Steem4nigeria Accelerator Contest Week 110: Family Moments

Family, they say, is everything. And yes, that's something I totally agree with. When the whole world pushes you aside and tends not to see the good in you, family is where you run to. It's your safe space. Your family will always stand by you no matter what. And that itself is everything.

Contentment. It seems like a watchword for us. My parents made sure to provide the basic needs of life for us as children. My dad usually comes back home from work with snacks or anything edible that would make us happy.

He made sure to provide the things we needed the most and made us see the need to not reach out for the things we cannot afford. This has been very helpful, especially now that I'm an adult. Being content with what I have has helped me not try to get the things I cannot afford or try to be in a competition with anyone because of material things.

I see this as the best thing instilled in us because the world now is full of competition. Everyone wants to show off what they have. People borrow from others just to fit in with what society says or just to make an impression. But contentment has made us satisfied with the things we have. Rather than wanting what we cannot afford, we are thankful for what we have and work hard for whatever we may want that is important to us. I see that as a good thing.

I can vividly remember when my dad bought a film. We finished eating that evening and all sat down in the sitting room to watch this film. It was an interesting film. It was a popular film at the time-themed 'Okon Lagos.' It was a comic film, and so we laughed our hearts out.

We conversed while we watched. I think it had two parts, as films then were never just complete. They came in different parts that you have to buy so many of before completing a particular movie. So we watched the two parts that night. It was fun having my family around, laughing, jesting, and watching that movie.

I've learned that truly there is dignity in labor. When you work for your money to make ends meet, there's joy and satisfaction. This shaped my life. At a young age, I usually followed my mum to her shop. She owns a big provision shop in Calabar. I grew up seeing her waking up very early to go set up her business daily.

She put in so much effort in her business that it kept growing every day. It was not easy because it's quite tasking attending to different people on a daily basis, but she did that smiling, and this made her have so many customers. My dad, on the other hand, is a carpenter. He worked really hard. Whenever he had a contract, he made sure to get good products, and this gave him more contracts. Watching them do these things made me see the importance of hard work. I could see the satisfaction they had whenever they made money. Even though they were tired, they persisted. I learned from them. I've grown into a lady who believes that hard work actually pays.

I once worked for a company, and even though there were many other agents, many shop owners preferred to work with me. They saw me as diligent and have good customer relationships. It is satisfying to get payment for a job well done. It doesn't matter how difficult the work may be; once you get paid, you forget whatever troubles you faced while at work and just feel the satisfaction that comes with it.

I would like to spend more time with my family. When I was younger, I was longing for a time I would grow up and leave home, be on my own, and make my own decisions. But now that I'm on my own, all I want is to spend more time with my family. It's difficult to go home. We're never even complete. My sister is married.My brother stays alone. I stay alone. There's just no going back to how it used to be. There's no going back to how my dad would make fisherman soup for us to eat or how we would all eat from the same plate. There's just no going back to the laughter and banter we shared together in our room as siblings. There are so many no 'going backs.' All become wishes. And that's life.

At the end of it all, I love my family. I won't trade my family for anything else.

I invite @dprof, @alexmartin04 and @bossj23