Cora walked into Tiwa’s single-room apartment, she nodded her head as she walked into the bedroom and bathroom. “This is amazing!” she said holding her face in her hands.
“I know…” Tiwa laughed looking around.
The throw pillows sat in order on the red sofa. Books lined the white wall shelf.
“Look at your plants, the leaves are green” Cora touching the leaves softly.
“Yes!”
“The room was dust-free, the grey carpet was unoccupied, except for the small coffee table at its extreme corner.
“Tiwa your bedroom! Your bed is made! Your blanket is folded! I have known you for over ten years and I have never seen this.” Cora said. She placed the back of her hand on Tiwa’s forehead. “You are sure that all is well”
“Cora I am fine. Please let us make something to eat.” Tiwa said as she gently pushed Cora’s hand.
Cora followed her to the Kitchen. There was no dish, cup, pan, pot, or cutlery in the sink. The spices were tucked away in the cupboard. “Tiwa, my goodness. How did you do it? Hope Covid-19 did not change the configuration of your brain somehow. Where did all this come from, because this is not my Tiwa?”
“Will you eat rice or yam? I have tomato sauce in the fridge.” Tiwa said.
“Rice for me” Cora said sitting on a chair.
Tiwa reached into the cupboard and picked a pot. She rinsed it with tap water and set the rice on the stove to cook. Next, she picked tomatoes, carrots, and lettuce into a bowl, and set them on the kitchen table, as she sat next to her friend. Cora got up briefly to wash her hands, then pick up a chopping board and knife to cut the lettuce.
“It has all been prewashed so go ahead” Tiwa said. “Will only rinse with vinegar when we are done.”
“It is so nice to be here with you. I have missed you so much! Thank God we survived Covid-19 and everyone is back to work. At least we still have our jobs and I am grateful for that. John, my neighbor lost his job during that period, but his friend gave him a gig at his company. That is what he has been doing while searching for a new job.” Cora said
“Oh Oh” Tiwa said
“Guess what happened between the two of them? You aren’t going to believe it.” Cora said. “Do you know that John and his friend came to this city the same year? John started at our university, his friend moved in with his uncle as an apprentice. I think he was doing a part-time course too at the time.” Cora continued.
“Wow!” Tiwa said
“The guy is now on his own and doing so well. He got married during the lockdown too. I am truly happy for him.” Cora said
“Thank God. I wish them all the best.” Tiwa said
“Babe, we need to start a side hustle. This our jobs no security whatsoever. Imagine being an employee and employer…we need to brainstorm ideas.”
“True” Tiwa answered. “Cora are you cutting or talking?” she asked.
“Both” Cora laughed.
“So…Tiwa, is there a new man? Is that why all the change in attitude?”
“Maaan?” Tiwa burst into laughter “Cora, if a guy was looking my way, you would be the first person to know.”
“So what happened? What?” she said shaking her hands swinging the knife.
“Cora, this knife...” Tiwa laughed.
“Start talking” Cora said pointing the knife at Tiwa, then she laughed.
“Okay, it is simple. I will tell you.” Tiwa said getting up to check the rice. She opened the fridge and placed the sauce on the stove on low heat.
“One day I woke up around 11 am. I had slept for almost 14 hours. The house was a mess. It’s usually not tidy but this was a new level. I was depressed for a week or so due to the uncertainty of everything. So that day I got up, looked around, and then went back to bed. I was on my phone for almost 2 more hours, on Facebook. So I got up again and the dishes were still dirty. The sitting room was still untidy. Cora, I said to myself…I am sick of this. This is not it. Enough! I can’t live like this anymore.” Tiwa said as she grated carrots.
“Hmmm....” Cora said
“You know… so the first thing I did was to soak garri and drink so that I can start seeing small” Tiwa laughed.
“Hah! No food?” Cora said
“I had food. Raw food.” Tiwa chuckled. “So as I was drinking the Garri and looking at my life, wondering where to begin. I heard the Holy Spirit say to me- You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. Philippians 4:13.”
“Wow”
“It was so clear. So I repeated it to myself over and over; and since then that’s how I start my day. When my feet hit the floor, I declare that I can do anything that I put my heart to. Victory is the only option that I have. Win I must.”
“How are you so confident?” Cora said.
“The decision was made and my mindset has changed plus the Holy Spirit” Tiwa said calmly.
