THINKING ABOUT LIFE

Based on my experience and what I have observed around people, I am still failing to get the answer to the question: CAN A MALE AND FEMALE BE FRIENDS WITHOUT SEXUAL BENEFITS? I have had male friends before, and also had a boyfriend who had female friends. So many things happened, yet I am still not sure whether it is possible, generally, for people to be friends with the opposite sex without any sexual benefits. I also don’t know whether it is inevitable that when two opposite sexes meet, any friendship they make will lead to a sexual relationship. During my school days, I had four male friends. I was the only female amongst them. We were called the “BIG FIVE”.   We were always together even outside school premises. We would eat lunch and walk together everywhere we were going – except the toilet, of course. We knew each other since childhood. We became more like siblings towards each other and they would call me their little sister, such that most people even believed that w...

An impoverished retired soccer player wishes he could turn back the hands of time. Another who retired too early because of drugs and alcohol wishes to play just one last season so that he could make a bit of money in order to, as he claims, start an investment. Then another, in his twenties, is not wanted by any soccer team. HOW IT ALL STARTS Alcohol has destroyed many people’s lives who let fame go to their heads. They used money and fame inappropriately. People who could have been successful soccer players, athletes, musicians, etc, are now left with their “almost-successful” stories to tell younger people in the taverns. When I was going up, in my community there was a group of very good soccer players. They were known as the group of winners because whenever they had a match, they often did not lose. When they were playing, the whole community would buy tickets to support them because they never disappointed. They had full support from both young and old. Their hard-wo...

Everyone has a specific dream: a dream job, dream career, or other special dreams people see themselves achieving. Some dreams come true much sooner and when you least expect them, while some take more time to come true. Very few people live their dreams through inheritance, which they have received on a silver platter. Most people had to sweat and go through so much trouble to make their dreams come true. Their dreams required them to toughen up although it was not easy. They faced some tough challenges that seemed impossible for them to overcome, but they still strived to achieve their dreams. A few months back, I came across an online magazine called Calf Magazine . It is an online magazine owned by a young dedicated and hard-working woman. She details in one of the articles that during her high school years she faced so much hardship that led her into depression. Her dream was to become a make-up artist, and eventually she pursued her dream. With everything she went throu...

Today we take the opportunity to celebrate and honour our beloved mothers. These are the people who showed us love, taught us respect and guided us through thin and thick. We also celebrate women who became mothers by default, taking care of their younger siblings. We also honour those women who mothered many other children though they were not their biological children. It is also important that as we are celebrating mothers, we also consider those fathers, especially single fathers, who play the motherly role in their children’s lives. Being a mother does not necessarily mean you have given birth only, but it is about giving everything you have for the children. It can be your biological children or fostered or adopted children, so long as you take the full responsibility of motherhood. It is true when they say that there is no love that can be greater than a mother’s love because mothers don’t give up easily on their children. Mothers sacrifice a lot for their children’s i...

Life is like a journey, long and full of twists and turns. Not everything in your life will go according to the way you want and how you have planned it. Sometimes it can take a wrong turn when least expected. For instance, getting rejected is one of the most painful things that most people are encountering and has destroyed a lot of people’s lives. Some rejections may lead most people into depression. Some may have their lives change forever. What is more painful is that some rejections come from families, by those people you love. But that doesn’t mean you should end the journey of your life. Early this year, my university application was rejected by the university. It was not easy to accept. I felt that all my dreams and hard work had been for nothing. I couldn’t handle the rejection well. I was so depressed such that I even got sick. It was draining because I couldn’t stop thinking about my life and everything I had planned for my future. I felt like my life was over. All of ...