For Crying Out Loud Don’t Die, Wake Up!

I am “yelling” at myself too.

There’s this green plant in my dorm room’s balcony. It wasn’t taken care of by me nor my roommates until a friend who visited us told us the usefulness of the plant. 

After her words, I scrambled to my feet, filled a large bowl with water, and practically sprinted towards it. The soil it was in was dry as a desert and drank in every drop so fast, I almost went to get more— I didn’t want to add to its stress by drowning it. I reached to caress some of the still-green leaves. 

It would have to make it.

It had to live and I had to just hope it wouldn’t wither away.

Like an Ivy, the plant survived. I decided that would be the first and last time I didn’t look after it. From then on, it would stay hydrated, lush, and lovely— just like me.

It had been so well taken care of for a while now after it almost died, and now I haven’t even been in the room in over two months. News of the extended strike gives me the certainty that the plant will die before the forced holiday ends. 

Truth be told, it stands no chance at survival with no one to water its soil or monitor its light consumption. 

I can only hope it would stay miraculously alive.

But YOU?

You are not that plant.

You can stand a chance at survival if you feed and nurture yourself. You can survive, same with what is in you.

There is a deposit in you that shouldn’t waste away.

Don’t put your potential to sleep. The knowledge you’ve acquired shouldn’t die. You’ve got life, and that’s the biggest chance you’ll ever get. 

Productively do something, don’t just sit and waste away. Learn and grow. Feed and nurture yourself. Invest in yourself and live a valuable life.

So don’t sleep,

Don’t die,

Wake up!

I am Oluwaferanmi,

And you are loved by God.❤

P.S: Pray for my plant, please.

Will you?

Edited by Daniela Obike.

If you haven’t already, check out my other recent posts:

• Opposition is expected. Proceed anyway.March 31, 2023
  My fellowship recently had a Bible study quiz on the book of Ezra, and after reading the book I decided to trek through the book of Nehemiah. To understand the fullness of Nehemiah, you have to travel through Ezra first. Better yet, go all the way back to 1 + 2 Kings and slog your […]
• Insights on Being 19: A Gift of Life Lessons.January 26, 2023
  Socrates famously said, “The unexamined life is not worth living” and while this dictum is certainly true, self-reflection is not necessarily an easy thing to practice. We live in an incredibly fast-paced world, our mobile phones are constantly buzzing, social media is infinitely calling, and Netflix always has something new to binge on. Taking the […]
• Try to Save the Plant.November 18, 2022
  On cutting off the dead things and watching new things come to life. Five months ago, I wrote about a plant on my room’s balcony that takes nothing but occasional water to keep it alive. And still, that plant started suffering from the very beginning. If you remember the post, I’m sad to announce that […]
• Confessions of a Nigerian Skinny Girl: I do not need your rude comments.August 1, 2022
  This one is for my skinny sisters. “You’re this thin, yet you’re not beautiful? You’d better not add weight.” That unsolicited advice from my former classmate never left my head. Her words messed me up badly. That was 2017, my first year as a high school Senior.  “You’d better not add weight.” Her words followed […]
• Trust God through the storm.July 21, 2022
  “This is just an ambivalent chapter in my life. I will get through it. I’ll get through it, I’ll get through it, I’ll get through it, I will.” I don’t know when exactly I started giving myself this pep talk – or why. It just sort of formed. I wake up every morning, and I […]

Social Media Detox: Musings.

It’s no secret that young adults spend a lot of time on social media. Of course, it is an amazing tool, but at the same time, it can be addictive! When I found myself being too dependent on the media and lonely, stressed out and unproductive, dealing with low confidence and poor decision-making, having trouble sleeping, coupled with eye fatigue and no control over my usage – I knew it was time for a break.

What I did? I picked a post-it note, and wrote down reasons for a break.

• I was fed up with feeling like I could never put down my phone.
• I wanted to regain my free time AND my mental health.
• I needed to take a break to be alone with my own thoughts to rejuvenate.
• I wanted to be in control of how I feel using something or doing something, not the other way around.
• I needed to declutter… my schedule, habits, time, goals, mind and life.

I turned off notifications and set time limits, set my major apps as hidden and pfft, I went off.

