Reflections of a random rebel.

Two weeks ago, my dearest brother, Fikayo, gave me a book called -the way to happiness (a common sense guide to better living). One of the beauty of this book is that its not meant for you to read alone. You are supposed to read and buy more to distribute to people around you.People, who you think your happiness is somewhat dependent on theirs. In other words, people who you know that if somehow they are unhappy it can result in you being unhappy. Then on the third page there is a part that says,"why i gave you this book-your survival is important to me"-who would have thought that? lol..

Asides from the fact that i was glad that at least am that important to my brother(smiles), i also think the book is a great book. it's easy to read and really cute like that , u know? It summarizes in few lines the basic things and habits you can do to make yourself live a happier life and and have peace of mind. The best thing about it is that it is not a religious book so basically anyone can read it and adapt its teachings.

It summarizes the rules as follows:
1.Take care of yourself-get care when you are ill,keep your body clean,preserve your teeth,eat properly, and get rest.
2.Be temperate-do not take harmful drugs and do not take alcohol in excess.
3.Don't be promiscuous-be faithful o one partner.
4.Love and help children.
5.Honor and help your parents.
6.Set a good example.
7.Seek to live with the truth-do not bear false witness
8.Do not murder
9.Do not do anything illegal.
10.Support a government designed and run for all people.
11.Do not harm a person of goodwill.
12.Safe guard and improve your environment-take care of your own area and help take care of the planet.
13.Do not steal.
14.Be worthy of trust-keep your words once given.
15.Fulfill your obligations.
16.Be industrious.
17.Be competent-look,learn and practice.
18.Respect the religious beliefs of others.
19.Try not to do things to others that you will not like them to do to you.
20.Try to treat others as you would like them to treat you-justness,loyalty,good sportsmanship,fairness,honesty,kindness,consideration,compassion, self control,tolerance,forgiveness,benevolence,belief,respect,politeness,dignity,admiration,
friendliness, love and integrity.
21.Flourish and prosper.

That is a really long list I know but imagine if everyone read this book and makes attempt to follow these rules? one of the rules that always seem to cross my mind is No. 18.RESPECT THE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OF OTHERS. Recently i heard and read the news of the senator who did go ahead to marry a thirteen yr old. For me, the interesting part was the fact that he said he was not bound by any other law asides from the Islamic law and that the Islamic law allows for him to marry a thirteen year old-if at all his latest bride is thirteen. So for like a week i wondered in my mind, is he really right? Since his religion allows it, then what he is doing is not wrong. I must respect his religious beliefs. Then i thought, if we all go around acting based on only religious laws there would be chaos.

I always say that Nigerians are like the funniest people when it comes to religion. when we want to do something wrong, we always seem to find someone in our religious books to point to who did it and that makes it okay. Well it is not, the fact that Prophet Mohammad did marry a young girl as well does not make it okay to do it now. That was then, this is now! what he did contravened the child rights acts of 2003 and although this law is not ratified in all states of Nigeria, as a senator he should be the one upholding these laws not bending it.

Regardless of whatever physical, educational and mental growth a thirteen yr old has, as far as i am concerned, he or she is still a child. The worst thing you can ever do to anyone is to deny them of their childhood. When you suddenly force adulthood on a child it somehow has a way of backfiring. Nature itself does things in stages and there is a stage and time for everything.
I do not have the power or influence to fight this man but heaven knows if i had it, i would have fought him. Don't get me started on the girls parent, let's just leave that for another day.

So i came up with the "AT 13" movement. Lets all update our statuses from time to time, on facebook and twitter, whatever you can think of stating the childish things we were still doing at thirteen.Doing this will make people see how young a 13 yr old really is and somehow prevent things like this from happening in the future.

So I finally decided to get my acts together and get on with this blog thing. I was inspired to finally start because of a terrible nightmare I had. I decided to share my story maybe some people will learn from it. My favorite pair of shoes appeared to me in my dream three nights consecutively. The first night it was pleading with me to have mercy then the next night it threatened me and then, on the third night, I don’t know what happened but i woke up from sleep cos I heard a sound like someone was trying to open the main door. I went to the living room. Lo and behold, my lovely, beautiful loafers was trying to escape.it has finally decided to leave me…

Some of us own some things that we love so much, for me one of such things is my golden-brown loafers. It is so comfortable and it made the mistake of coming to this world in a color that actually matches almost everything. I wear it to work like three days out of five. Sometimes when am done dressing up and am looking for it, I find it in a funny place. Trying to hide from me but after so much cajoling and promises to treat it better it will agree to go to work with me. I guess it got to a point where it couldn’t take it no more, hence the nightmare.

I guess by now some people are beginning to wonder why I can’t just go on and buy another one. Its like this, if there is one problem that I have, its acquiring of shoes. I have never bought any other material thing as much as have bought shoes. But most times I buy them out of “ojukokoro’-I know I can’t wear them for long or that they are not very comfy but I still buy them. Unfortunately, I love high-heeled and very colorful shoes, but they are not everyday wear and besides I end up with these terrible cramps at night when I wear heels for long. I won’t disclose the number of shoes I have gotten this year for security reasons (lol) but am still yet to wear some of them. I know it’s a big problem and I have decided to address it.

I honestly don’t think the loafers should be complaining yet. At least there are things that have had for years and I have refused to let go of. Some of them I cant remember when I got them but they are still here with me. Like my cream colored stretchy trouser pants. Its has been with me since I was a size twelve -In my first year in the university,2003-till now and we still have a lot of years to spend together or my black, three-quarter pants or my secondary school dairy and poem book or my black pouch or my black low-waist jeans…the list is endless.

I guess we all have list of favorite things that people just don’t get why we love them and hold on to them. Just like some old friends who we don’t have anything in common with anymore but we still want them around. Whose life has gone in opposite directions from ours but despite the social, educational, financial or even religious differences, we just can’t let them go. This could be because of the memories shared, or the fact that they were there through it all, or the fact that you very comfortable around them. All in all, I must say I have my list of favorite things just like I have my list of all time favorite people and it is definitely not a crime to hold on to these few things and people. So if my loafers decides that its time to leave me, am gonna let it go but I just hope it realizes before it is too late that no one is ever love it like I did and still do!!!