LIFE IN ANALOGY — MOVING & ENTERING ONE CHANCE

Oludascribe
Sep 7, 2018 · 3 min read

So, by the end of 2016, I knew I had to move house. My apartment was small, my neighbours were increasingly driving me up the wall and it was too far away from town to be functional or social. Three months away from the new year and rent renewal, I had to find a new place within my budget

Criteria:

2 Rooms, Ikeja vicinity and central, Good Parking space, Secure, Quiet

So, the hunt began. I saw a few places within my budget but between bad roads, no safe parking spaces and dodgy looking characters lurking around, they were a huge no-no. Some from 20 meters away I could already tell I didn’t want to live there and told the agent, no.

I finally saw where I live now,(but didn’t take immediately) it was in a decent area for a decent amount. But I put it on hold to still search a different area in a friend’s neighbourhood. That didn’t pan out, so three months later, two into 2017 I started my search again and the agent brought me back to the same place. I snatched it up immediately (Fear of Missing Out)not knowing why such a steal was still available, but really because the threshold of tolerance on my neighbours had hit critical mass. Within days of paying, I moved in.

Now, on the surface, it was a good place; well positioned to see friends, meet clients, attend mid-week church services.

I would no longer have to wait out traffic till 9 pm before going home. But it was not till I moved in I realized I had skimmed through the place, not really looked at it.

Toilet seats were missing, door handles were gone, kitchen Formica was broken and some plumbing was so rusty it wouldn’t turn.

The landlady was constantly on the warpath, huffing and puffing at everything in sight. It was clear this building was cheaply and hurriedly put together.

Complaints fell on deaf ears, you saw it and paid for it, the rest is not my business. A dismissive and unspoken sentiment of Manage it Like that(MILT).

I realized I would have to live with all of it for at least the next 11 months.

You see, but you do not observe.- Sherlock Holmes

I was so desperate to find a new place, I was satisfied with the barest minimum; two room, parking space, running water and working electricity.

Somehow my eyes missed the missing toilet seats and door handles. A landlord in the same compound and a host of other problems.

How often do we make such decisions? Jump into one thing because we are trying to get away from something else or just attain a new status, without fully investigating the new venture?

For many, it’s a relationship. They are so desperate to leave single life or get married, they accept the surface level of the person; good looks, good job, fun to hang out with etc. They don’t investigate into character, integrity, relationship history, worldview, perspective on gender roles etc things which really matter (to peace and sanity) once two people decide to make a life together.

To others it may be pouring savings into a “ground floor” business opportunity or short window retire early venture (Hey, who said Bitcoin) only to turn around and have the bubble burst.

Sometimes we need to observe and not just see. Investigate rather than just peruse.

It would save us a lot of grief and despair down the road.

Oludascribe

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