In the course of one's life journey, one is bound to witness the time of happiness and celebration while some other times, the time could be hard and tough.
It could get bad to the extent that one begin to question his existence. If not managed well, such experiences can lead people to depression. No matter how tough a period, you are bound to learn lessons from it. Whatever experience that doesn't break you will make you stronger.
I have been through many tough times but the one that do come to my mind frequently is the experience that I had while in the university.
James was my roommate and we cooked and eat from the same plate throughout our stay together.
We went broke on this particular day. A day like that wasn't common because if I have money, we spend it together likewise if he is the one having money. Both of us rarely go broke at the same time. However, it happened that the only money with us that day was 500 naira. We had no kerosene on our stove, no palm oil to cook. The only foodstuffs in our cupboard was about three cups (peak milk tin) of garri (baked cassava flour).
We spend minutes strategizing how we could spend the money to get the best value of it. James came up with an idea. He suggested that we use the money to buy kerosene, palm oil and fish. He had searched our food store and found a small quantity of beniseed (sesame) that his mother gave him while resuming school from the village.
We did as he suggested. We cooked the soup and used the garri to make eba. While eating, we noticed that the soup was stony. I forced myself to continue eating the food but I couldn't cut more than twice. It was inedible.
Our case was worsened. There was no money and nothing to eat it. We managed to sleep that night with the hope that manner would fall from heaven the following day. I woke up over the night with the thoughts of what next. My mind went to a building construction going on a few hundreds of meters from the hostel. James and I agreed to go to the site to work for two days so that we could use the proceed to ease our suffering.
We did do the work the first day and we were paid. We returned to our hostel with enthusiasm.
At least, we have gotten someone to eat.
Later in the evening, my body started running temperature. This was joined with joint pains. Before midnight, I was totally knocked down by the sickness. I was rushed to the school clinic that night. The strange work that I had done to survive was taking its toll on me. I was in the clinic till the following afternoon before I was discharged.
The treatment took away the money that my friend and I had worked for. We were back to where we were two days earlier. It was a tough time for us.
After getting better two days later, I went to work again. I was doing that to avoid disturbing my mother, a widow that lost her husband (my father) a few months earlier. I was ready to confront the challenges with the conviction that the experience would either make or mar me.
I went to work the second time and I was fine afterwards. We navigated through the week with my roommate unscathed.
On the night that I fell sick, I cried and nearly gave up. I encouraged myself not to accept defeat at that stage of my life. I realized that for me to get to my dream land, I have to strive to stand up after each fall. If I fall 100 times, I make sure I stand up 101 times.
The greatest lesson that I learned is to always find the way forward when confronted with a problem rather than remaining in one spot lamenting.
I have been applying this rule and it has been working for me. I thank God for enduring those experiences. It paid off.