The Joy of a New Month
“Joy is the resistance against force of despair” -African Proverb.
Happy New Month! A text like this drops or the phones of every Nigerian from friends, family, acquaintances and even banks. As a Nigerian, this can be quite annoying as people get overzealous with it. However, the older I get the more I understand the importance of this and long for the Firsts.
In Nigeria we celebrate the first of every month just like the New Year or even more. One of the reasons is we try to find joy in little things. We believe if you choose to focus on horrible things going on around you then there will be enough despair to go around. So, why focus on the things you can’t control when you can choose to focus on what’s good for your mental well-being?
No matter how bad your day was on 31st, the moment your phone pings on 1st you can’t help but smile at the text messages, prayers and encouragements that a lot of people send.
You may think how does the first day of the month differ from other days? We believe it’s a day to be grateful, even if you spent the entire past month counting your troubles or dealing with them, then you should spend the first counting your blessings. It’s a new day to reaffirm your resolutions, start a good habit or break a bad one, grow, learn, create values, impact others and seize opportunities for the next days ahead.
You may also think why can’t you do these in the other days?
You can do these any other day but we believe the first day sets the tone for the month. If you choose to be happy and count your blessings then you will be in a positive mental state which will help you achieve more.
Today I ask that you focus on the things you can control directly and choose not to stress the ones out of your control, I ask that you choose to see the joy in little things around and I wish you a very Happy New Month!