NEW YEAR - GROWTH

in #pob15 days ago
Some people say that skill beats hard work, and some say hard work beats skill. We haven’t really talked about that phase where everything becomes boring and tiring, where nothing fascinates you anymore that point where skill and hard work go to rest but only discipline keeps you thriving. But what happens when you don’t have that either? Well, let’s find out. This story is about a certain someone I know. We are relatively alike, you could place your bet on her being me, but you would; lose that bet. This is not all those fancy stories about love, fairytales, dreams or things we hope to actualize. This is the story of a girl who had a passion for conveying into words what she felt and ways she wished the world would be impacted, she wrote them down as a means of communication and she rather did enjoy it. How tragic could it have felt that she could speak no more, her pen bled out and her keyboard stopped clicking. This is the story of Claire Thompson as she fondly calls herself.

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Image by Kelly Sikkema from
https://www.unsplash.com


Claire was just a simple girl with simple dreams who found herself in
a situation that she herself couldn’t comprehend. Claire was opportuned to join a community with like minds who communicated with their stories. She was happy that she found a safe space and she promised herself that she would make the most of her stay there, but I guess as they say ’life won’t always give you roses’. It felt like at that point the world decided to turn their backs on her, she saw her life crumble right in front of her.
Life takes unexpected turns and sometimes those turns are scary, for her this was one of those scary turns. She was overwhelmed by growth as people explained to her what they thought it was but for her it was a dream she wanted to wake up from. She was weighed down academically, mentally, psychologically and otherwise. In a space of less than a year she lost friends, she got so confused in school, she lost interest in her hobbies and things that gave her peace, she was heartbroken. She was a wounded lion pinned down screaming for help but couldn’t reach out… she was broken. Yet again she was back on that lonely path where it all started but this time nothing and no one was in sight. She ran as fast as her could carry her but back again on that same spot she found herself.


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Image by Suzanne-d-williams
unsplash.com


A year later this is the first ever piece she got herself to write. A burden had been lifted and only God knows how. Exactly February last year was the month this vibrant soul lost its spark. And after so long she is able to write again. And what other place would she have thought to share her story, if not in her beautiful community. Afterall, she realized that one is never alone and good relationships are better than any trauma, challenges, failure, self-doubt or whatever trails. In all she realized that it probably isn’t such a bad idea to travel with people and she is grateful that those people stood by her and were her pillar of strength in her weakness.
I told you earlier that you would lose the bet if you bet on the fact that she was me. We are only alike but not the same. I am different because I won’t let my past define me anymore, different because I’ll carry my head high even when I might stumble, different because now I know I am not alone, different because I will voice out and not be silent, different in so many ways. I have risen and fallen but I will pick myself up, dust myself and keep moving. I am different because I have not let old things define me or weigh me down rather, I choose to learn and evolve to be the best version of myself. Maybe they were right after all indeed its growth.


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Image by Megan Watson from
https:www.unsplash.com


I Claire, thank my sisters, my brothers, my parents, my very good friends for being with me on this journey. I would say this eventually growth is really scary but like one of my friends would say “there has to be a crack for there to be fixing and pain for there to be healing; it might be uncomfortable, but it only makes you stronger”. Remember on this journey of growth you are not alone.

This was my previous year in a wrap. Thank God for growth.

Cheers to a new year everybody!!! 2025 will be great.