TRANSITIONING INTO GRATITUDE

Hi Fam, it’s Esther Marcus of Endowedwrites and here’s our last piece for the year😉.

I gave it a hard thought as to what to really write about before the year elapses. I considered writing a Christmas love story, sounds cool yeah? But guess what? There was no inspiration to write even tho I knew in detail what the story would be like. 

As you know, I love to write you premium content only, but this one wasn’t giving🥲.

Then one day, like an unforeseen rainfall that slaps hard on the skin, the idea came running not just into my head, but also my veins! I’ll be writing you a short story, narrated in the mind's eye of my beloved friend, Pelumi.

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Just like every other student, I was finally glad that the ASUU strike of almost a year had been called off. 

Let me not even bore you with how I coped during this period. If you were also at your parent’s house, then you will totally understand how it was for me.

Also, if you were a “hanging graduate” or if you have ever been in these shoes you’d feel my plight.  I mean, how can I be in my final year for almost three years? Let me not even start thinking about how I did a five-year course and how those whom we matriculated together were already done with their NYSC. But here I was, at the mercies of ASUU and the University of Ilorin. 

While I hate to compare myself to others, it was just a thought I couldn’t get out of my head.

Unlike other students, I wasn’t all ecstatic when the strike was called off. I just gave a sigh of relief, it would all be over soon. I mean, I was done with my final exams, all I needed to do was complete my project, do my defence then say a huge goodbye to Unilorin.

It was Monday, so I decided to go to school by the weekend. I needed enough time to pack my stuff, gather money and likewise do one or two things here in Abeokuta, before going to Ilorin. 

I was already falling deep into sleep when my phone blared. I struggled to locate my phone with my sleepy eyes so I could check who was calling. The sleep vanished from my eyes immediately! Guess who was calling? My Level Adviser! What had I done this time around? 

“Hello sir” I answered with a shaky yet firm voice, trying to hide my nervousness. 

“How are you? When are you coming to school?” He asked with a quite neutral tone.

“This weekend sir”

 “Do you know school has resumed and you have just three days to submit the final copy of your project and then defence occurs in three days?”

“Yes sir, I’m planning to… he…llo...sir…”  Oops! This man ended the call o. Maybe his airtime finished. Regardless, It’s his love for me. 

Anyways, it dawned on me that I had to travel the next day.  At that point, sleep was now far away, I needed to inform my parents so they could do the needful and I also needed to start packing my loads. 

Phew! I was finally going to school after almost a year. The journey to the park was just ten mins drive from my home and it was quite easier because I carried only a small travel bag and my backpack. 

This woman was beginning to annoy me, she didn’t even spare the corn! I don’t blame her sha and it’s none of my business. It was a “enter and pay” system the transport company adopted, people also had few loads; so there was almost no reason to be delayed at the park.

One very dark man who looked like he had been hustling since he was born passed a book round for us to fill. Let’s not even go Click here to connect with me on Whatsappto how his teeth looked; I guess it became that brown from too much smoking and maybe kolanut.

“I won’t have a cause to use this thing”  I whispered to myself as I filled out my next of kin details and my blood group. 

When traveling, I love to sit at the edge of any seat in the bus but that’s if the front seat is taken. However, my predicament was even worse! No front seat, no edge seat so I just had to settle for the middle. Worst part was that I had to seat beside the corn woman; that was the most comfortable seat as there was no space at the edge.

I put my small travel bag in the boot and I carried my bag pack with me on the bus. I had to protect delicate stuff in the bag, especially my laptop. 

The freshness in the air and the sight of the trees dancing brought peace to my soul. Looking at the tree more closely, I felt like they were waving at me. Of course I deserved those waves, being a hanging graduate for over nine months wasn’t a joke. A pregnant woman would have become a nursing mother by now. 

My travel wear was quite convenient; black joggers, an ash roundneck and my Puma Pam to go with the outfit. I had a bad habit of pulling out my phone to check the time even when I had a wristwatch on. It was ten minutes to 11 am.I thought to myself; ‘Before 2pm, I should be in Ilorin’, as we were currently on the Ogbomosho road.

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I took a nap for 30 mins and woke up to a good jam coming from the driver’s angle. I was right to have entered this 16 seater coaster bus. I picked up my phone to write out my to-do list for my remaining months in school; I didn’t want to get carried away by the ecstasy of seeing my friends again.

