My favorite movies are ones where someone turns an adversity or a weakness or a disability or being an outcast into a source of strength. My favorite heroes are the zero to hero ones, the grass to grace ones and the ones who made it in spite of the odds/environment.
One question I didn't ponder about these heroes is - couldn't they have run away from the adversity or the demeaning environment?
Today I am going to share the other side of my Nigerian coin. The other side of the gloom and doom that's eerily visible in the country.
I think being in this country gives us all the conditions and ingredients needed to be a hero. Whether one is successful or not is a different matter.
We have all read about how the current most powerful country got that status a grace de World War 2. One of the lowest points for humans on earth, if there was life on Mars, moon and Venus, I think many of the people who put all their energy into making the most of the gloom would have shifted their focus to emigrating to Mars, moon and Venus.
Again, many of us have heard of Carlos Slim and many of the world richest men who got their big lift in life from staying + investing when others couldn't wait to get out. That was how Carlos Slim hit it big, he simply bought at very low prices from those hurrying to get out of Mexico during the lows of 1980s. Just like we are having our own lows right now.
Sometimes, like now, I tell myself that I have more to gain from staying than leaving. Yes, I can't argue away the risks that mount with the insecurity and poor leadership. If the other times don't overwhelm the sometimes, I hope to write novels that will capture life and our daily struggles so that the generations after us will read them to know what life was like for us (same way we read Charles Dickens to know what 19th century England was like, how Mark Twain captured 19th century America and how Molière captured 17th century France). I hope to also find many underpriced assets and investments to own and I hope to be very contented with the Nigeria I am served.
As for the topic of this post, it sure does take a good level of contentment to stay back to tap into the creativity that comes from dancing in the rain, calmly thinking while surrounded by a large conflagration and wealth often comes from tapping into opportunities people are too busy focused on something else to see. Most importantly, happiness comes from within. If you are not happy in the current Nigeria, you most likely won't be happy anywhere. There is always something to complain about in even the heaven to our Nigerian hell - tax, racism, cold, food, neighbours, strict laws and language. You are either a happy person or an unhappy person. Yes, an unhappy person can be temporarily happy -- it's his birthday, he won a lottery, something pleasant just happened to him. Events are always temporary happenings, and if they are the source of one's happiness then that happiness is a short lived one. True happiness comes from within. And I know that I am a happy person.
Are you?
