Lets Celebrate Life (by Sylph)

"Wake up everyday and give Thanks for Life, Thanks for Life, Thanks for Life

And never you forget your Sacrifice, Sacrifice, Sacrifice"

(We Will Live - by Machel Montano)

Today I embark on a new journey. A journey, which I am almost certain will bring me closer to finding my true purpose in Life. A journey, which will provide me with a new and enlightening perspectives on life and one which will be Celebrated, every step along the way. You may be now wondering what sort of journey I might be embarking on? Well let me tell you - its the Journey of Life and Celebration.

If its one thing that I have learnt from my time in Nigeria is that Life is a Celebration. Nigerians LOVE to Celebrate Life and that is no exaggeration. Birthday, Anniversary, Graduation, Promotion, Marriage, even in death, life is celebrated in this country, and rightfully so..... You would open the daily newspaper and see fully page, coloured ads announcing the celebration of some aspect of someones life.... Every day in every newspaper, there are pages and pages of announcements wishing persons HAPPY BIRTHDAY, or congratulations on a new appointment, or marriage, or announcements of a Going Home Celebration (ah funeral), or ads in remembrance of someones life. Not a day goes by without you seeing one or two of those ads. Its amazing to me, because where I come from a full page, coloured ads is reserved for big businesses, because that shit is EXPENSIVE. One would think that they are mighty inexpensive here though, considering the amount one would see on a daily basis... But to the average Nigerian its simply a symbol of a life well lived and worth celebrating...... Because in this thing call life there are so many detractors and unfortunately many of us, fall victim to them along the way.

In many parts of the world, life is a struggle and in a country like Nigeria where the average life expectancy is 47 years and access to basic resources are fairly limited, one can understand why great importance is placed on achievement and celebration. In life, we must always remember those who are less fortunate and those who were unable to attain the level of achievement or even the age that we have..... At the same time we should also try not to be envious of those that have attained, because we do not know what that attainment entails, or what is in store for us down the road.

So we got to be thankful for all that we have, what ever little it might be and we really should celebrate, even in times of adversity and recession. Because strangely enough, I have realised that poverty and want, have a way of bringing out creativity in people. A creativity that they did not even know exist. But this all depends on the lens through which we view our life circumstances. For instance, if we get up in the morning and our car refuses to work and we are forced to travel to work or worst case unable to make it to work that day, most of us might be damn upset. But think how thankful those people who suffered that same faith on that dreaded Tuesday morning of September 11th, 2001 feel. I am certain many of them were mighty upset when they went outside to find their back tire flat, or their radiator leaking, but today in hind-sight they are giving praises to a higher being and celebrating this thing called life. Because it is worth celebrating, but unfortunately most of us wait until something tragic happens for us to realise.

I call on you today, to stop waiting and join in on the celebration, because the champagne is popped and the music is playing, so lets Celebrate LIFE......