Here are the realizations I came to after my detox, some achievements, some awakenings:

1. I finished a whole series with it’s prequel in three days. It was 5,456-paged. And no, it wasn’t just smooth reading. I highlighted and wrote notes. That was a new height in my reading history!
2. There was a task on my to-do list that’s been bumped for months. I just kept dreading doing it. However, I sat down and was able to focus completely on the task and get majority of it done in one sitting(which took about two hours of writing). I’m proud of myself for making progress on that task.
3. I outlined an idea for a new project.
4. I spent most of my time on YouTube and Udemy. (Reedsy contents are the best!) Over time, I’ve been taking courses halfway, always dreading assignments. This time around, I completed a course.
5. I took out a day to go through my emails – never knew I subscribed to many newsletters with amazing contents and had been missing out on a lot.
6. I started a Bible study plan on my YouVersion Bible app. I’ve always seen studying my Bible as a task, now I’m slowly easing into it. Believe me, it’s everything amazing!
7. I am addicted to WordPress and Instagram. I missed those environments more than any other.
8. I love the silence more than I know. And I love having conversations with myself.
9. I realized that the never-ending headache and eye pain I usually suffer was probably from having a 10 hour average screen time. Maybe, maybe not.
10. The world wouldn’t stop, my absence won’t stop anything. And that’s a tiny bit depressing.
11. I’ve been missing out on a lot of sleep. About time, I pick up that habit.
12. Walks are relaxing and beneficial. I’ll definitely be taking long walks now.
13. Even if I don’t stay on social media, any information that is useful enough, will still reach me.
14. I love reading, but I hated schoolbooks. I can say schoolbooks are not that bad now.

The detox wasn’t easy and at a point, I downloaded Candy Crush. To know me is to know I love the Candy Crush game. It turned to be a bad idea as it was super addictive. After a few hours of non-stop play, I deleted the app.

I’m not of the opinion that social media is all bad, neither am I judging people for using social media. Like anything else, I think social media is great in moderation. It’s helped me do some amazing things and meet some awesome people. But, I do hope people reflect on their usage of social media and think about taking a break, if nothing else just to see how it makes them feel.

Addiction is a scary thing. It’s definitely not something any of us want to admit to. Taking this break from social media has more than proven to me that I was addicted to it. Was it an unhealthy addiction? It was.

I feel happier now. Not that I’m normally unhappy, but I often feel stressed or strained. Now, I’m of clearer thought and less stressed out. My productivity, attention span and clarity of thought all increased greatly with living without social media for two weeks.

The biggest benefit has been the removal of negativity and unnecessary information. Taking a break, surely, can be beneficial to your health and happiness.

I’m thinking about what I will do on social media now that my detox is up. I don’t want to regress back into old addictive habits and definitely do not want to get sucked back into social expectations and notification addiction.

So, no social media usage during my mornings and no social media usage after 10pm – I need me to help me sleep well.

I really value taking control of my time. And my next social media detox aim is for 30 days. I promised myself to be uncomfortable this year, and I won’t stop at anything.

P.S: I must admit, my friend, Indigo’s blog post on her social media break gave me the needed push to go on a hiatus.

Have you ever gone on a social media break?

I’d like to hear your stories in the comments.

Thanks for reading!🥰

I am Oluwaferanmi,

And you are loved by God.❤️

If you haven’t already, check out my other recent posts:

• Opposition is expected. Proceed anyway.
• Insights on Being 19: A Gift of Life Lessons.
• Try to Save the Plant.
• Confessions of a Nigerian Skinny Girl: I do not need your rude comments.
• Trust God through the storm.

To Ascend or to Descend?

Awo did me bad. Its stairs ain’t smiling also. They offer no iota of sympathy. Every day begs the question, “To ascend or to descend?” Over time, I’ve found it easier to descend than to ascend. Yeah, it is easier and less stressful to descend than to ascend.

The Obafemi Awolowo female hall of the University of Ibadan prides itself on being the largest hall in West Africa, with 9 blocks, each with 7 floors. My friend resides on the topmost floor – poor me must visit, and that’s a punishment; climbing stairs shouldn’t be termed as a form of exercise. Now do I hate it? I do. I hate ascending.

It’s easier to descend, you have to agree with me. No pant. No stress. No midway pause. No heavy sigh. Just descend, that’s all.

Ascending can be likened to giving yourself purposely to growth and choosing to take a step higher each day in every aspect – academically, spiritually, and morally. It takes sacrifice to ascend. It takes having a purpose to ascend. While I would love a good book or cool music or a nice sleep, I have to ascend. Why? I love my friend. That’s a purpose right there.

Ascending takes courage. It demands willingness and intentionality, same as time and patience. That shouldn’t deter you though, it’s all worth it in the end.

Ascending is picking up that book you’ve left to pile up dust. Ascending is giving yourself that needed push or necessary pep talk to do that task you’ve neglected. Ascending is devoting a specific time to commune with your God and for personal Bible study daily. Ascending is taking the read one step at a time – it gets better.

Even Jesus Christ didn’t stick with the “lows”, He embraced the “highs.” Descending may seem to be much more attractive, but it only keeps you down. Don’t lay down, embrace height.

Here’s a question to ask yourself each beautiful morning, “To ascend or to descend?”

Choose to ascend daily. Choose to build yourself up daily. Choose to grow daily.

It’s all worth it in the end.

I am Oluwaferanmi,

And you are loved by God.❤️

I’m an ascending queen!❤️