Introduction: The opportunity to meet minds with others is one I treasure so much. It gives me the window to refresh what I already know or to learn new things. ASK THE BOSS belongs in the realm of unlearning, leaning, and relearning. You bet, either in the lead poser or the comments that ensue after my response, I get to acquire new insights!
2.0 Do you have a question or dilemma arising from or based on Life Experience? Inbox me this instant and let’s seek help together. It could help someone else, plus. As I always say, if you prefer anonymity, please plead it.
3.0 Now, another fan, Mr. Bazhigher Felix, writes from Calabar: ‘The Boss, you have talked a lot about your childhood days. From all indications, you are from a very humble background. Today, you are a household name in Akwa Ibom and its environs, Nigeria and beyond. How were you able to make your ‘bed of roses?’
4.0 MY TAKE: I welcome you, Mr. Felix. Can I first get in the lighter mood with you, please? What exactly does it mean, ‘humble background?’ You know, the euphemism humours me.
5.0 ‘Humble background.’ We all want to disguise or mask or colour the fact that our beginning was steeped in poverty. Why does humanity prefer feel-good escape routes even when it had no hand in creating the shame? I struggle to be different.
6.0 I like to paint the exact same pictures of what the situation was/is so that the Big Man who sits high up there can come to my rescue. Accordingly, I will say one: yes, I slept and woke up with poverty while growing up; two, but no, even now, my life is not ‘a bed of roses.’ The worst part of the deal is that, flowing from point two, I am not sure it would ever be: ‘a bed of roses?’ Life has never been, is not and can never be a bed of roses.
7.0 Life -and that includes mine- is continuous work. Life is work, hard work, in progress: either you are working to succeed, or to sustain the success. Life keeps you permanently on your toes. There must always be a record you want to make or break; someone you want to be better than or an achievement you seek to put under your belt.
8.0 It could be about money or power, or both hereinafter referred to as fame. It could even be about something abstract or puerile: a family name or a personal pride or ego. Life keeps you hyper-busy both while you are awake or asleep. That’s how/why you dream of flying your own private jet when you don’t even own a bicycle; you dream of living in castles only to wake up in your hut; you dream of rubbing shoulders with Presidents/kings while in real life, but in real life, your ‘highest’ friend is a Councillor!
9.0 Therefore, my dear brother, don’t be deceived by what you may have read or heard about me; my life is not ‘a bed of roses.’ And, I don’t deceive myself that it would ever be.’ I know Life, and Life knows I know she knows I know her. I shall continue to keep pace with her!
10.0 However, I cannot also pretend that I do not know what you mean. People should not be carried away by the razzmatazz of another’s life. Effizi Na cruise o. I hope you catch my drift there, since I cannot dwell on it.
11.0 Nobody should ever think that there are good easy routes to an easy life. Nothing good comes easy. Those seeking a soft life for themselves and their families must realise that there is only a hard way or a bad soft way thereto. I have always preferred the hard way because that is the way of God..
Conclusion: Sorry, if I have only succeeded in shocking you. I know that this is not the answer you envisaged. But, you know what, this is the truth, the truest truth and nothing but the truth. No one life is ‘a bed of roses.’
God bless Nigeria!
About The Author
