A 2018 True Confession of a Lad

4 min readJan 1, 2019

I tried to find comfort in the green bottle. I tried to go back to drugs. I met a girl with whom I began all manner of sexual fantasies with. Life was meaningless to me.

No, this article is not make-believe. It is not fiction.

Those are sad but sincere words of a dear friend who went through depression and encountered so many challenges in 2018 but came out strong.

If he can then you can too. I hope this story or rather testimony inspires you to keep pushing and hoping despite the storms.

Enjoy the read!

This year has been quite a journey for me and my family but I will focus on myself.

I began the year with so much expectations.

I had a job, the family business had floated and everything about my educational career was put in motion. I was single, so I was emotionally stable.

The only thoughts I had were the ones about the way I was going to live my life outside the country, the car I was going to buy, how my fridge will be fully stocked with drinks and chocolate and all kinds of healthy foods (especially vegetables). I was living “la vida loca” (a spanish expression meaning ‘the crazy life’).

Towards the end of the first quarter of the year, a lot had happened that made me to even doubt my existence and the existence of God. I questioned life and everything that concerned life.

I experienced a lot just within the first quarter.

I lost my job, the family business crashed to nothing, debts were accumulating here and there, I had issues with a girl and at the final stage of all this, I fell into depression.

For me, there was no point living again.

Photo Credit: Thought Catalog on Unsplash

I tried to find comfort in the green bottle, I tried to go back to drugs, I met a girl with whom I began all manner of sexual fantasies with. Life was useless for me.

But amidst all these things, I perfectly wore the expression that deceived everyone.

I was always smiling, giving arms to people, living a jovial life like nothing was happening to me. Someone once said that those who make others happy are the ones with the greatest burden. Indeed that person was right!

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As the year went by, I had encounters with a lot of people; the good, the bad and the ugly.

There were people who took advantage of me, there were those I took advantage of and those that had a mutual interest in what I began to indulge in.

I was lost with no place to go and no one to talk to. I was all alone.

As life will have it, I applied and was qualified for a program- LEAP Africa School2Work programme.

There, I met new acquaintances who helped me understand myself again. I saw I was good for the world again and so I stood up, dusted myself, braced up and made a decision to move forward and never look back.

In September, I was called for an interview. I went in for it casually (I was in the healing process so I didn’t need any form of stress).

In the same month, the family business bounced back to life, we went back to the drawing board and began to strategize.

I was asked to resume at my new job, as a Business Development Analyst in October and by the second week of resumption, I was appointed the Business Development Manager.

My sister who had been jobless for over 6 years got a job. My immediate elder brother got married and got two paid jobs while my eldest brother was called for promotional exams.

Looking back at the year 2018, I can say that indeed I have a lot to be grateful for.

Though I may not be where I thought I would be at the beginning of 2018, I have no regrets as I live my life now daily with little or no worries.

Here I am, staring at 2019 with zero expectations. I just want to continue with my new career path, make more connections, strategize, brainstorm on new ideas and fall in love.

I have no resolutions, I have no wars to fight… I just have God and myself.

Cheers to a new year!!!