…the less they seem like stumbling blocks

I ate beans today.

I was desperate, very desperately hungry. It was like someone came and scooped out everything in my stomach yesterday night just to see the look on my face when I wake up and feel the pangs. I was very hungry. So, I ate the first thing I could lay my hands on – beans and Agege bread. I emphasize that I only ate beans out of desperation because I don’t eat beans out of volition. Beans rumbles my tummy and forces everything out. It’s like a ‘by-force’ detox that purges my intestines when I eat it. So I steer clear of beans and beans products. This is why I say that I ate beans out of desperation today.

I was ready though. I was ready to visit the toilet as many times as beans would demand. I wasn’t going anywhere today; or at least I cancelled all my plans for the day (God forbid that I’ll be forced to beg the driver and conductor to stop the vehicle so I won’t poop in the bus).

After eating, I waited for the signs. For my  stomach to start singing those dreadful melodies. But nothing came. 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours… nothing. It was not until this evening when I was reading, that I realized that I ate beans and did not purge out my entire intestine.

And as I marveled at this miracle, it suddenly occurred to me: I just came back from Yola!

During our stay in Yola, I daresay that almost every student in my campus purged at least once. It was like a family thing. People would stand up and leave class and not come back till (sufficient purging time) later. I had a horrible one week purging disaster. I couldn’t eat normal. Even water was purged from my system. It was horrible. I was drying up; literally. Purging was not a shameful thing to admit. It was as if we had upset the cooks and so they served us food to upset our stomach.

Anyway, I realized something fundamental in this flashback: My system got so shaken in Yola, that it has now become strong enough to withstand small small Lagos food impurities, and even previous nutri-biological incompatibilities.

{Note to self: Tomorrow, I’ll try to take Milk and see if my theory works (because my body used to always cry ‘Lactose intolerant!’ whenever I take milk or milk products).}

So! This discovery and experience has taught me a bit about life:

I now realize that we are energized by our experiences; prepared by our perks; and toughened by our tests.

Our bad experiences are to break us free from our conceived limitations (it’s probably why the experiences feel so uncomfortable and painful when we go through them). I remember when I first started fighting Karate. I would have blisters under my feet from all my bare-feet training under the sun, and my body would ache miserably. My Sensei would tell me that it was only going to be for a while, and that a time would come when I would feel no more pains and bear no more blisters. He was right! My body began to loosen up and I could do stuff like go further on my splits. Preconceived limitations broken.

So basically, today, I learned that the more we travel rocky roads, the more they seem like stepping stones, and the less they seem like stumbling blocks.