I Call This Gratitude

Pheew...2024

I remember injecting the song “Ebenezeri” by Kent Edunjobi and EmmaOMG into my system in the early hours of the year and this part of the song sums up my year: “…ogo t’aye ri ti won polongo ire lo bawa se”

Of truth, I saw the hands of God in my life, and it would be extremely reckless of me not to give glory to whom glory is due.

At the beginning of the year, say January/February, it didn’t seem like it, but now, as I look back at the year, I really did lack nothing; God provided for me greatly from different sides and sources. [This is where I give a big shout-out to the men in my life: my father and my three brothers (Seyi, John and Jonathan). If I could buy a GLE for them, I would].

As of September this year, I had never travelled out of Osun State on my own but I went to Lagos on my own, got on a plane all alone and landed in Abuja by myself. I remember trying to document some of my funny experiences both on the road and on-air to turn into blog posts, but I didn’t, sigh.

Abuja was a beautiful experience for me, loved it so much. I stayed in somewhere that I like to call a “bachelor’s pad” and I admit it wasn’t bad. I remember the day I tried to get home on my own for the first time and ended up walking aimlessly around Maitama, and I eventually had to book a Bolt back home. But I also remember the day I was very strong-willed and asked numerous people questions before I got to half of the way. I sent a message to my brother informing him of the new development and also called him, but he was unreachable, when he finally realized my quest, I almost got an earful on the phone. But guess what? I made it home. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for the soft life, but when there is a seemingly cheaper way out, and it won’t cause a whole lot of inconvenience, then that’s also fine.

Experiencing Koinonia live is also another highlight of my Abuja Experience; there was always this kind of bliss that flowed when you entered that auditorium. The ambience was indeed heavenly, nothing like I have ever experienced.

Abuja was an amazing experience for me altogether. I wish I had pictorial evidence to back this up but there was no winning for me in that aspect this year.

Put me in your prayers.

Academically, I really don’t want to say a lot to avoid repetition because I spoke about my academic experience in my birthday blog, "The Twentieth Floor" and the blog titled “Though I Fall, I Will Rise Again”. I think people just assume that when something works for you once, then it continues to work for you, and they just believe that everything runs smoothly for you, but oh, how grossly mistaken are they! My only academic goal this year was to have 5.0 semesters in my Part 3 but after my first semester results came out, I found myself calculating backwardly and thinking about how much worse it could go or get.

However, “rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.”

My Career goals this year were to intern in a better firm, develop my blog and write articles and blogs. I can boldly say that I smashed it! I don’t know where I was mentally when I wrote that down, but yes, I smashed it. I interned in a tier one law firm in Abuja, I got down to actually writing and publishing blog posts and I was able to get a number of readers who were genuinely interested in reading what I had to write and I also got employed to write articles and blog post for a student housing brand. Uhmm is that a clapping ovation I hear?

Well, thank you thank you, thank you so much!

I didn’t write this at the beginning of the year, but in my mid-year dreams, I wrote about learning a skill, and now, ladies and gentlemen, I am a certified virtual assistant.

And in case y’all have not noticed, I have listed a number of things I’m good at, so this next year, bring jobs and recommend me for jobs; money must be made.

Personal development-wise, I won’t say I’m exactly where I want to be, but I’m certain that I’ve improved myself greatly and I'm very much open to more improvements.

I also made quite a number of impactful relationships this year. Friendship? I'm not exactly certain but next year holds a lot of promises. If you are expecting to read about the other kind of relationship; omoo nothing for you o.

Then, spiritually, regardless of how I feel currently, this year was good for me. I learnt a lot, and I grew as well.

There is more, there is always more, and I want that more, but while I wait for that more, I will appreciate where I am currently.

I also had quite a number of “striking” testimonies this year. I remember when I was driving one time, and the car went off on me. It kept moving, and the brakes were not responding. It was a real-life example of Jesus taking the wheels, and he did take the wheels because I came out of that experience unscathed. Or was it the time when a mini gas caught on fire in the kitchen, and there was a bigger gas in that same kitchen? Pumped with adrenaline, I removed the pot with my bare hands and dragged the burning gas out. I did come out of that with scarred fingers, though, but who’s checking?

Now, as I wait for the year to come to an end, I’ll reminisce on everything this year has been and make plans for how the New Year should be.

If you feel like this year was not all that for you, I want you to know that “there is hope for a tree if is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail. Its roots may grow old in the ground and its stump die in the soul, yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth shoots like a plant”