I remember a song by Adekunle Gold, titled "IRE" The first line of the first stanza is exactly the topic of the HIVENAIJA PROMPT for this week.
https://youtu.be/1n6PP_At3BY?feature=shared
The first stanza:
*“The grass is greener on the other side
That’s what I thought before I took the ride
I burned my bridges, so I’d never look back
But, if I had known,
The life I was searching for, is looking me right in the eye, oh
If I had known, the life I was searching for, was already my own.”*
The above lyrics are very synonymous with my personal experience. I thought the place I was going was better than where I was, but I was totally wrong.
As a fresh graduate of Mass Communication, I was assigned to a convent for my NYSC (National Youth Service Corps), and trust me, it was a beautiful experience. I served in the eastern part of my country, Imo State.
A location filled with beautiful ladies and beautiful delicacies. That adage about food being the way to a man’s heart is not totally false after all.
The big Catholic convent I was assigned was a whole new experience for me. There were several departments, with several cadres of nuns and bishops assigned as heads. They were so kind. I was assigned to their educational sector as a teacher, although I minor in some other departments periodically.
It is normal to make findings as a visitor, so I have heard a lot of negative and positive things about Imo State and their indigenes. People talked about their beautiful girls and their delicacies, their hardworking indigenes, their culture, norms, customs, and lots more.
One thing I can confirm to date is that Imo ladies are beautiful, and their delicacies are lovely. Their indigenes on different occasions gave us several tasty treats, and they were so generous they would always tell us to come back for more.
The major challenge I had then was understanding their language. “Ibolashi” or “Otutuoma” means "good morning," and “Ndewo” or “Ilola” was their normal greeting, more like “hello” or “una don come back?”
To be sincere, life in Imo back then was soft, and I enjoyed every bit of it. But I had always been a fan of city life, working for big companies, and other luxurious cravings. The funny thing was I never had the opportunity to work in a bank or pharmaceutical industry while I was in school.
I had always imagined landing a job at such companies, thinking the grass is greener on their side than whatever I currently had back then. Little did I know I was signing up for “Shege Pro Max,” which can be simply interpreted as “trouble.”
After my service year, I left Imo State in search of my dream job. I wrote several applications, had several interviews, got some offers that didn’t really seem like what I wanted, and finally landed a job in the pharmaceutical industry—a dream come true!
After working there for a few months, I had two accidents on my way to work, but I thankfully got out of both alive. While working there, I got sick for almost a week.
After working for close to two years, although I was getting paid and feeling fulfilled for some time, I believe the stress and other challenges spoiled the whole fun, and soon I started working on getting another job.
In Imo State, I had an accommodation on the premises where I worked, with other facilities and perks aside from the ones from the indigenes. I could have retained my job after NYSC, but I decided to leave in search of what I called my dream job.
The grass definitely seemed greener on the other side of life outside Imo, but after treading the pastures of my supposed dream, I realized I had left what I actually needed for what I wanted, and the grass on the other side wasn’t so green after all.
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STOPGuess greener pastures always comes with alot of hard work pass
Yeah.. Greener pastures are not always green except one takes intentional steps to make things work.. thanks for your contribution.
You welcome😁
That's it about life, so many ups and downs. Keep focusing, one day you will catch up with your dreams.
Nice thoughts. Thanks for sharing. 🙏🙂
Thank you too, you are welcome.