MY SOBER REFLECTION

A tall, dark skinned, handsome, hardworking, God fearing, cheerful giver, caring father and a loving husband are the traits I see in my father. Seeing all these in my father’s character and appearance kept not only me but even some other individuals around me wondering if this short, not too dark, neither ugly nor handsome, dullard me is actually from the gene of my Father, His name is Samuel and he named me Joshua.
One faithful day, I was moved to check the Bible what actually related Samuel in the Old Testament to Joshua. However, if you ask me, even till now am not sure if there is any correlation between them if not that they are both men of valor; because they ain’t father and son.
Taiwo, I preferred been called by this name rather than the Joshua that he use to call me. I have done wrongs, I have missed my paths countless of time, why is it so hard to be my father’s son? This question started bothering my mind since the day I clocked 18 years of age. I have been dreaming of being my father son and having his type of life since then but see me here, 25 years old and still at the spot of my dreams. What could be responsible for this predicament or delay in all my plans. After a little research and observation, I discovered that my problems were not peculiar to me but even people around me. Some will say its economic melt-down while others put the blame on their neighbors and even some on their God and gods.
Amazingly, Samuel gave birth to his first child at my present age meaning my father started handling responsibilities on how to be a good father at this my tender age. But here I am just about to acquire my first certificate from the university. What a wretched child I am, what a boy being called a son, what a miserable youthful age. With all this running in my mind, I stopped being a dreamer and started seeing reasons to become a thinker. I realized I am far behind my time and my season seems to be letting me behind.
Joshua, my thinking starts from here. I am lagging behind and getting older every day, all of these worries make tears run down my cheek and I can’t help it. Other times while eating, I will feel guilty because my father could provide food for his entire family at this my age but yet I am still dependent. Worst of it all, I still look up to my elder siblings to support me for my daily needs. What a shameful and tiring beginning.
I’m still my father’s son because I have his gene, and his blood flows through my veins. The day I started realizing the fact that “the spirit anchoring the strength of a man Is in his thinking”, my life never remain the same. For the first time, my thinking started earning me strength. That is the power of positive thinking.
The strength of any man earnestly depends on his thinking. The strength Mr. Samuel had has made him a good father, a good husband and a good personality to everyone around him. My father is good in his field, in fact I am proud to call him my father and also I want my own children to be proud of having me as their father too. Now I know what it takes to be a Samuel, knowing what he had passed through before getting here. It’s time for me to challenge myself of my problems, I need to take my chances. Don’t you think so? I want to tackle my problem with my thinking even before physical battling. Maybe my initial dream was to be a Samuel but recently I realized I can even be a better Samuel. My father worth imitating but I would rather admire his kind of person and work on myself to be a better image of my father.
At 25, by October I will be graduating as a mechanical engineer in one of the greatest university in Nigeria. I have been poor, really poor and far behind my time but still going to make my remaining time on earth counts. I promised my future Joshua to be a good Samuel and I need to prepare all it takes to fulfill my words. My yesterday wasn’t good enough, so am trying my best today so I can have a better tomorrow.