What are you grateful for?

Aww! I can't believe December is here already!
I woke up to a very lazy start today.
Thank God I had a day off from my clinical practice today, at least I could spend some more time on my bed. Just laying there staring into the ceilings, thinking of all the things I have to do once I can get my butts off the bed :)
And then I heard my message tone, someone sent me a message. I checked, I had 3 other unread messages already. Too many messages for one morning!

I went ahead to check the first one, it was a 'happy new month' wish. Aww that was it! I didn't realise December was here already. Gosh how did I let that skip my mind?! I quickly whispered a prayer to God.
I looked out of my window, the whole place was covered up with snow. Very beautiful scenery, amazing beauty by God (even though I was happy that I didn't have to step out early today)

Later on, my sister called. It wasn't just the usual calls. She had some amazing news she wanted to share with me. She just heard news about the release of her final results from school. She's been waiting for this for so long but it has just been unavoidably delayed. It was like everything had come to a stand still for her and she was just constantly depressed everytime she thought about it. She kept hoping month after month, until I and my mum asked her to stop hoping and just settle her mind for next year. At least next year was far enough for everything to be sorted out so she won't be more dissapointed than she already was.

That was indeed a great news. I was so happy! I thought about all the goodness I have enjoyed through out the year too.... my life, good friends, family....
I knew I had to give God a proper "Thank you".

I want to admonish you to take some time out to reminisce and be thankful for 2010 too. What are you grateful for? Think about your life, all the achievements, all the troubles that never came your way.
And if you think that maybe you do not have a good reason to be; maybe because you still have a lot that you want to achieve in 2010 and the year is already coming to an end, then maybe all you need is just a lil bit of hope. You still have 30 more days and it could still happen. Take my sister's case as an example.

But if you think of the fact that we are still walking on the same earth that has swallowed up a lot of people, then maybe you'd have enough reason to be thankful. Think about all the times you picked up a paper to read about some tragedy that you never experienced. If you'd just think a lil bit, just a lil bit, I'm sure you'd have several reasons to be grateful.

Happy December!

NIGERIA at 50!

I asked my sister what the line up of events for the day would look like, and she gave me a very promising one.
"At first, we'll go to the stadium and watch the march past, then later, to see the 'night of a 1010 laughs' and maybe...."
"A 1010 laughs?" I cut in rather hastily.
Well, when I left a few years back, it was still 'a thousand laughs'.

"Nigerians must survive", she replied.
Looking at her face, I'm sure she meant every bit of what she said.



We watched the pupils and the students march in their 'best' uniforms.
The dancers performed like they had never done before. Happiness and enthusiasm emanated from within them, it was almost like they were wearing their hearts on their sleeves.
Although, the sun was shining down on us like it was trying to prove a point, I still felt a certain joy right inside of me. I'm sure my sister felt it too cos I saw it in her eyes, and in that of most of the people that surrounded us.
I tried to curtail my emotions a lot, especially when I saw some children hanging down from trees, just in an attempt to catch a glimpse of what was going on; and also when I noticed a cluster of some very young hawkers trying to peep through the large crowd from a distance.

It was but a long day!

We summed up the day at the venue of the 'night of a 1010 laughs'.
I looked keenly at every performer on the stage, like I was trying to run some examinations on them just with the help of my eyes. They all seemed to look very fulfilled as they came out in their flamboyant clothes and talks that suggested that of a person that was living the 'perfect life'.
I looked around the audience, everyone seemed to have a certain similarity, they were all well adorned, laughing and cheering too.

I had a lot on my mind, I hope I didn't show it?
One would never stop to wonder why everybody was so happy.
Maybe  a lot of people didn't bother, but I did.
Well maybe it wasn't exactly happiness, maybe it was something else that was even less describable, I thought.

I tried to put together all the memories of the day;
...The hawkers
...The dancers
....The performers
....The audience
I had to resolve to one conclusion-this was nothing but pride!
Pride and passion for what belonged to them.

Wow! I exclaimed as I woke up to the sound of my beeping alarm clock. Thank God it at least let me complete the dream before waking me up. I'm sure it would have been so disappointing if I didn't.

I had to remind myself that I was not in Nigeria.
I promised to be in Nigeria to celebrate the next independence day, where I could really feel its significance and the celebration in the air.
Reading about Nigeria was all we did on the 1st of October of the previous years, and maybe some parties to commemorate the event - yea and we didn't forget to remind ourselves that we were 'Nigerians in diaspora'.
I wanted to stay close to where I could hear the speeches by the people that mattered.
It's our 50th, some parts of those 'speeches' just needed to change. I feel like I might miss these important parts, not because they didn't say it, but because I didn't have the right avenue to hear them. I do not want to believe that they would fail to say these things because they have been left unsaid for far too long and I strongly believe that its highly expedient that somebody took the plunge and made mention of them.

I'm happy to wake up to a beautiful morning on the day of Nigeria's 50th independence anniversary still.
"When there is life, there is definitely hope", they say.

I guess I have to put on my computer and check what is happening over there as usual.

Lest I forget, HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY NIGERIANS!
And to the rest of the world, HAPPY OCTOBER 2010!

Summer 2010!

Hello blogville! Enjoying your summer holiday? Cos I am :)

With my previous post, I'm sure you would have received a little hint that I love music, true that! But that cannot even be compared to the love I have for dance.
Sometimes I like to believe that I love music just because it inspires me to dance or more like it brings out the best moves I could ever think of.



Well I'm a professional dancer but I'm also schooling, so that leaves me with always having to balance things up. I try to stay very focused and busy with school when school demands that I do, and I also dance myself out enough to last me for a longtime when I have the opportunity to, with that everything is well equated.
I was so busy during the year that there was not enough room to do a lot with dancing though I was able to perform a few times, still it just didn't seem satisfying. Thus this summer I promised I was going to do a lot to my dancing skills, enough to make up for all the lost opportunities. It's as though I always have a lot of opportunities when I'm very weighed down with school responsibilities.
I finished my exams early and started searching; maybe register with some very great dance teacher, or perform with other talented dancers, or have a very challenging performance that would require my working a lot on myself to be able to give it my best. I was looking for anything, just anything to put me back in form. All my efforts to get something interesting and inspiring just seemed to be very abortive.
Gosh! how could I not dance during this long holidays? The thought of it was sickening!
Well just when I had given up and decided to look for other ways to enjoy my holiday, the offers started rolling in. At a point it became too demanding that I had to pray not to break down.
I danced, I learnt, I taught and even had to talk about dance at a show.
I have been so busy and that is why this is coming a little late, but it's for real the best experience to make a great summer.

I just hopped in to wish everyone a very fruitful new month,
yea I couldn't forget that September is here :)
Happy September 2010!