BACK THROUGH THE YEARS

 

I was thinking this morning.... Last Tuesday, we had our departmental team building away day. It was a time to get away from it all - the meetings, inspections  and long hours of looking into the computer. As part of the activities lined up to help us unwind were games and karaoke sessions.

I had never partaken in any karaoke session in the past, not only because I am not a great singer but primarily because I usually do not visit karaoke lounges. The closest to karaoke I have ever had was singing along with the church choir.

On this day, I summoned up courage and took the microphone. My colleagues were surprised, fixing their eyes on me. I loosened up even as the beats of Dolly Parton 'Coats of Many Colours' rang and the lyrics started scrolling on the screen.

'Back through the years, I go wandering once again. Back to seasons of my youth....' I sang the first line and kept singing even as my colleagues joined me on the floor. On and on I went until the very last words, '...Made just for me.' The score? 90%. As everyone clapped and gave me a hug, I felt like a child and was truly taken back to the days of my youth in Warri.

Back in days, we didn't have karaoke, but we danced ulaga (singing ulaga kiledemo) while the girls played ten-ten. We didn't have video games, so we created our version of action game, 'war-start'. We played soccerli, koto (from snail shells) sardine-key (nearest to the wall), ceeway (or suwe) and rubber seed. Every day was away day for us as kids.

The world is a different place today. It's so difficult for us to unwind these days. It seems and sometimes feels like we are carrying the whole world on our shoulders. With heightened insecurity, our children have become prisoners at home while we the parents are the prison wardens. Little wonder mental health challenges are on the rise.

Take life easy. Create time to refresh, laugh and unwind. Sing and dance with your children or with the choir. Otherwise, sing unto the Lord (Psalms 96:1).

Stay hopeful. God's got our back.

Happy Sunday!

......Just the thoughts of a certain Wey Mey