Sometimes I laugh at myself because I do things I know I shouldn’t do.
Apostle Paul in the Bible said it best: “The good I want to do, I do not do, but the very thing I hate, I find myself doing.” (Romans 7:15).
And honestly, isn’t that our reality sometimes? You know you shouldn’t spend that last ₦5,000 on shawarma and ice cream, but you do it anyway. You know you should put your phone down at midnight, yet you’re still scrolling on TikTok at 2 a.m. Or worse… still trying to chat with that person who has already told you to move on.
Do you ever ask yourself why? Why do we lean towards the things we know aren’t good for us?
Having this conversation with my friend today reminded me of childhood and teenage days, when curiosity was our master.😃😂
If your parents said, “Don’t touch that!” that was the exact thing you wanted to touch. And looking back now, some of the things we did were just plain silly. Fighting over biscuits, sneaking out to play football when we had homework, or pretending to be asleep when in fact, you were wide awake eavesdropping on adult conversations.
For me, a lot of my memories circle back to my brother. Growing up, he was that one person I fought with the most and admired the most (though I doubt he knows). We’d argue over nonsense, then laugh together like nothing happened.
And now that I think of it, all those silly fights, all the discipline our parents tried to instill… those little “don’ts” we kept pushing against—were shaping something in us. Discipline. Because at the end of the day, life is full of things we want to do but shouldn’t.
Sometimes, it takes real discipline to hold back, to say no to curiosity, to resist temptations. And I think that’s one of the biggest lessons I carry into adulthood in Nigeria: you won’t always have someone telling you “don’t,” so you have to tell yourself.
Growing up gave me that perspective. Discipline isn’t only about saying no to temptations; sometimes, it’s about saying yes to the things that matter. As we get older, with marriage, careers, and endless responsibilities in view, it takes discipline to check up on siblings, hold on to friendships, and keep those bonds alive.
So maybe this is my diary entry for today, but also an invitation to you: What’s one silly thing you did as a child that makes you laugh now? Or what’s one childhood memory of your sibling that still warms your heart?
Share it—I’d love to hear your own “pages” too. 💙
Mehn!
I did a lot of silly things as a child.
I fought a lot with my siblings, both younger and older. I still have some scars from back then.
And I was very stubborn. In fact, I was super stubborn.🤣🤣
Stubborn over little things. I found delight in proving I could say, “I won’t,” and keep to it.
It made that I was always being beaten.
Not to mention that I played all manner of plays. In the bush, in the stream, during the day and at night, my God!
But thanks be to God that we don’t look like our childhood experiences. Na me for bad pass…🤣
I can totally relate to this, for real.🤣🤣
After the fight, we’d sing our own different versions of annoying songs.🤣
Looking back, I just think of how silly we were.
Growth is something I’m grateful for, honestly because…🥺
😂😂😂
Thank God for growth 🙏
That was the fun of growing up…😂😂
My brother and I fought almost all the time, and we’ll still makeup before the end of the day because my mom made sure we ate together 😂
Thanks for sharing 🙏
I wish I still had the same enthusiasm to fight and make up with my younger brother.
It is never too late…
In as much as the childhood was fun, the Innocence and all, I don’t think I’d love to go back there, maybe of course to change and correct most of the wrongs, btw.
I use to fight with my older siblings a lot and they’d beat me silly. And to think that I was always the orchestrator 🤣
Indeed, growth was really necessary and I’m grateful for that.
Being an adult too is not easy, I must say but having self control to say no to certain things and yes to things that matter is something that as a child, you can’t relate to. So yeah, I’m grateful for growth.
Well spoken, Arit! 😀
There are memories I cherish, but I don’t think I want to go back either.
…and yeah, adulthood isn’t what we had visioned o🥲😂😂
But so many things to be grateful for🙏