THERE’S MORE TO YOU THAN YOU SEE TODAY
How the year 2017 unfolded for me made me question the concept of progress in life. I started the year with great aspirations and clear goals of what I wanted to do and achieve. You may be surprised (or not) to know that everything I planned for the year didn’t go as expected. Typical, right? Not sure about you but there are somethings in life that will not just go as planned
This may yet be the most difficult, most important blog post I will ever write. The title may not do justice to the content you are about to read. The story is personal but not unique. It’s a reflection of stories that I have heard or of people I have met before. It may not be peculiar or uncommon, yet the impact is unbelievably huge. Not all who have walked this un-chosen path ever come out uninjured or stronger.
I remember shivering, standing on one of London’s overground train platforms with my fiancée (now my wife) on a Sunday evening in Autumn 2002, waiting for a train heading towards East London. I had just arrived from Nigeria to the UK to pursue my masters degree. She had warned me about the winter season that was round the corner.
One of the things I learnt quickly about seasons in the UK was how to prepare for them. From that time till February the following year, I wore two trousers, three/four layers of tops, and my overall winter coat. Not forgetting my two layers of thick socks and gloves.