“Wow”
“Cora keep cutting” Tiwa laughed. “So I got a pad, and sat at this table and made myself a list of the things that I planned to do that week. I mean, they taught us this stuff during work training so I had an idea what to do. Next I tried to divide the tasks into days. So for example, on Monday I planned to…Wait let me get the journal.”
Tiwa got up from cutting the tomatoes, she rinsed the starch from the rice. Then stirred the tomato sauce. She picked up the book from the room and set it on the table.
“See my plan for the week that first week,” Tiwa said flipping the book. “Here, so I had written that I wanted to clean up the kitchen, wash the bathroom, clean the living room, renew my subscription, reply emails, post on social media, take pictures for Instagram, exercise, and all this.”
“This is a lot!” Cora said wide-eyed.
“It was, but then like I said I divided everything into 6 days and left 1 day free, Sunday.” Tiwa said “The first day, I got up around 9 am or so. I made my declaration. The plan was to start with the bedroom because it seemed like the hardest, and they taught us to eat the ‘frog’ first, that is to do the hardest thing first or the one that you do not want to do.”
“Yes” Cora nodded.
“So I made a cup of coffee and came back to the room. I looked around and was thinking about all the work that I had to do. Fold my clothes, clean shoes, wash my makeup brushes you know.”
“Are you telling me?” Cora laughed.
“Look, the thought of it and …” Tiwa said “ and I turned on my laptop and started watching a movie.” She shrugged.
“No!” Cora laughed. “Are you serious?”
“It was at 3.20 pm or so that I saw myself as I was. I had nibbled on snacks while watching a movie.” Tiwa said shaking her head.
“My friend” Cora laughed as she turned the lettuce into the bowl.
“So by this time I was hungry again. I did not feel like cooking. So I convinced myself to just go to the kitchen. I stood in the doorway, right there” Tiwa said pointing. “I told myself, ok… just put water on fire…I did that. Then ok…put some spaghetti…I did that too. Then I told myself to just open the freezer. After I did that, I found myself looking around and I found some stew. I initially rolled my eyes but I was able to convince myself to remove it from the freezer and defrost, then heat it in the microwave. That was how I managed to feed myself with spaghetti and stew.”
“Oookkk” Cora said cutting the last of the lettuce.
“After I ate lunch, I told myself that I was going to wash only one plate and would deal with the rest of the kitchen tomorrow,” Tiwa said. “Just one plate, I kept repeating to myself.”
“Ok, I get it, one plate, and then?” Cora said
“So I washed one plate, then another, then I washed the fork and then the serving spoon and that was how I cleared up the dishes for the day.” Tiwa laughed
“Ok?”
“Can’t you see it?” Tiwa said
“See what Tiwa?”
“Ugh…” Tiwa continued “So I decided to experiment the next day because that night was for Netflixing” Tiwa said. “The very next day, I was up by 8 am. I prayed and said my affirmation…I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. I lay in bed and thought about my work for the day. I still had not cleaned the bedroom so I was to begin from there. But I thought to myself.”
“Madam you have been thinking to yourself, hope madness will not take enter now?”
“Keep making jokes, and see if you will taste this rice.”
“Sorry please continue”
“So I thought to myself why don’t I start from the living room. It seemed like the easiest place to clean. Then I said what’s the easiest thing to do? That’s easy you know…Pick up the throw pillows.”
So I had some tea and toast bread with butter for breakfast. I went to the living room and picked up one throw pillow, then I said okay I still have some energy and I picked up another, then I thought ok I can do some dusting around here. I got a duster and did that…and that’s how it went. Before I knew it, I had finished tidying up the living room.”
“Interesting” Cora nodded.
“Yes, because I wasn’t thinking about the entire activity it was easier to start. I discovered that the key is to build momentum. Once I could get myself to start, I could build the momentum until I was through with the task. The satisfaction from finishing gave me renewed energy which I transferred to other tasks. I have started using it at work too and it has been great. Some days are easier than others, but overall it has been great.” Tiwa said. She set the salad after rinsing the lettuce.
“Wow!” Cora said “So you are now a philosopher, you have discovered something magical” she laughed.
Tiwa shook her head as she rose to check her food. She picked up two dishes and served rice with tomato sauce and salad. They ate in silence after sharing grace.
“So Tiwa, when are you going to apply this new technique you have learned to my apartment?” Cora said waving a fork.
“Ehn?” Tiwa said, eyebrows raised as Cora chuckled
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