This isn’t exactly front page news at the moment, but I haven’t been able to say much or anything about it. News made waves a few months ago in Lagos, Nigeria, about how some desperate “would-be millionaires” actually stooped so much for a few stacks of cold cash, arguably the thing that wields a great deal of power in our world today.
It was rumored that some able-bodied young men found their way to a “babalawo” (native doctor) in the Ojodu-Berger area, a suburb in the Lagos metropolis, in search of an effective money-making charm that would make them filthy rich. However, the other side of the coin was that they had to go insane for 3 days before the spell could be effective. I know exactly what you’re thinking, trust me!
So what did these young people do? They selected the hunks among their friends who could tie them up to prevent them from wandering. For three days, they were locked up somewhere tied hand and foot with chains… all for money.
Now, I have to ask. Assuming that after all that, the ‘baba’ couldn’t somehow bring them back to sanity, would it have been worth it? Then there is the question my mom asked me. If you had to go crazy to get the money, what would you have to do to keep it?
I don’t know what kind of so-called ‘dilemma’ some people claim to be in that would cause them to grieve like that. What I do know, however, is that anything that needs to be secured under such extreme conditions can only have dire consequences. In other words, it’s just not worth it. It talks about the love of money being the root of all evil in action right there, in case you were wondering! Yes, I know the Bible also says that ‘money answers all things’ but the Bible itself acknowledges God as our source, the owner of the Earth and everything on it! So, do you want to read your Bible some more? It is not like this? *wink
I write this with a big smile on my face. First of all, today has been a great day for me (a thriller, actually). I had the opportunity to hang out with a friend and I am amazed at how much I learned in one day of playing around and joking around. I guess what they say about pleasure being a business is true after all. In fact, we work when we play, but let’s not kid you.
In summary, today we started with a visit to the lake and we saw a bridge that in English is known as ‘The Bridge of Love’. What I found funny and weird at the same time was the fact that certain couples after getting married, write their names on padlocks, lock them up and throw them over the bridge or leave them on the bridge! weird huh? That is a story for another day.
We left the lake and headed to a mall where we went bowling and target shooting. I had a lot of fun, to put it mildly, and actually didn’t want to leave! The moral of the story? Relax a bit, I’m almost there!
There were times while bowling off course when I made the perfect hit and there were also times when I couldn’t even knock down one of those funny looking little things. I yelled for joy one time and then another, as I put on a sad face because even though I had calculated my move or should I say attack (or I think I did!) it didn’t go as planned. The same thing happened when we fired at targets.
You see, what I’m trying to say is that at different times in our lives, we face different kinds of challenges. Look at them like those things we try to knock down at the bowling alley. The approach we use to confront them, let us like the rolling ball. Sometimes we get it right and sometimes we don’t. That doesn’t mean we didn’t plan on becoming champions and when we fail, it doesn’t mean we won’t do better next time. So it’s just ridiculous to give up! Do you understand what I’m trying to say?
Taking this thing off, we watched a group of skaters at the rink while we were still at the mall. There were so many of them, the professionals, the average and the beginners. However, as I watched, I came to the conclusion that even the most skilled skater on the rink today started out as the pretty boy who kept falling. That if that guy kept at it and didn’t give up, he might even in a couple of years ‘WOW’ us a lot more than the braggart I couldn’t help but stare at (and now I’m blushing).
It makes a lot of sense, you know, we’re not perfect. No one is, but we must strive to be. Practice makes perfect and is applicable in virtually all aspects of life.
I am very happy to have left today and I owe it all to my friend who did me the honor… I leave you something he said. He said to keep it up…because he can only get better! capise?
