28 Things I Am Grateful For

A week from now, I'll turn 18. In my usual birthday tradition, the 'birthday blues' have started to creep in. It’s funny, the sadness isn’t about the age itself. I genuinely look forward to growing older, thriving, and experiencing life with more wisdom and grace. The sadness is around the ghost of a life I thought I should have by now. Which is weird, right? Because my life is, by all accounts, great.

I think there's a certain kind of prison that doesn't come with metal bars or a warden in a uniform. No, this prison is much sneakier. It's built brick by brick with every, "What am I doing with my life?" The catch? You're not just the inmate, you’re the architect, the guard, and sometimes the one who keeps forgetting where the keys are.

So, instead of giving in to the blues like I did in previous years, I’ve decided to do what I know how to do best: write my feelings out.  Today, I’m sharing 28 things I’m grateful for:

1. That this yogurt in my hand doesn’t taste like soap. Moo Moo yogurt, wherever your factory is, God bless everybody working there. My taste buds are rejoicing.

 2. Living in a tranquil state like Abuja. Don’t get me wrong, insecurity is high here and things are expensive, but hey, I am not sitting in traffic for hours. I can breathe in clean air. I am surrounded by trees. I love it here.

3. My brother, Adeleye. I miss him so much, but I love how God is taking care of him for me. It’s comforting to know he's covered.

4. My best friends, Pey Pey and Mona, who have loved me more than I loved myself and patiently taught me how to love myself. True angels on earth.

5. Writing. Never in my life did I think I’d be a writer, but here I am, writing my heart out, and people like you are reading it. What a privilege.

6.  How much joy the little things bring. And the fact that the “little things” are always within reach.

7.  My husband, who makes me laugh every day and loves me with the kind of tenderness that makes life feel safe.  

8.  My mind. The way it thinks, imagines, creates, recalibrates.

9.  Books like Verity by Colleen Hoover, that come into my life at the exact moment I need them.

10. The convenience of home delivery.

11. Understanding the full emotional spectrum of being human, from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs. It’s like living in colour after years of grayscale.

12. My relationship with my cousin, Dave, one of my favourite people to talk to daily.

13.   A good night’s sleep

14.  The way God answers prayers, I didn’t even know how to pray properly.

15.   My health. It’s easy to take for granted until you don't have it.

16.   My job. Even with all the mental effort my job demands (and my occasional whining about it), it still gives me a steady income to pay my bills.

17.   My manager, Orla. Her confidence in my abilities fuels me to dream bigger and work harder.

18.   Minister Dunsin Oyekan and his gift of singing spiritual songs that lift my spirit.

 19.  This life and journey I get to experience. Not a morning goes by that I don’t wake up thanking God I get another day.

20.  Sunsets. I once read something that basically said, “If you think about it, God could have made it where the lights just shut off every night. Instead, He chose to create the most beautiful paintings in the sky every single night as the sun goes down just for us to enjoy.”

21.   I am grateful for flowers and fragrances and the sense of smell to appreciate them.

22.   Having hobbies I love.

23.   My nuclear family and the new one I am inheriting.

24.   My inner circle of friends. I have a solid community.

25.  I’m grateful that I have a home. Today I saw a few homeless people, and I can’t even imagine what life would be like without a basic roof over my head.

26.  Grateful for the writers and producers of Friends, Big Bang Theory, and Modern Family. They have brought me more joy and happiness than anyone could imagine.

27.   Harmattan. I love the smell of Christmas in the morning.

28.   All readers of my stories (yes, you❤️️!).

 Wanna make your own? Go for it.

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 As always, thank you for being here and for being you. ❤