Thursday morning…
I woke up feeling really grateful this morning. I woke up in a beautiful hotel room on a work trip and it dawned on me that this life, this “miss independent” life was once a fantasy of mine and a prayer at some point. And then I took a brief trip down memory lane. I remembered how unhappy, overworked and underpaid I was in my previous job. I remembered how I struggled at first in my current organization because I wasn’t in my dream department. Then I came back to the present. Here I was, in a beautiful boutique hotel for a work trip where I was going to rub shoulders with people who I ordinarily would never have had the chance to. And I instantly burst into a gratitude song and told God how grateful I was.
I proceeded to get up, shower, wear my power outfit, put on my heels, carry my statement bag and head out for my meeting. You see, today should have been a perfect day. I made plans with some of my Lagos friends after work. However, evening came and no one was getting back to me. It then dawned on me that I had been stood up. Nonetheless, today was too great a day to let it go to waste. So I stood up, got dressed, ordered an Uber and took myself out to dinner. I ordered a yummy creamy seafood scampi and had a glass of wine. Okay two but who’s counting? And I had dessert, because why not?
I befriended one of the waiters and turned him into my personal photographer and for entertainment, I watched a dinner party in amusement as they surprised a friend of theirs on her birthday. And then I posted the above picture of me with this caption on Instagram
Drink wine. This is life eternal. This is all that youth will give you. It is the season for wine, roses and drunken friends. Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life
“Be happy for this moment”. Today I stopped not to look at the journey ahead but to look back and see how far I had come. From fantasy to reality. Am I where I want to be? Not yet. But I refuse to not take a moment to celebrate how far I’ve come. It’s a deliberate choice we should all make otherwise we would constantly be under the pressure of “the next thing”, the next win, the next goal, the next project etc. Stop to pause, reflect and celebrate your journey so far. Celebrate the milestones, no matter how little they are. Commemorate the events. Take yourself out or buy yourself a present. Whatever you do, make sure you’re your biggest cheerleader.
So I enjoyed my pasta not minding the calories. i had a full blown ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ moment and let myself savor every bite. I did my food dance as I ate. If you know me, you know I inadvertently dance when I’m eating. And when I felt I had spent a good amount of time wining and dining myself, I went back to my beautiful room, showered, put on some mellow music and curled up in bed.
This right here, this was once a prayer request. Ain’t God good?
