in 2012 and quit in 2014. I’ve never really been into facebook so I thought there’s absolutely no way I’m going to get addicted. Well, I didn’t obsess over it for the first few months. But the addiction slowly crept in.

Photocredit:burningrivercheonicles

Epiphany: I had a random conversation with an acquaintance and I remember him saying that socail media wasn’t the problem rather, it was my inability to control myself.

Photo credit: github

Solution In progress: I’ve realised that being idle pushes me to go online. Hence, over the past few months, I’ve tried to be time-conscious and practice productivity a lot more. It’s safe to say that my recovery is going well.

Quitting is never the solution. We’re all just trying to evolve and be better versions of ourselves. The solution to most of our problems lies in identifying why the problem is there in the first place.

Till next time,

Pinkhy

Life lately

Hi everyone !!!

The official story regarding my absence is as a result of work-related issues but that’s a lie.  The unofficial story is..I started a new chapter of my life (more like..same chapter, different path) and 2018 took me by surprise, even after all the prep.

I got so swamped with so many things that took priority and my attention but I’m so happy to be writing this post.

I hope you guys are well. Let me know in the comment section. Tell me how you’re doing, what you’ve been up to… I’d really love to know.

I really can’t believe the first half of the year is almost up. How time flies!

Lately I’ve been,

Eating for breakfast: Smoothie bowls with groundnuts only because it’s the only thing I can take by 6am.

Inspired by: literally everything I set my eyes on. Human beings, my environment, movies, everything!!!

Wearing on repeat: my white uniform,duh…I really don’t have a choice here. Issa must.

Reading: Downsize this by Michael Moore. Actually re-reading it for the 3rd time. That book is golden!

Eyeing up: Ouidah, Benin. Recently fashion blogger, Cassie daves and a few friends stayed at a lake house in Ouidah.Check it out here. I’m literally so obssessed.

Adjusting to: my new crazy 6:30am to 5pm schedule. How am I still alive???

Trying to: make new friends. For some weird reason, it hasn’t been easy but I’m honestly not bothered.

Loving: watching movies for the sole purpose of learning camera angles.

Finally,…thanks for reading and waiting on me!!!

Hope you have a lovely weekend. Cheers!!!

A red-letter Sunday

Growing up, i always looked forward to Sundays so i could put on my favorite clothes and sing with the choir.There was also the 3 pm Sunday school service. It gave me so much joy.

I have to confess…i haven’t been to church for some time now. In my head, i had a little disagreement with God but we’re good now.

A friend of mine recently had a near-death experience and decided to rededicate her love and life. So, its 22nd October and the time is 8 am. Service is by 9 am and i’m just waking up. Bummer! I feel overwhelmed already. I hurriedly shower and put on some make-up(in 5 minutes, can you beat that?) and rush to church. On getting to church around 10, i see my fellow late-comers, and instantly felt slight joy, just for a little moment before the feeling of guilt took over but hey, i showed up, which is all that matters.

As i watched the congregation recite their anthem and other Catholic creeds that i know nothing of, i realize how selfish I’ve been towards God. I see people on wheelchairs happily singing with much enthusiasm. That very moment was the epiphany. Everything became clear to me.

It’s time for us to flit or dance to the altar. I don’t think anyone danced though. It was more of catwalking but we were all smiling. The Priest says a little prayer and sprays the Holy water (i’m guessing, i’m really not sure of what he sprayed). We make the sign of the Cross and march back to our seats while people stare. Why do people stare?

Here’s why this day is of great importance to me:

I realized(for the 100th time) how amazing my life has been and still is. No sickness in a couple of years. Food to eat every single day. Legs to walk. Eyes to take in all the beautiful and ugly scenery and lots more.

Look around. There’s something to be grateful for. What are you grateful for? Share with me in the comment section. Don’t forget to like and follow and stay connected.