Did You Say Love Your Neighbour?

 Right behind Niger, is Nigeria the second most religious country in Africa with 46.3% of the entire population being Christians, closely followed by the Muslims at 46% and the Traditionalists at 7.4%, with the Christians amounting to 86.5 million of the entire populace. The presence of a high amount of religious people means that we should all be experiencing heaven on earth through the practice of  kindness and goodness to others right?

Sheila stepped out of her house hurriedly as she was running late for work. As she got to the bus stop, she realised how late she was to catch her usual early morning bus and therefore had to stand for a while. Before she knew it, the clouds had gathered and it started drizzling. Little by little, the winds became stronger producing a whistling sound. Still, there was no bus headed in her direction in sight. Rather, private car owners drove speedily past her and other pedestrians that had increased at the bus stop. Most of the car owners had no one in their cars except the person who was driving; in other words 'space dey for moto'. She tried to flag down cars, but it seemed like the drivers accelerated more without blinking an eyelid. The rains came down stronger and she was drenched from her 22"Argentine deep curls weave to her black Aldo doll shoes!

As myself and my friend Biola drove on the streets of Lagos, we approached a traffic light and slowed down. A little boy with patched clothes ran towards our car and started to clean the windscreen with a windshield cleaner and cheap soap. My friend stopped him immediately and rebuked him. "Why you dey clean my glass? You no see say e clean before? Comot for here" "Abeg Aunty i never chop, come buy gala for me" "I be Father Christmas? Go ask your mama for gala" " Abeg Aunty, i dey hungry". The light turned green and we sped off.

"Thank God for this N200,000 alert, time to turn up this weekend" " Hi James, how are you doing. Please James i need your help. I'm really down, I need N10,000 to take care of some of my needs. My account is red, I don't have any money, please my friend" " Ah, you asked me quite late. If you had asked me 3 days ago, i would have even given you N15,000 sef. But right now bro, I'm managing. I don't have any money to spare, sorry"  Really?

Did you say Love Your Neighbour or Love Yourself?

Foodology

 It was 11:00am and all I felt was hunger pangs! I didn't eat the night before and the hankering for jollof rice was intense. Hurriedly I rushed to White House to get some party rice. I ordered some jollof rice, fried rice, plantain and beef. The plating of the food was nice, each one seated on it's corner like an art work. I hadn't even settled into the food when a man walked in with his plate of food and sat directly opposite me.

He had fried rice, jollof rice, beans and stew and a huge piece of fish. Looked like a work of art like mine until in a nanosecond it looked like something that was faced with a tornado. Right before me, he stirred the food and all I could see were few grains of rice drained in stew and plenty of beans. Then I asked myself, why didn't he just buy white rice, beans and stew than turn this meal to something else!

It got me thinking, does the way we eat our food say a lot about who we are? Does our choice of food reveal volumes about our personality? Take a look at the various eaters and their personalities.

• The Slow Eater: You truly take your time to enjoy your meal and is in no rush to finish. You like to make the most out of every moment of life. At work, you are in no hurry to get things done. You believe that a job well done is better than a job quickly done. In relationships, you are always living in the present. Your seeming lack of inner clock may get on people's nerves, be yourself, but just be careful not to let life speed by you in the meantime.

• The Fast Eater: You get through a meal as quickly as possible, often times not taking time to chew the food completely. You are really great in getting things done before the deadline and your boss at work likes this about you. You are good at multi-tasking, with a healthy sense of competition and your brain is often 10 steps ahead of your current position. In relationships, you place the need of others before your own and your considerate nature makes you an extreme catch. However, rushing things like meals implies that you don't take enough time for yourself. Therefore, make sure to create enough time ahead for your own needs and slow down a bit to enjoy good times.

• The Organizer: If you are the organizer, you don't want any of your food to touch each other. You like to keep things neat and tidy and you avoid messy situations at all cost. At work, your organizational skills help you properly keep a track of tasks ahead. At home you may struggle with having always to do the dishes or the cleaning. Be careful that your list-making brain doesn't allow you to feel stressed when things go off track. Learning to be flexible will only complement your already enviable tidy and organised lifestyle

•  The Adventurer: You always want to try new types of food. You like to take risks and you are not afraid to propose a bold new idea. You are adventurous, brave and outgoing. Be yourself but don't pressure others to be like you as not everyone is an explorer!

