Can I let y’all in on a little secret?
I never really know how to start my blog posts.
Why? Because when I start writing, I usually don’t have a specific topic in
mind. I kinda just let my fingers tickle the keys and see what comes out.
That’s the mark of a true genius. I make magic
without even trying.
Just kidding (...but not really).
So, let’s see what type of literary masterpiece I
shall be penning today. Allons-y.
~
It’s been almost a month since I’ve returned to the
States, and I’ve been putting off writing a blog post because to be honest, I
don’t really know how I feel about it yet.
I’m sure you’ve all heard the saying home is
where the heart is. Well, my problem is that my heart now seems to be
in more than one place. Before my sojourn in Nigeria, I had spent the majority
of my life in America. Life in America has definitely been good to me, and the
majority of the people that I know and love are here. So while I was in the
Motherland, although I had a fabulous time, I just couldn’t shake the feeling
that there was something missing. However, now that I'm back, in the very place
that should be the most familiar and comfortable to me, there isn’t a day that
goes by where I don’t wish I was still in Lagos.
So when people ask me if I’m glad to be home, I
never know how to respond because it feels as if regardless of how I answer the
question, part of me is lying.
The funny thing is, around this time two years ago,
I experienced nearly the exact same sentiments upon my return to America after
living in Paris for a while, although not quite to this extent. My time in
Europe helped me realize that even though America is indeed a wonderful place
to grow up, there was no way that I could live here my entire life.
Now, allow me to digress a little.
Y’all already know that I think I’m extraordinary.
Actually, I know I’m extraordinary. God has truly blessed me with
innumerable gifts and talents, and I believe that as a Christian, I have a
responsibility to share these gifts with the world (which is part of the reason
why I started this blog last year). And now that I have finally discovered my
professional calling (I plan to do economic development work for African countries),
I’ve realized that I can’t be as effective and successful in my career as I
strive to be if I choose to remain in America. Although I liked my time in
Nigeria because I partied hard and fell in love; I truly loved my time
there because my job experience allowed me to see just how much help my country
needed and what exactly I could do to fix it. I’ve been blessed with many more
opportunities than the average Nigerian, and I truly believe that with all I’ve
been given, it would be highly irresponsible of me to not want to help
alleviate the plight of my people.
I guess my point is that I can’t fully enjoy being
in America when I know that there are roughly 160 million people across the
ocean that could be benefitting from my greatness. J
However, I also believe that wherever you find
yourself in life, it is important to make a positive impact on those around
you. So although I’ll only be in America for two more months before heading off
to Europe, I still plan on doing something meaningful with my time here. I’m
not sure exactly what that will be yet, but stay tuned, because I’m sure it’ll
be phenomenal.
So, dear friends, as I depart from this e-space, I
leave you with two little gems to ponder:
a) One of my favorite quotes: “It is
every man’s obligation to put back into the world at least the equivalent of
what he takes out of it.” – Albert Einstein
b) My wonderful linesister, Willie, wrote
an amazingly inspirational blog post entitled “God Can Use Me NOW.” Check it
out here.
Well…that’s about it.
Go forth and
prosper, y'all.
I really like this one, keep writing :-)
ReplyDelete