Greetings from where you cannot see,

You are sad because you have been called a lake of mystery, and for that you are gradually getting displeased with yourself. This person has said so many things to you and about you. Most of them are untrue, but then, you can overlook those untrue ones said about you and hold on to the true ones, like this reference to you as a lake of mystery. Embrace that title. Embrace the mysteriousness of your life; of this life in general. Since you cannot sit down in reflection and figure out these mysteries of your existence, I have decided to tell you about them. I’ll tell you about yourself about things you know and those you do not know, that you may realize that I have always been with you. That even before you could respell your name, I knew who you were.

You were born on the 3rd of May. You know this, but what you do not know is that you came into this world with your feet first. And this is a sign; a sign which doctors do not even perceive because all they know is that a baby being born with his feet first is a breach birth. But that was the first sign you were going to be great. Those were the feet of greatness; a sort of greatness people will look at and marvel. If only you’ll get up from that mat of sadness and stretch out your hands to reach for this greatness. 

You were that pregnancy that came by accident: your parents had decided that six children were already a burden to their pockets. But they were sex addicts, lovers of pleasure. And, your father had so many family needs that demanded his money that he could not spare some to condoms, this is why they chose a kind of cheap family planning which depended on your mother to meticulously check on her woman cycle, so that they would abstain from love making on her ovulation days. Here, is the beginning f another mystery: how your mother miscalculated her own body function, or even if she knew, how she had been, somehow, tongue-tied. They made love on one of the forbidden days on the bar cemented floor of their one-bedroom apartment. Let me also remind you that you were conceived on the hard floor, which means you should have a hard soul: a soul inoculated against gossips. 

Your father could barely afford to give his family a healthy meal. But, damn, he worked his muscles out; a tailor,but had worked over the years as a cloth mender. He didn’t get better deals than fixing zips and mending torn clothes and shaping over-sized trousers. But on an April Fool’s Day of the year you were born, he got a deal that spelled fortune for his pocket even if it had been temporary. He was to sew sports uniforms for a school whose students would be going on sports competitions. He worked morning, afternoon, midday and night. So by the time you were born about four weeks later your father had enough money to celebrate your arrival. You were the only child of his whom he ordered Ogogoro and Palm wine at their birth for people to feast on. They ate enough meat on that day and rained blessings on the new child. That new child is you. You had been blessed by people whose mouths your father had stuffed with large chunks of meat. Your birth had been celebrated like the birth of a first child though you were the seventh. 

I cannot go on and on recounting the numerous mysteries attached to your being, else I’ll have no option than to delve even deeper into the significances of some incidents in your life some of which may be vague to you by now, while some may still be clear as water in your mind. It is even enough mystery that you are still alive, because, indeed, many things have tried to silence your existence. You pulled through.

Do you sometimes look in the mirror to examine your face? Do you see that cicatrix just by the right side of your ear? Do you remember how you got that mark? It was the day you broke one of your upper front teeth in a fight with a guy who had more physical advantage in terms of stature and intimidating physique. You remember that you had fought him with a morale and strength that baffled you later on. But you had not fought a fight for yourself, it was for a teenage boy whose phone was about to be snatched. You had been blessed with a broken a tooth, but you were happy that the stranger went home safely with his phone. You who fought for others, cannot now fight the effects of negativity? I understand that words can be stronger than men themselves. It is true that the words of their mouth can hurt even more that the blows from their fist. But, either way, you have always fought a good fight.

You may have had so many rejections that you are slowly starting to think that you deserve it. Listen, you deserve better than what you get at the moment. You deserve happiness because you grew up as a happy child. I know you must have heard that happiness attracts other good things, this may be a cliché but I want to to see it as a refined version of a divine promise to you. Even when you failed you were happy for those who succeeded. As a child, when you were not chosen by either teams to play ball at the sandy stadium down your street you never sulked in anger nor walked back home with boiling rage. You instead sat by the side to cheer the players up. If you could not play, you turned yourself to an informal referee. You were happy and that was all you wanted and still want: to be happy. And for this you’ll find success. Believe me. I know you will be happy in a time not too far from now. You have put in so much hardwork not to turn out unsuccessful.

Do they not say that when a man says yes his personal god says yes too? That is why I urge you now to say yes. My own affirmation depends on yours. I cannot agree to what you have already given up on. I am your Presence, and I can only join you to sing whatever tune you raise. Hope is a tangible thing, and that is what I have come to thrust into your hands. Guide this hope like a ceramic glass you cannot afford to see broken, and then you’ll know what satisfaction comes with waiting. 

You finished school with a good grade, left the University with an outstanding CGPA. But what is yet to come by is a good job. It was in search of a job that you had been belittled and called a lake of mystery. Four graduates, including you, had applied for this job and gotten it. Your grades were more outstanding, your presentation— glorious. You do not know why you were the only person dropped. While trying to make an exit, the secretary with a long mouth said something must be wrong with your destiny otherwise why would poorly qualified people be chosen over you. Her words succeeded in getting to your heart, and you are now thinking of correcting it by any means even if you have to join a robbery gang. I began from your birth to tell you that I know you and now I am assuring you that you will be tarnishing your fate if you pick guns. There is no sweetness in snatching what others earned. It certainly can never provide that kind of content you desire. Paradise where you came from. If you walk this path, you will find yourself gliding helplessly into Gehenna.

Know this: success is like a river. It will flow to your feet someday. Somehow. And you will drink until your thirst is gone.

                                 Sincerely from,

                                Your angel, Your guard.