Life's Approach

"Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen." - Mark Twain

Hello,

What’s cracking?

This post might be a bit of a ramble, but I hope you get the gist.

So, recently, parts of Europe experienced a blackout. Just a few hours without electricity, and their governments declared a state of emergency. I couldn’t help but laugh, not at their misfortune, but because I know a certain country that could run an annual subscription to blackouts. Yes, you guessed it: Nigeria.

If power failure were an Olympic sport, we’d have gold. And yet, instead of declaring an emergency, we’re proposing 10 billion naira to power Aso Rock. But I won’t dwell too long on that train of thought, this post isn’t about Nigeria’s woes.

It’s about resilience.

I visited Nigeria recently, and despite the chaos, I saw something remarkable: people still moving, still living, still adapting. One incident stood out, at the local airport, our tires got clamped. (Apparently, welcoming guests at arrivals now comes with consequences.) If not for the timely intervention of a certain Captain, we’d have been fined.

Mr. Captain stepped out of his convoy, addressed the airport staff, and asked to see the supervisor (who never came, by the way, classic). But what struck me most wasn’t that he helped.

It was how he helped.

He didn’t just fix the issue. He addressed the approach of the staff, their posture, their attitude, and their way of doing things.

And that got me thinking.

Our approach to life tells on us.

Nigerians have mastered the art of surviving in scarcity. We've normalized hardship so much that we sometimes forget it's not normal.

And yet, there's a lesson in the way we keep showing up anyway.

It reminds me of something in Scripture:

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:21 (NIV)

See, life may not always hand us ease. Some of us are navigating clamped tires, blackout seasons, economic pressure, and more. But what shows isn’t just what we face, it’s how we face it.

We may not always control our circumstances, but we can choose our response.
Kindness in the face of hostility. Integrity where shortcuts abound. Joy even in dimly lit rooms.

And yes, even in Nigeria, where power is more unstable than the network in a rainstorm, there's still hope. There’s beauty in resilience. There’s grace in not letting the world harden you.

So let me ask: what’s your approach saying about you?
Are you becoming like the system you’re fighting, or are you rising above it with God's help?

Because when your approach is seasoned with grace, heaven notices.

And so do people.

Song Suggestion: Better Days by Ryan Ellis

Your friend in this hostile world,

Faith, for the Royal Rubies.