In keeping with the items on my 2025 vision board, I am grateful for the experiences that I have experienced in the last couple of weeks. I had mentioned how the year had started, with a spark and the somewhat down turn already in the year; however one thing kept playing in my head, "People who have talent have discipline". I am not sure that this can be credited to the person I heard it from, but I first heard this line from MI's track titled Bigger. This had been playing in my head for some years now and I had come to the acknowledgement this year, that the lack of discipline would be my end.
I thought back to the rosy years and got some inspiration from there; fun fact I would consider myself a disciplined man, and I had to be, I was trained in the military school from primary to secondary, had a dad who himself was a disciplinarian and a no nonsense man. My mum followed in that line, so really, it would be difficult to see anyone cut from the cloth of these beings become indiscipline; but I acknowledge that I fell off the road a few times, may be 3 times, but 3 times which each lasted for maybe over a year! So this is me now trying to find my footing and get myself back on the road and like many other years and basis my personal conviction, the church's Lenten season always offered a unique opportunity to right wrongs, form new habits and generally push myself to become a better person. I cannot say that I had followed through or made much progress in years past, but that never stopped me from looking forward to it and still trying and this year was not going to be any different.
I knew, coming into this year, that I need to pay more attention to my health, especially watch what I eat, how I drink, generally what goes into my body and manage my system regulation and effectiveness (big grammar for hitting the gym). By end of February, I had not shown consistency with the workout part, thanks to my travels, but the same trips had help me discipline my body and mind, curb how I drink and watch what I eat; I knew it was about time to put into practice the lessons from the book I was reading at the time (The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg), the successes from my trips and knowledge from the past into action.
As the Lenten season was fast approaching, I was certain that this was the year to at least, start these actions, see some changes and take it up from there. I had gone for confession and like every other time I did this, the temptations cam even stronger that day, but I successfully distracted my mind with other things. I would say that the fact that I need not worry about my finances, the shame of being caught in awkward situations and the pride of being a humble, well-to-do standup guy also helped [I hope to write about the influence that wealth and stability has to living a fulfilling life someday]. I took the challenge from the church at the commencement of Lent, committed to praying the Rosary daily and saying my prayers daily, while staying away from beef/meat, eating once a day and no alcohol. I also added no sex, but I will get to that part. The first on the list to quickly fall off was the alcohol. I could rationalize it at the time, but made a concession: one can of stout every other day; everything else was non-negotiable! Barely a week into the season, I had cut that down to only Fridays, no whisky and that was it. It helped curb my taste for the liquid.
I had gone through a series of test in the months before, with the doctor fearing that I might have Prostate cancer. Going through all of the procedures, test and the anxiety thereof and to the conclusion that I was free also gave me that extra boost to stay focused on a healthy lifestyle and not take my prayers for granted. For that, I am eternally grateful to the Almighty!
By the forth week into Lent, I was crushing most of the goals, and made the quick decision to go spend one month with my love. This was the icing on the cake and led to concession number 2. I arrived Luanda, Angola April 11, a few days before my birthday and was glad to be out of Lagos, Nigeria. My love had informed me of her diet routine and I was open to it, thinking it was same as what I had been doing for the past month. She was intense about it. I struggled for the first few days, but thankfully she had planned an elaborate dinner for both of us on my birthday and I got to eat well! We continued with the diet plan, I took my in-home work out session seriously and the results were outstanding!
While in Luanda, I had started to be more deliberate with my love's daughter, engage her more, be more present and play a more active role in her life. I figured, if I cannot enjoy the company of the fruit of my loins, I might as well begin to enjoy the presence of all the other little ones that God has blessed me with. In my usual manner, I had tried to speak with the boys and succeeded in speaking with only Tobe, who mentioned that Zephan was too busy to come to the phone. Trust is, I no longer feel disturbed or as pained as I used to in the past and I will continue, with the help of God, to live my life, reach out to even more people, impact more lives and be present in the lives of as many more children as I can be in.
After my one month break from the city of Lagos, I am back refreshed, mentally stronger, made progress on health decisions, feeling happier and more fulfilled, thankful and grateful to God for my family, my children, my love and friends. I am loving live evermore and looking forward to the prospects of more wins, consistence and God's blessings. Peace!
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