A PIECE OF ME?

Sitting down in that hotel room and thinking why I was there in the first place was not what pissed me off, but that I came with the anticipation of getting a gift and meeting what I met was just the peak for me.

So, it started from a few days ago; I received a call from my sister that we received a letter. I was a little uneasy when she said so because our rent was due and the money we had earlier gathered went into the treatment of our late granddad but we tried paying half and the landlord refused.

Anyways, it was a letter to vacate the house in 7 days. Mehn! This wasn't easy at all, but we decided to try family. E no work o! The person we thought would accommodate us till we got ourselves, bounced us, after the plenty sacrifices I know my mum made for the person in the past. Finally sha, God made a way, but it was very uncomfortable and this was just about nine days to my birthday.

Fast forward to a day to my birthday when I received a call from one of my senior friends, who said I should stop by the hotel he usually has business meetings in for my birthday gift. I gladly dropped my bag off at church and hurriedly went to collect the gift as I had an all-night rehearsal.

It was very unusual for me to be directed to a room to meet with him, but his PA was always with him so I was not fussed.

As I entered the room, everything was normal, so I excitedly waited to receive my first gift for the new year of my life, but on the contrary, uncle brought out N300k in cash and said I should sleep with him and I should consider the fact that I had rent issues.

My rent was 250k, but "would I lose my value before this man because of rent?" I asked myself. He eventually topped the money till it got above N800k but I declined on every addition.

Something in me told me I was stupid like some of you are saying right now in your hearts. Another thing told me I was right, and I was stronger than this. After so much struggle and shenanigans, I left the room angry, heartbroken and happy at the same time.

I was angry because I felt I would have avoided this incident by not going in the first place. I was angry that people could think they can use your weakness to get you to do their will. I was heartbroken that someone thought so lowly of me by trying to buy my body because of my pressing need for a roof over my head. I was proud and happy that I had the courage to say ‘no’ especially in this trying time of my life.

It had taken me a few days before I was able to share the story with my mum and sister who were in the sad/happy mode after we had moved out.

Why did I share this piece of me?

It’s definitely not for reasons of bragging the title "strong-willed or the most modest girl", I am actually a work in progress. But it is to tell that the girl out there, going through this and any kind of demeaning challenge to hold on to her values. I realized that you will become stronger when you pass that phase of temptation. There's nothing worth more than knowing who you are and realizing who you ought to be and giving yourself that respect the society wouldn't give you.

Yes, you might have made the mistake of devaluing yourself by giving yourself away to a person that doesn't know your worth just for what they have to offer you, but you can understand your value and start saying no to being devalued today. You will never understand how good you will feel on the inside and on the outside when you say no.

Never be too hard on yourself, never judge or condemn yourself because of your past. At the end of the day, yesterday remains in the past and today will become yesterday by tomorrow, so, work on making your tomorrow more valuable by taking the decision of seeing you as a person of worth with value. If you don't see you as priceless, no one will.

Guys, you're not left out of this (winks).

To be continued…

My Thoughts

©ALA O. WILCOX

#mythoughts #alawilcoxblog #apieceofme #experience #lifelessons #real)