OPERATION BLOW WAS A STUPID PLAN

Although, my story is not as exciting as the Green Arrow’s, I believe I started out like Oliver Queen this year. Maybe, not exactly to save Nigeria or even Port Harcourt, I needed to save myself. From what exactly? You see, I had just finished National Service and was plunged into unemployment. I am not even joking.  This was legit one of the craziest phases of my life. Guys, there was no law firm that I did not apply to in Abuja, even lagos sef.  I was so busy applying for jobs that you might as well say I was employed by unemployment itself 😔 Then, I started going around with folders too oo. Even with that, do you know that there were some firms that I went to with my CV, by the time I entered the office, I had to ask myself this one na kitchen abi na office? 😂😂. Nobody told me to carry my CV and run from those places. Those are the types of firms that you will be the one paying the owner salary😂😂.   But truthfully, the worst thing about the whole process was that most of the firms were not getting back to me. They initially weren’t even dignifying my application with a response. It was like I was applying to another universe. Please Guys, when we own our law firms in the future, can we not do this?  The least you can do is reply the applicant. A simple "your application was unsuccessful" would suffice. Why would you ignore my application abeg? Am I a ghost? 😂 Let me just tell you people the truth, "dat thing is rude, And Jesus is coming soon, you better repent"

Eh heh, back to my story. So after all my hustle proved abortive and it seemed like God had gone to sleep, I devised a plan. You see eh, I told myself Ijeoma Unachukwu will never be a failure, so if God wasn’t going to make me blow, I will blow myself up. And this so called self-motivation could have been a very good thing, but  everyone knew it wasn't…except me of course.

So, OPERATION BLOW WAS A GO.  Me, sit at home and do nothing? Am I mad? So I started doing a lot of things. I mean I started doing everything and anything. I was everywhere and nowhere. I became one of the busiest unemployed people you could ever meet. You wan try? I started going to the gym, learning to swim; learning to bake, blogging, applying for jobs, doing side law jobs, doing an online MBA masters class, applying for a Masters in Law. Don’t ask why I was trying to do 2 masters at the same time.  Just know, I was going to be a Master of something whether the devil liked it or not😂😂😂. So when my friends who had gotten jobs or seemed to have a handle of their lives asked how I was doing, I would list all my ventures and they would even envy me sef. And I’ll be like, "that’s right, Nobody leaves Ijeoma behind."    The whole point was so that this year would not pass me by. Abi they say don’t put all your eggs in one basket. That’s what I was doing, I was putting my eggs in thousands of baskets.  If I didn’t get a job, at least I’d become a self made Master, baker or a swimmer 😂. But I never knew what happens when  you put your eggs in too many baskets, till one by one, all my eggs began to crack…

I must tell you the truth. It became unbearable. I virtually said yes to everything. How could someone be so unemployed and restless at the same time? Let me show you my daily schedule: Leave in the morning for those side law gigs, come back in the evenings, go to the gym and then from there to swimming classes and then head out for baking classes, before doing my MBA assignment, apply for a few jobs and then sleep (if morning never reach).  Now, as I’m typing it sef, I believe I must have gone crazy😂. Eventually, I couldn’t do it all. I didn’t have my priorities straight, everything seemed so important. So I crashed… and I lost a lot. From sleep to money to time.

And it was all for nothing. Because guess what? At God’s perfect timing, Na job, Na job, Na job dey rush us..😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

So what’s the lesson? Actually there are thousands of lessons like, don't confuse being busy with making progress; You don’t have to do everything in life to be successful, just do one right thing at the right time and you will be just fine. An un-prioritized and unplanned life will send you scurrying and running after irrelevant things and eventually blot out the big picture. These are the many lessons you could take from this. 

Or you could take the real lesson: Operation Blow was a stupid plan 😂

This is where the blog post actually ends….

But with all the madness this year from the panic and anxiety attacks to sleep disorders,  I feel I need to tell you the actual lesson: There is strength in numbers. You see, you are only as strong as the people around you. But you will never tap into this strength until you realize that the relationships/friendships you have are not avenues for competition or jealousy but for immense strength. So use their strengths to offset your weakness. Because with an A team, you really become unstoppable.

So lowkey, this post is really dedicated to my A team:  Mummy, my precious siblings, Emeka U., the superwomen (you know yourselves), The girls (you know yourselves), Obi, you and DADDY:

YOU REALLY ARE THE WIND BENEATH MY WINGS AND YOU DESERVE ALL THE ACCOLADES!