Smile or Surrender

I was having a chat with a childhood friend of mine today. This pal is someone I cherish and admire his resilience when we were much younger.

But after a little catching up coupled with a few drinks I realized a lot of things have changed.

Not that I don't expect that to happen, it's just that I can't help but think how he now sees life like it's such a bad thing to exist in today's world.

We talked about a lot of things but what stands out to me most was when he said he wished he lived during the times of his parents when things were much easier and cheaper.

A lot has changed

I think he's now under much pressure and does not know where to turn to

Our conversation is now different from what it used to be when we were much younger.

I can feel how much pressure he's in and how he thinks the governments and our leaders are the whole cause of everything that's going on. This can be partially true. But on the other end, we've got the choice to smile through our pain in the hope of a better future or give in to the pressure that comes with our painful experiences in life, so they don't lead us to eventually surrender when we can't find any rays of hope anymore.

Smile through the pain or surrender to it

Both are two different choices but they both involve some type of pain regardless

A few days ago I talked in a post about how new hivers have to experience some form of difficulty while starting but if they persevere enough they will definitely have the last laugh.

Hive and the life of average Nigerians today are relative as merely existing in this country is now way more complicated than ever. Just as it is now tough for many young adults to survive today it is the same with striving to thrive on Hive.

But first, we've got to survive, persevere and then, little by little we’ll be able to see some rays of hope that can keep us optimistic and not hopeless about everyday living or everyday hive-ing.

Many are hopeless

It's now like a theme among youths

It's not only here in Africa that things are worse, but it's also the same in many countries like the U.S. where many young adults find it hard to cope with everyday tension from peer pressures, rising prices and war news here and there.

Due to this, many have turned to narcotics just so they can cope and get through the day to their next high without having to think or deal with their problem.

But if we don't deal with our problems and cut them at its root. Even if we manage to cut a few branches they'll keep growing back and stronger than ever. And we’ll keep whining about why our life is not improving thereby thinking it's the government's and leaders' fault for not helping out with everyone's problem.

Hence the blame game

Whoever is blamed for our problems has much more power over our lives than we do

And we give them the power when we see them as the problem which means they are also the solution to our situation.

Whoever holds the key opens the door and if we've given our key away to some organization or anyone that means we'll never be able to push ourselves and trigger our brain to look for another alternative and open a new door.

Whether a solution exists or not, we’ll never know.

Life has directed us to different directions and pathways which has a huge impact on our experiences, and also how we see life. Nonetheless, we have the opportunity for everyday changes as long as we are still living and breathing.

Our life situations are constantly changing

Either we improve on them or not

Life for many people has been a rough one ever since the dollar-to-naira rate has doubled compared to where it was a year from now. And it still keeps increasing with many goods now twice to triple the amount they were being bought before.

For the average man, it’s honestly a hard knock on the head. And even for the rich they’ve got to be ever conscious of where their money inflow and outflow.

At the end of our conversation my suggestion to him was to accept the reality of the present without wishing things were much easier. At times being comfortable only means we’ll not yearn for progress amidst our pain.

Life is a choice - smile through the pain and improve, or surrender to it and relinquish your power to others.

Catch you next time