by Daniel Nkado
This is something I’ve had in mind for quite a while, but today, following an argument with a close friend, I finally decided to let it out.
I want to talk about the success craving of young people, this culture that a lot of us abide by that makes us pause living till a certain accomplishment happens in our lives.
I’ve seen young men and women pack away all their joy to the expectation of a new job, a new car, a new house, just that big thing badly longed for and desired.
Unmarried persons feeling down because they are yet to experience a wedding.
People who are yet to have kids feeling a certain way because of their childlessness.
It’s crazy, and believe me I have firsthand experience of how demanding the society we live in can be.
Most times we even find ourselves desiring the things we don’t like just because we feel having them will boost other people’s perception of us.
But the truth is that you must not always give in to the pressure.
You should never give up living because of a certain lack you have been struggling to fill.
One thing I know about happiness is that it cannot be measured.
There is no S.I unit for happiness — that means you can never truly know for certain if the person beside you is any happier than you are.
You may have just 50K and be looking at someone with 500K and be thinking: “Oh that person is definitely happier than me.”
You could be wrong.
Every day, every moment is precious and needs to be celebrated.
You shouldn’t wait till something big happens in your life to be happy and truly smile. And if by any chance that thing didn’t happen as at when expected, you feel crushed and miserable.
It shouldn’t be so.
Nothing is certain in life but that shouldn’t stop you from enjoying each day as they come.
If you don’t have a car, get out into the street on your legs and head to your destination.
If you can’t afford whole grilled chicken, buy some eggs and hard-boil them.
If there is no money for a trip to the Bahamas, visit your village stream.
If you don’t have designer clothes, go to Ojota in the evening and pick yourself some nice second-hand clothes and shoes.
Get home, wash them with Sunlight detergent — that very fragrant pink one — (P.S: This is not a paid promotion) and be happy.
You have to realize that the one thing you have in common with the richest person in the world is your sanity, your peace of mind, your sense of being.
Don’t go trying too hard to impress people who don’t even care that much about you in the first place.
Don’t give up living for the sole purpose of ambition.
It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t keep working hard to get to where you want to be in life, but while at it why not try to enjoy the ride.
Don’t just push the fun to the destination of the journey when you can actually enjoy the trip.
I’ve listened to some success stories of people and they only focused on the time of accomplishment and never had anything good to say about the period before that.
It makes me wonder if they had been alive the whole time before the supposed success came.
They are indirectly telling people that until they become like them, come to their level, have what they now have, they can’t truly be happy.
But that’s not true.
You can be happy wherever you are. There are just so many simple and inexpensive things that can bring you happiness.
And eventually when that thing you call success finally comes to you, you won’t only have ugly memories of the past.
You wouldn’t then have subtracted many years from your life and term them bad years.
Because sooner or later you will still realize that there is no ultimate satisfaction in life.
For as long as your heart remains beating you are bound to have needs.
It may no longer be money or cars or a house then; it could be something as simple as…curing old age?
Once, someone had asked me: “Dan, what if you don’t become successful in life?”
I smiled and answered: “Well, I don’t know about you but I’ve already achieved success.”
“How?” he wanted to know. He had signs of confusion on his face.
“Because it is the little things that make me happy,” I said.
***
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I love you dan
Love you too ❤❤❤
this is so on point