PEACE OF MIND

After a hard day's job driving people around the city of Lagos I had an interesting ending. So on my way back home at around 8:30 pm I had an accident. A driver was trying to maneuver his way out of traffic while a truck was moving toward him. In his bid to avoid a crash he veered in my direction, taking my front bumper along with him.

Fortunately, he admitted his fault (quite rare for a Lagos driver) and offered to fix the damage. This went on late into the night. Got home around 11:00 pm and went straight to bed. Before now things like this would get under my skin, but nowadays I take almost everything in my stride. Somehow I have learnt (still learning) to normalize bad events.

We all have our fairy tale version of life. It is probably one of the few things that keep us going i.e financial freedom; a new house; a great job; or a good partner. This is what life is about--having your shit together, right? At least that's what we all strive for daily. With the way the world is structured currently, we get to see a lot of this sort of lifestyle portrayed or sold to us daily.

I stumbled upon this video on TikTok about the rat race and our endless pursuit of happiness which resonated with me. I and basically everyone I know are caught in this race, and there is a huge chance you are in it as well. Almost everyone is foregoing their happiness for a later date, and it's all so confusing how we all inflict suffering on ourselves when things don't go as planned.

Bad things happen to you and me; bad things happen to people who don't deserve it. Why? Well, that's the elephant in the room. Nobody knows why. The best answer you can get is that this is all part of living. It is life and it sucks sometimes.

I do not care (anymore) whether I am happy or sad because these are all feelings meant to be felt; I do not care about something being good or bad especially when I am not in control of them. This isn't a coping mechanic anymore but my reaction and understanding of life. If there is any feeling I fancy at this point it would be peace.

Peace is the ability to navigate the world with its intricacies; peace is a calm disposition towards life--oftentimes from a speculator's point of view. Most times I am observing life and having several dialogues with myself (and they end up as posts sometimes), and oftentimes I see the folly/beauty in it all.

Today has been a peaceful day. I have had the luxury of communing with myself. Maybe, and this is just a thought, I am the only true thing I care about. When I am at peace every other thing seems fleeting--good or bad days. It is good to know that I have got my back. I can pick myself from the lowest lows and make something out of every day. It is a privilege. And this much I am grateful for…