Jesus Jesus! Oluwa oo! Jesu sanu! 

There was a huge rampage in the bus! What was going on!

Jesuuuuu!! Jesuuu!!! 

Even the bus driver was screaming! Oh my goodness, the brake of the bus had failed! We were moving at a high speed! There were trailers in front of us and behind us! The road was narrow!

At this point, I was sweating all over! Should I ask God for forgiveness? Should I raise my legs or stay in a certain way so I don’t break my spinal cord? Should I have faith and command the brake to work? 

Everything happened within the blink of an eye. The bus crashed and there was a fatal accident. 

I got to understand what real terror meant. Life and death looked me in the eye! It was clearer to me that as thin as a strand of thread, is the line between life and death.

We all laid there helpless after the crash! Splatter of blood and broken bones were all over the place. A once complete bus of lively people was now roofless and disfigured. The bus didn’t look anything near to what it was like when we first entered the bus.

I wouldn’t like to disturb your mental health with an apt description of how we all laid helpless and almost lifeless at the valley where our bus crashed into.

The corn woman was bleeding profusely. The driver’s leg was stuck; he couldn't move, while his head was badly injured. I couldn’t see clearly. All I could see was myself. I felt life gradually oozing from my nostrils. I was breathing inconsistently and shakily, determined to fight for my life, asking God for mercy, afraid that the bus may explode like I have seen in Indian movies.

When will help come? I couldn’t shout or cry. All I could do was beg God for my life and also for mercy. Lots of thoughts squeezed their way into my head. Was my body pieced like sugar cane? Was my spinal cord broken? Will I loose a significant part of me? Will I be disabled?  I tried to find peace, the only thing I wanted to do at this moment was to BREATHE. 

I heard siren from a distance, the villagers and passers-by had called for help. They carried all of us in an ambulance! Some of us were rushed to the nearest hospital at Lautech Teaching Hospital while others were sent to University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital. This was the last thing I heard, the doctors checking who was still alive, who needed emergency and other things to be done immediately.

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There were lots of wailing and crying in the hospital. I woke up to seeing my mom and dad beside me. I’ve never seen my mom in so much pain. 

“Pele okomi” She whispered shakily and softly in pain. She felt like taking away my pain and putting it all on her shoulders.

You’ll be fine son, we are here for you… My father’s red eyes betrayed him. He was trying to be strong for all of us but it seemed as though his strength failed him.

Although waking up to their faces was shocking (I wondered how they got here within a short period) what was more terrifying was what my diagnosis was going to be like.

“What did the doctor say?” I have never imagined myself asking such a question, it seemed like Nollywood to me. 

“Just focus on resting”, Mom said, pressing her warm palm into mine. But this wasn’t what I needed, I wanted to know what the next few years of my life would be like! Would I spend them on a wheel cheer? Would I settle for the hospital bed, I just needed a ray of hope.

Wincing in pain, I demanded to know. My parents kept giving each other eye contacts, none of them were able to break the news to me.

“Oh, he’s awake!” Dr. Gbadebo, one of the best doctors at UITH, approached us. “It’s good to see that you are awake Mr. Pelumi, indeed you are a fighter.”

 “Thank you doctor, please, what is going on?” I asked with all the courage I had in me.

The doctor looked at my parents for a ‘go ahead signal’ before he gave any report. Whatever this tall, light skinned man with a pointed nose reported was going to determine how the next phase of my life would be.  I gulped a spittle in all anxiety.

“You lost consciousness for almost 24 hours immediately after you were brought into the hospital”, he started,  “so we had to assist you with some oxygen to stabilize your breath. Thank God you are safe.” 

“We also carried out some X-rays and thankfully, no part of your skull or organs was affected. However, your hip bones were fractured and your legs broken. Don’t worry there’s no harm. With surgery, you’ll be fine. After the surgery, you’ll take some time to heal and then begin physiotherapy. Just give it time, and you’ll get back on your feet again. We have also fixed a date for surgery which would be communicated soon. Now give me a moment to check on other patients.” He said, patting my back lightly as he walked out of the ward 

“You heard the doctor, it’ll be alright” My mom whispered.

