Life Lessons Travelling To Warri

A dream is the only thing that would move a man out of the reality he's familiar with-his comfort zone- and propel him to chart a new course. However, if you know anything about a dream you know you can only catch glimpses of it at a time, and yes everyone wants to be an overnight success but to realise your dream it's gonna probably require more nights than one. A dream is like a three course meal, there's the appetizer (investment), the main course (success) and then dessert (legacy). The first of the three propelled me to Warri where I met some wonderful people, and learnt a lot of lessons on the road. So pack your stuff, let's go.

1) The World Helps What It Needs

The rain was coming down heavy and I was stranded on a pavement, trying not to sacrifice my shoes to the puddles of rain around me. Then I heard a man scream "Warri"  and I screamed "yes" in return. He huddled over to me, offering an umbrella and a ride on his back to the bus. I had one thought- emasculation. I was non recipient to the idea because a lot of times we want to get where we're going without accepting menial help. Sure we'd accept a handout when we're desperate, but it's gotta be exquisite, like a check of N1million  or a link up to someone in a key position. But we find the little things belittling like advice or criticism. Yet we forget that the world helps what it needs-the driver needed a passenger-and your colleagues, your peers your parents fuss about you because they need the best from you, which means they believe in you. Such help doesn't mean you're a charity case it means you're an asset. Because whether or not you accept the piggy back ride your still going to have to pay the price for

2)THE JOURNEY

We set off and my shoes were more or less dry. I sat next to an aged man whom after some heavy thunder struck turned to me and said "That alone should make you fear God." Well the sagely advise was welcome but I was pretty certain God is more concerned about love than fear. I brought out a book to drown out the people in the bus (because really, I'm so smart what can they offer me right?) Wrong. We set off on our journey to destiny thinking the people on the journey with us are fodder, nothing but noise-we know where we are going and we know what we want. But pay attention and you might just realise people actually have a lot to say that makes sense (I know right, wow, me too I was shocked.)


This realisation came by way of a woman who as usual began a rant about the governor not building sufficient drainage hence the flood. Politicians are evil blah blah blah, same old same old. But then she made a statement-"It's not the party, it's the person." She was referring to how neither APC nor PDP can be categorised as good or evil because the PDP member in one state did better there than the APC member in another and vice versa. So we cannot attribute good governance or the lack thereof to the party but to the person. She was right, in life you will meet illeterates that are quite literate, Christians that are not so Christlike, men that are not such dogs, and women that are not such golddiggers. Christianity amongst several other things in life should not be a label, do not use the persons party as definition or expectation of the person. Words and labels are tangibles, people are the contents. If you're gonna go on your journey expecting people to act like their party (family, denomination, ethnicity, race) you're gonna be disappointed.


3)ARRIVAL

Sometimes arrivals are rivals to progress. A little accomplishment has you thinking you've made it but have you realised that just when you think you've crossed the finish line life informs you that it was just yet another lap?  I arrived at Warri, but of course that wasn't my destination, my destination was an area, and of course that wasn't my destination, my destination was a street, and of course that wasn't my destination, my destination was a building, and on and on it goes. You've never fully arrived till your grandkids are succesful, so relax and not relax. When you've gotten somewhere, you've got to get on another bus and pay another fare. But here's an arrival checklist for wherever you're at now.
3a) Remember What It Cost The Others ; I'd been to Warri before, that time I had company, someone who knew the terrain. I knew (not the exact figure but the range) what it cost us to get from one place to another, and here I had this Keké guy, telling me that what costs N70 is N700. I kid you not. Me, baller that I am would've ignorantly giving him that money under normal circumstances, but I knew better, because I'd observed someone else's journey before. These days we have people being sexually molested, swindled, abused and mistreated because they're unaware of what it cost other people to get to where they are trying to go. They're paying N700 for what should cost N70.
3b)People Address You By Where You're Going; Keké man be damned I entered a bus instead. N70 pam! But I was still hazy about where exactlyI was going, so I made it abundantly clear to the people in the bus that I intended to stop @ "Nwangwan" (I think, they had to teach me the pronunciation a few times) and guess what? Everyone even the driver started to refer to me as my destination. "Nwangwan you get Change?", " Nwangwan we don reach." And it ensured that I alighted exactly where I needed to alight. So if people aren't referring to you by where you're going ( Doctor, Senator, Musician, Author) then you might be in the wrong bus, headed to the wrong place, with the wrong people. You should exude your destiny such that it becomes your identity.


3c)People That Help You Don't Have To Follow You All The Way; There was a particular man, he took my matter personally, telling the driver time and time again to stop me at Nwangwan. Yet he wasn't going where I was going, he alighted two stops before me. We get angry when people do this in life-friends who were tight then suddenly drift, confidants who've become strangers, we get foul about it, but just because they left doesn't mean they don't care. They've played their part, they have their own journey. Be thankful, and move on.


4)To Be Late is Better Than To Be Late

I had a video to shoot for my spoken word piece #ILL4GRACE before the show started,  but due to the rain and the stinginess of drivers, I was late. But I was alive! And as long as I was alive I could always spend the night and shoot the video then or next week, or next year! That's life, it's never too late to get up and go, it's never too late to arrive, the dreams you gave up on years ago can be just as legit now and you know the saying "Warri nor dey carry last" well guess what, no one is last if they're running their own race. Get to moving.