CHIOMA OKOLI'S BLOG

Sunday morning came too quick for me. I woke up and fixed a quick breakfast of moi- moi and chicken, of course I bought it the previous day. I didn't go to church because I knew I was still battling to resume going to church and I had a trip to make to Lafia. I got to the park by 1pm and just as I was about entering the car, I heard a voice from the car say to me "what is a fine girl like you doing in Lafia?" I turned and looked up, and behold it was a lady's voice and she had a warm smile. I answered and asked her what a beautiful girl like her is doing at Lafia too. We both laughed at out loud at our predicaments. I told her that I worked in Lafia and she said her family is there and she has lived all her life there. Hence, a beautiful conversation enveloped and I learnt she was schooling at the polytechnic in Nasarawa Toto ( You have to pronounce the Toto subtly) and was just returning from her Uncle's place in Abuja whom she has not seen in a long tim...

Have you ever been exhausted from being strong, from acting like you have it all together and from being everything to everyone? Have you ever thought that you didn’t particularly set out to be this kind of person, yet it seems through the bitter choices and the sweet idealisations of not wanting to let anyone down, you found yourself worn out and lost, wondering if someday someone would be there for you in all the ways you’ve been there for them. Perhaps it happened by mistake because the biggest irony is that when others look at you they see you as strong. They see you as competent and able, but inside you would never label yourself with those qualities because while they see you as surefooted and steady, you are shaking inside. Every morning despite your exhaustion, even when your shoulders slump, and your eyes become clouded from tears of feeling things too deeply, you breathe in and tell yourself that it will all be okay, whether you like it or not. You tried, you really di...