The things we take for granted

 So, I'm finally doing this 😀. Sharing my thoughts on a blog and not just on an MS Word document, the 'Note' app on my phone or a voice recording.

Quick background info, I'm Nigerian, born in the late 80's, relocated to Canada in the Spring of 2019, got married to the LOML in January 2020 and been continuously navigating this thing called life...…Shortest background info ever 😎.

This particular thought is something that I'm sure crosses everyone's mind once in a while, how we take life for granted. Well, lately it's been heavy on my mind because of recent happenings.

Like I mentioned, I moved to Canada in 2019 and lets just say I didn't really enjoy the summer that year. Owing to the fact that I was just trying to catch my breath and get settled in a new environment, I was engaged at the time and was saving for my wedding etc. so the plan was to get it all over with and then finally enjoy my life, probably the next year (2020).

You know how that went 😂. Then came the pandemic and a global lockdown two months after my wedding and so, I and the rest of the world had to be indoors for the most of that year. My wife also couldn't relocate from Nigeria as we had planned, because of the lockdown (She eventually came over sometime in May). 

Anyways, Summer of 2020 and 2021 was mostly spent indoors and being overly careful. A lot of events were cancelled and nothing was happening 'outside'.

Fast forward to the current year (2022), things have started to open up a bit and I tell myself 'This Summer, I will be OUTSIDE'. I'm going to attend any and every event possible (we had already bought some tickets to start - Davido, Chris Rock and BackStreet Boys), I will go to cook-outs with friends, you name it. Anywhere there's fun, I would try to be there and have a blast (myself and my wife obviously 😏).

You know how they say you make plans and God laughs? well, that's what it felt like. 2-3 weeks to the official start of Summer, I go on to fracture my ankle playing soccer 😂. I needed to have surgery and be in a cast/walking boot for 6 weeks after surgery. I'm currently in week one and a half.

I have already missed the Davido and Chris Rock shows and will also miss the BackStreet Boys show. Today is my birthday 🥳, I would normally want to go out and probably have dinner with my wife and friends, but unfortunately I will be home today.

Oh, we were also buying a house and a new car (tear rubber like we call it), I was day dreaming of how I would be driving the car all around, looking fresh and crisp 😂. The car has arrived and I cant drive it. I mean, I would still drive it, there's just been a delay in the freshness and crispness.

If I'm lucky, I'll probably be on my feet at the end of summer. Some days I'm upset, some days I'm just grateful to God, because I know it could've been worse. I'm typically the type of person that likes to believe in signs, so a part of me really feels like if I didn't get this injury to keep me at home, something worse could've happened to me. 

But, yet again, I'm going to miss out on this summer and I can't help but laugh at myself because of all the plans I had made. And in all of this, it also hits me, how we take life for granted, making future plans like we know for sure how everything will pan out.

I'm not saying don't make plans, we need plans to move forward. I'm only saying once in a while, stop, relax and be grateful for life itself, because we tend to take it for granted. 

Sometimes I think to myself, especially when I found out that I needed to have surgery (I was so scared) - 'What if this was a more serious injury, life threatening and all, so that's how I would've just gone without enjoying all the things I've planned and worked for, both now and in the future - God forbid'. It really puts things into some sort of perspective.

This life na once, live your best life and be grateful for every day and every breath.