On being number one

Praise, I've always wanted to be number one—to be the best in any conversation. Facts—it feels good to be the smartest person in the room, and for someone like me, I feel entitled to being smart.

For as long as I can remember, I'd always been first—home, church or school. I was the first born, I was the most spiritual and I always led the class, effortlessly. It felt so good! I was smart. That wasn't enough, I loved being called smart, and if you ever doubted it, I'd gladly set you straight.

Being the smartest in the room left me with one flaw, I couldn't afford to be ignorant.

One fateful evening, I was in JSS2, I placed a bet with my cousin [a university graduate]. "I'd answer any question you throw at me". "Can water conduct electricity?", he asked smiling.

"No", I replied excitingly, "aha! I won!"

"No, you didn't. Dirty water can conduct electricity. Pure water can't", he replied sitting down. I lost my NGN 50 to him and gained something. I was scared of not knowing something.

For the rest of my teenage life, I spent it amongst adults learning all and everything, irrespective of how relevant it may be to me. I threw it into university, I was going good in my first years until I met design.

Praise fam—design was bliss! I wanted to be number one—in my school!

2 years later, I met FourthCanvas, and then I wanted to be number one in FourthCanvas. Then, I wanted to be the best in Nigeria. A little Paula, a sprinkle of Chris, and I wanted to be the best in the world.

Praise, being number one is like the Need for Speed game. You could become better at driving and just cruise the city at your pace, or jump about races and events trying to climb to the top.

The former has you in charge, the latter makes you a puppet.

And the real number ones are those in charge.

Being number one is enjoying your journey, not envying someone else's.

Shalom!

PS: What's your number one experience? Reply?

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