Patience Oti's Blog

This is one month of the year where expectations are high, anxiety and frustration bloom for many. It is that time when you begin to question whether it will be or not. My very nice friend and colleague once shared with me, that in life, people will always have expectations- you also have expectations. – When will you marry? Married- when are you having children? – Child comes. When are you having another child… and it keeps coming. It is life, don’t get mad, many of them mean well but shirk mockers. It is often a great challenge and sometimes a shaming experience when you don’t have what you should at a time or the things that comes naturally to others is often a jungle toggle for you. Meanwhile, at some point you will be disrespected by those who once respected you especially if they are more privileged than you in acquiring these life assets. They begin to address you in terms of their experience gained where you are lagging. Handle it well. Wow! It is a tough place to b...

The sun smiled with all its strength oblivious of the worries of tomorrow. The rain wet the earth until the earth knew what it meant to have a thorough bath. Jake cried out of his mother's womb into a world of uncertainty, unpredictable outcome of happiness, joy, sorrow and laughter oblivious of the end of the beginning. Betty had her first long kiss with Benny, welcoming the fears and joys of matrimony. Patty made a first class degree in the university, happy to make a transit into the larger world; where common sense and graces rule not degree. Today is Patrick's ordination as the Bishop of World Class Christian Assembly; the DEVIL isn't smiling so GOD deployed His angels.   Today, my friend told me about 'They' , in his words ‘they say I'm doing fine' . When I asked, who are they ? He said ' they' are Angels of Consolation. One believes in the goodness of the present another in the goodness of both the present and the future and both w...

THE ART OF WAITING “For a while" is a phrase whose length can't be measured. At least by the person who's waiting.” ― Haruki Murakami.   I have started to realise that waiting is an art, that waiting achieves things.   Waiting can be very difficult but very powerful. Time is a valuable thing. If you can wait, you can sometimes achieve something that you could not achieve today. However hard you have worked; how much money you threw up in the air, how many times you banged your head against the wall- If there is a need to wait, then you must do it profitably.   The people who are most successful at living and loving are those who can learn to wait successfully. Not many people enjoy waiting or learning patience. Yet, waiting can be a powerful tool that will help us accomplish much good.   “Waiting hurts. Forgetting hurts. But not knowing which decision to take can sometimes be the most painful...” ― José N. Harris. We cannot always have what we w...

FLIPPING OUR DARKER SIDE The life that many of us live and lead is not the one we intend, rather it is the one created for us by family, friends, jobs, religion, society and the list can go on. The potpourri of these influences often leave us with the feelings of un-fulfillment, anger and resentment. We grow up to be the “created version” of ourselves. One of the places this happens is in the family, most time, some of us are lucky to have the right type of family that leads u s in the right part and vice versa. My mother will always tell my sisters’ and I that where we come from, once married, a woman is not allowed to cheat on her husband. Whereas, the many is allowed to ravage and ravish everything in skirt while the woman revere her husband with utmost devotion. I’m I saying the woman has the liberty to do same? Nope! However, discretion is a better part of valour. Another place where “recreating self” takes place is in religion, many lives have been made and marred on this platfor...

FUNNY ISN’T IT?           We all have days; when we think of our past experiences and it feels awkward. The awkward moment could be the onset of puberty, when your breast bulge to the size of a pea and hard like an unripe cherry *smiles*. What about the days you walked several times on the same road, doing the circus just for him to notice you *wink* You have had a taste of what mother and father will have behind closed door, but yours in a gable because you violated the rules, now been hunted by the frequent   changes that   goes   on in your   body that sometimes delay the woman cycle and you fear you might be with ‘it’. The beautiful gift of conception is usually called ‘it’ especially when it comes uninvited. What about the upsetting days at work when what you experience is obviously a transfer of aggression by your superior. You end up been the recipient of their bottled feelings of anger. What about w...

                                 “There is always some madness in  love . ..." I draw the curtain of each day open with a silent but inspired prayer to God. The bathroom has been a favourite spot for my inspired prayers, as I sat on the toilet seat; the first thing that comes to mind is the faithfulness of the Creator of Eternity, the one who holds the key to the gate of Life and Death. He is the reason I am alive today. Today is one of the days of sober reflection; I thought of my teenage experiences, the innocence, beauty and inexperience that characterize  youthfulness. I thought of my most happy moments during those years of naivety, I thought of my witty and adventurous moments; the first time I fell in love and end up giving my first love kiss to a stranger. It felt good at first and I smiled all night and rolled on the bed like a guinea pig. That's what you feel when you are ...

REAL MOMENTS It was my birthday yesterday, songs of praises filled my heart and I feel nothing but gratitude mixed with pain. I thought of the days of humble beginnings, uncertain dreams and fears for the future. I reminiscence on my childhood days, the innocence, the daring moments, friends, childhood curiosity and the blessings of multitude of siblings. We cheered, we fought, agreed and disagreed. Above all we formed a company of defending champions and supporting when necessary. I thought of many folks out there saddled with the weight of how to make their dreams come through despite all odds. This is for the boy, girl, teenager, youth, man and woman who carry in them an enviable destiny waiting for their time in the time of life to manifest. Keep up doing the work, follow your passion, labour for what you believe in your best days are here to stay. The miracles we often seek; are most times a few steps away from us. Just because we have waited for it for so long a time make...