• The Mixer: You mix up all your food together, irrespective of texture and flavour and you get a little of everything with a bite( just like the man who sat in front of me) You are a strong person that is capable of taking on a lot. At work, your boss would love your sense of taking responsibility. That said, you may also over-commit and it may be hard for you to know which task to tackle first. Therefore practice prioritization.

• The Preparer: You cut your food into manageable bits before you start eating. You are an epitome of a forward-thinker, always considering how one move would lead to another. At work, you are constantly dreaming big and working hard to climb the ladder. In relationships, you plan dates ahead and keep everything spicy. Take time to enjoy the moment now.

Which eater are you!

Fin - The End

 It's evening, 8:00pm to be exact. I walk into the beautiful hall in TerraKulture, everywhere looking beautiful. The array of the stage lights like a splash of amazing colours on a palette, lits up the stage adding to the visibility, motivation, composition and mood of the performance. The sonorous sound lifts the ambience above par.

He made his way towards the stage, the star of the moment, the renowned performer. Opposite him was a large crowd agog and excited. I was sure he could feel the anticipation. His microphone was in his right hand and all that mattered was what he was about to do that night. He didn't fall short, but rather came out strong and at the end of the show, the audience erupted into a long applause with shouts of excitement, clapping so loudly I could barely hear anything else. Then he bowed and walked out of the stage, handing his microphone to someone on stage who I presumed was part of his band.
That moment struck me, in the midst of the accolades, he knew he had nothing else to offer, he was done, it was over and the only thing left was to take a bow and walk away...

It made me realize the beauty and power of time. The inevitable indefinite continued progress of existence and events that occur in apparently irreversible succession, from the past through the present to the future. It gives you the opportunity to thrive, to blossom, to sow, to shine and whether you realize it or not, it will also bring the moment of reckoning to let it all go, to retire, to walk way, to surrender all.

Each tick, even as brief as a nanosecond, counts. With opportunity, which comes side by side with time, take every advantage. It is all for a period, make hay while the sun shines, before the end.

Sorry, I Ain't Sorry!

"I just can't stand it, i cant!"... "Never, God forbid bad thing!" 
There are some standards that we have set for ourselves as individuals that we just abide by. Anything contrary to them are absolutely disregarded and resented. For some certain people, quite a number of things puts them off and for others little or nothing counts. It may be an attitude, a habit, a substance, a scent, a gesture, a word, even a color! It could be anything..

I randomly talked to few people about their 'pet peeve" and I got some interesting answers. "I absolutely do not like my skin touching other people's own in a bus" "I do not like harsh perfumes" "I despise the scent of cheap perfumes" "Dishonest people irritates me" "Bread and butter is terrible" "I don't like biased people" "Rude and forward people are a no no!" "I hate it when people trample on others when they have money" " I can't stand lemon green or drink any green substance" " A doubtful person is a deal breaker" " I can't stand eating vegetable soup at night!" "Perfumes make me cough" "Backbiting and cheating is just a terrible thing for me to deal with" " I can't stand people sharing my cup" " Strangers should never act too  familiar else they would never be familiar" "I hate mosquitoes with a passion, what's their usefulness to humanity anyway" "Making an irritating slutty noise when chewing gum arrggghh" " I can't stand it when people make me wait for them or come late for an appointment with me" "Smoking cigarette where non-smokers are! I think it's disgustingly selfish" " I despise stingy people fullstop" '"Coughing and leaving your mouth wide open for the germs to kill us all, hian" "People that dive right into your food without asking for your consent" "Joining me to eat when invited!" Nigerians can relate to this one! "Making noise while eating,either with the plate or while chewing" "I haven't seen the thing that would irritate me in this life" "Really?" I asked, "Never".

What is your huge turn off? Let your comments roll in!