My years as a bank employee in Nigeria were very interesting years.

I doubt if I will ever stop talking about them.

Those years shaped me in so many ways.

I developed good work ethics, I learnt what it means to talk and act in a professional manner, I understood the place of diplomacy, the principles of bargaining and the power of being a people-person.

There were days when we laughed so hard and there were days when we shed bitter tears. There were days when we loved the job (especially when the bonuses and other allowances hit our accounts) and there were days when we hated the job with a passion!

There were also days when we laughed and cried at the same time; like the day Aidee (not her real name), my colleague, decided to go home with my husband!

Aidee was a new employee who had just joined our branch. As usual, she was given a target, just like all the other marketers. She made a commitment to meet this target. She didn’t have a choice, anyway. Her confirmation as a full employee of the bank was tied to her ability to meet that target.

Everyday, Aidee will show up for work, give it her best shot but she always came back with empty reports at the end of the day. She was far from meeting the target. The pressure mounted from all angles until Aidee became a shadow of herself. We encouraged her to keep pushing. That was all we could do to help her. We were also trying hard to meet our own targets. The struggle was real for all of us! We combed the streets of Lagos, we called every number stored on our phones and the ones we saw on sign posts, in newspapers and magazines. Our friends and relatives were on our ‘prospect’ list and we bothered them with reminders, even though they didn’t make any promise to us! Those days were crazy!

On this beautiful evening, after we were done with our work for the day, my husband had parked in front of the office building, waiting to pick me up. As I stepped out, I saw Aidee walking away from our car. I got into the car and my husband said to me,

“that lady just walked up to the car, opened the door and hopped in. Then she realized she was in the wrong car and she jumped out again, apologising to me. Is she alright?”

I was confused, until I got to the office the next day and Aidee walked up to my desk.

“Chinazo, ma bi nu (don’t be angry). Please help me apologize to your husband. Yesterday was so bad for me. It looked like the evening meeting was held because of me.  I was reminded of my poor performance, my inability to meet my targets and the possibility of being fired if nothing changes. I felt so helpless. The pressure was so much. All I wanted to do was to get out of this office building as fast as possible. I called my friend to pick me up. I was outside when your husband arrived. Without thinking, I jumped into the car and said to him, “oya let’s go”. I didn’t realize I was in the wrong car until I noticed he was staring at me. That was when I jumped out! Kai! This pressure wants to kill me, Olo’un! Please apologize to him on my behalf.”

I had two other colleagues standing around and they were also listening to Aidee’s explanation. We all started laughing; you know that kind of laughter that is a cover-up for your tears. You laugh because, even though the story made you sad, somehow, you still found some humor in it. We laughed but, in our hearts, we cried.

Then one of us spoke,

“Aidee, take am easy o. Na so you wear difren black shoe come work the oda day. One leg get one pattern, the oda leg carry anoda pattern. Now, you de enta anoda woman husban car. Haba! You wan ki’ yoursef on top dis bank work?”

Aidee sighed.

“I go try. E no easy o. Kai!”

I cannot remember if Aidee waited to be confirmed. She couldn’t cope with the pressure anymore. She resigned.

Dear friend, life has its challenges and they can be so overwhelming. Some days, we are unable to think objectively. We act like we have lost our minds. We become a shadow of ourselves. We even lose our confidence and self-esteem.

It should not be so.

God, the One who created us, is aware of the troubles and the challenges we face. He already knew how hard it would be for us to cope with the pressures of life, so He sent us His word, in advance, to encourage us. This is what His word says about the challenges of life:

“In this godless world, you will continue to experience difficulties, but take heart, I’ve conquered the world.”

Did you hear that? He said we will CONTINUE to have difficulties. In other words, like we say in Nigeria,

 “problem no de finish”

but there is good news! We have victory because God, our Father, already conquered the world on our behalf.

My dear friend, you need to take a deep breath and draw strength from the victory that you already have in Him, because as much as we try to deny it, these challenges will come but

 if we keep our eyes on Him,

if we keep our focus on Him,

if our ears are inclined to His Word,

if we never give up,

we will go through every challenge and we will come out, victorious!

So dear friend, breathe in….out….in again….out.

All will be well!