August 17, 2021
It's 7pm right now in Nigeria, I usually just record my thought with a voice record and then wait till midnight when I'm less busy to write my article, but not today.
I have just finished eating dinner and had a little more time to kill before my reading alarm rings, as you may well know, at least some of you if you read my article on Procastination so I've set out my to-do list with an alarm and a record of my voice screaming at myself to get up and read, it's been working so far...at least for now.
As I went through my phone, I stumbled upon a You-tube video, "America's Got Talent". I've been a big fan of AGT, didn't miss a single audition but lately I've been so overwhelmed with a lot of things that I have barely had the time to catch up on missed auditions-until now of course.
I saw a clip about Nightbirde's audition, and to be honest I wouldn't have clicked on it if not for the fact that it made Simon Cowell emotional - one of the major Judges of the show, Simon to me is like the villian of AGT, he has set a standard and have made every performer, young and old, try to be the best version of themselves, he is a tough man to please, so seeing a performance where Simon got emotional appealed to my curiosity, so I did. What I found, what I saw, what I heard led me right here, my safe space where I can freely express how I feel, it was so emotional, it got me. I will leave a link to the clip in case you might want to check it out.
"It's okay, it's okay, it's okay, if you're lost, we are all a little lost and it's alright"
_Nightbirde.
"It's Okay" is an Original song written by Nightbirde one night when she was in a very dark place in her life just to feel okay.
Nightbirde - her stage name - is currently fighting with cancer in her lung, her spine and her liver. She said in an interview at the end of her performance and I quote
"I have a 2% chance of survival but 2% is not 0%, 2% is something and I wish people knew how amazing it is"
_Nightbirde
It touched me deep down, we do not know what we have until we lose it, while we constantly waste the time of our lives fighting one another, keeping malice and gossips, people are out there trying to stay alive, 2% is enough to hope.
So it's okay,
It's okay to want to live,
It's okay to want to fight for what you believe in,
Its okay to be courageous in spite of life's adversities,
It's okay to serve as a beacon of hope to everyone out there dealing with similar troubles.
"It's okay" is a message to you and I telling us that no matter what we are currently going through, everything will be alright.
Sometimes life gets hard and we just want to give up, just remember this, "it's okay"
She said something else that made me question myself.
"You don't have to wait until life isn't hard anymore before you decide to be happy"
_Nightbirde
Save for the future, live in the present, they say. Two contrasting sentence.
These days I see my friends trying to save for a future, work all their lives for a future that isn't even guaranteed, drowning in problems that are not even theirs, facing their challenges head on, putting everyone but themselves first every time with the sole promise that one day, everything will be alright.
This might just be my emotions talking right now but you have don't have to wait until life isn't tough or difficult anymore to enjoy these little moment.
As I write this article I'm reminded of some of the good times that I've underestimated.
My little Sister's Birth, her first word, the first time she crawled, the joy of having a little Brother, the excitement of hearing the bell rings for "closing time", the joy of screaming "Up NEPA" when the power comes on, the thrill of sneaking out of the house instead of reading to play ball with my friends, the joy of rolling tyres along the street and insulting one another as Nigerian public drivers would, the first time I said "I love you" to a girl, the day I got admission into the University and many others, its the little things. Value what you have even as you try to work for a better future.
Oops, alarm is ringing, it's exactly 7:30pm, time to go. I will probably post this article later tonight.
Keep fighting, you're not alone.
Feel free to share a comment on some of those moments that you treasure. Have a good one friends.
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I wish her well😖