Life is way better now than what it was when I was single. Marriage drew me away from toxic friends who made me waste resources and keep late nights.
Each time I remember how wasteful I was before meeting my wife, it tears me apart that I would have done a lot of reasonable things earlier in life but the friends I kept in that phase of my life made me do the darndest things.
First, we booze on a daily basis. It was always from one club to another and from pub for beer and other kinds of alcohol to another. It was that bad. I started growing potbelly before I knew it. When I was in my mid-twenties, living as a bachelor, I rarely stayed at home because my friends would always want us to hang out.
At some point, they will drive and wait for me at the gate of my place of work. From there we would go drinking until late in the night, driving through the busy Lagos highway back home, taking such huge risks.
Our usual saying then was that any money that was meant from boozing was not meant for doing any other thing. I believed it then because there will always be a way to get money. One thing had always struck me. Each time I became broke, my so-called friends would desert me, only to appear from the moon when I had bounced back.
Isabella Mendes
Then, I met my wife who became my counselor and talked me out of keeping such friends who were only interested in drinking alcohol, keeping late nights and whatnot. She started to make me see beyond alcohol. At that time, I thought I was living large and doing well for myself.
Before we got married, I started to reduce spending on buying booze and focused on property. Few months after our wedding, we started to build our own house and before you knew it, we had completed it. So, it got to me that I could have done more if I had not behaved like the proverbial sheep that followed the dog.
As you can see, I started all over again to choose my friends because the first set of guys were not really my friends. Or maybe they were the wrong kind of friends.
Changes
After that awkward experience that I managed for over a decade, I started to experience great peace in my health. I started to burn down the pot belly through workout sessions. The offensive smell that gushes from my mouth anytime I have taken alcohol is no longer there. Alcohol can really mess you up. I got messed up, almost to the point of addiction but I am grateful that I found myself on time and changed the radar of my life journey.
I could proudly say that I learned new habits like saving up my earnings rather than spending them boozing.
There was also the relative peace I have in my home. My wife does not like it one bit with alcohol. You know, it irritates her. I am glad that she for not have to tease me about it like when we were dating. She openly told me that she wouldn't have married me if I had continued with that way of life.
Today, I have a new set of friends who influence me positively and drive me to succeed in business deals and life generally. We talk about advancement, family and finance, plus the gospel. Life has been better since I decided to do away such friends who were only out to booze and keep late nights.