Just like that, my life turned around for bad within the glimpse of an eye. Just a few days ago, I could run as fast as I wanted to, but right now, I couldn’t even feel a toe.

God why would you let this happen to me? This wasn’t the promise you made to me! After over nine months of my life being on a hold, I finally found a ray of hope, now it has been shattered. Maybe I shouldn’t have traveled! I wish I didn’t pick that call that day, I wouldn’t have been under pressure to travel back to school, maybe I wouldn’t have gotten into this mess. Maybe if you hadn’t provided for my parents, they wouldn’t have given me money to travel back to school! I started sobbing softly before I knew it. And while I lamented to my parents, there was a sudden uproar at the next ward. 

Haaaaaa! Yeeeee! Egbami! Doctors do something! Oko mi! Ade mi! Hold unto me! Haaa! Te mi ba mi! Haaaa! Yeee! One woman in our ward  suddenly started to wail. 

Apparently, they just broke the news of her husband’s death to her.

Who would be able to bear this grief? I just wanted to get out of the hospital, it was traumatizing. 

“That’s the driver's wife”, the nurse said as she made way to put another drip which was meant to help reduce pain and  prepare my system for my surgery which was to happen soon. 

What? The driver of my bus didn’t survive? This immediately set my head straight. What if I had lost my life? What if I broke my spinal cord and end up in a wheelchair? What if I would never be able to have kids again? What if I became mentally disabled? 

Different what ifs stormed through my head, I began to recollect, and at that instant, the Lord began to minister to me. He was realer than ever before. 

Son, you do a lot of things without putting me first. The essence of putting me first isn’t really to put you in bondange or limit your freedom. You see, when you put me first, everything in your life would be under my covenant, Do you remember Psalm 91 Vs 1? Those who dwell in my secret place, will abide under my shadow. So what happens when you don’t dwell? You become exposed to the wiles of the devil when you leave my covering. 

Yes, the world’s pressure would come; you’d see your peers do better than you, and slowly, you’d begin to drift away from my presence, seeking for what is not lost. Slowly, the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life encapsulates you. You’d begin to desire the things that are not of the spirit and just like that a drifting happens. 

When you drift, I cannot protect you. Do you know why? Because it is a principle I have laid. If the prince of this world comes and finds his fruit in you, I can hardly protect you. Do you remember the story of my servant job? The devil came to me for his life, but he found nothing of him (the devil) in my servant job, so he had no authority over His life. 

Jesus also said; the prince of this world has found nothing in me. 

The key is guarding your heart at all times because out of it flows life’s issues. (Phil 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.)

 As the Holy Spirit ministered to me on that hospital bed, it changed my life forever. My mindset transitioned into gratitude. I apologised immediately and thanked the Lord for mercy instead of grumbling and complaining.

My surgery went well, my bills were paid. The Lord granted my parents journey mercies when they came to visit me at the hospital, I defended my project on the hospital bed, God showed me mercies with my supervisors. I was hospitalized for over 60 days. I pooped, urinated and did everything on that bed. God surrounded me with beautiful people. 

It was like I started my life all over again. After several days of treatment, I got to the physiotherapy stage. It was a stage where I needed to start doing physical exercises so I could walk again, and come back into my full glory. 

The most emotional moment of my life was the day of my discharge from the Hospital. For the past 60+ days, I have dreamt of this day. 

My friends and family were there to cheer me up. They brought me flowers and lots of gift. And to crown it all up, my name was out on the graduating list at the University of Ilorin, with a beautiful grade. 

My life changed ever since I decided to TRANSITION my mindset INTO GRATITUDE.

So I put it to you today, what are you struggling with? What’s that very difficult situation you are dealing with?  One of the most difficult thing to do is being thankful when there’s absolutely no reason to be. It’s even safe to say it’s a foolish thing to do. Remember, the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of men.

Today, gather strength, hope and courage. Think of a reason to be thankful. For only in gratitude can we manifest positivity at its highest level. Job is a perfect example. 

Very importantly, don’t leave God’s presence for in Him we live, move and have our being.

Here’s to a beautiful and prosperous 2023.

This short story is specially dedicated to my friend, Kapo, Dona Pelumi.

I want you to know that you are a fighter, and that Your life would be a testimony to others.

If you enjoyed my story, kindly give a review in the comment section.