What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!
But there’s no “coming out the other side with bad governance, chronic illnesses, ignorance… There’s just gritting your teeth and white-knuckling through it. #EndBadGovernance
Sometimes I get really sick of the “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger“ trope.
Sure, I’m strong as heck because of what I’ve been through, but that doesn’t mean I’d go through it again. We are strong when we have to be, but we shouldn’t have to be strong all the time.
And so, what? I spend years of my life getting tested and broken down and I come out the other side “stronger” only to keep getting tested and broken down?
I’ve come to realise there is no coming out from something (talkless of coming out stronger). On this day, two years ago, a number of youths lost their lives, families, friends, and hope on the street of Lekki. All because they choose to say No to Police brutality & bad governance.
I hope we will never forget! #EndSars
A number of others that survived the attack became enraged as expected (what didn’t kill them made them stronger abi). But not more than 2 years later, many of the same youths are siding with the bad governance that almost finished them off (you might wonder like me; did they come out stronger or dumb?).
The fact is there’s no “coming out the other side with bad governance, chronic illnesses, ignorance… There’s just gritting your teeth and white-knuckling through it.
I am the person I am despite what I’ve been through, not because of it. I refuse to be a product of my experiences and refuse to be defined by them. I am so much more than what I’ve been through. I hope you are that too.
I am better off standing up to change what doesn’t kill, taking control of them while I can and altering the narrative to something better.
In the words of Mr Praise Ayodele, “what doesn’t kill you, can come back to finish you off”. So it would be wise to finish off what doesn’t kill you before it comes back to finish you off.
The post appeared first in the ELH newsletter on Substack @ https://open.substack.com/pub/mustaphalawal/p/what-doesnt-kill-you-makes-you-strong?r=19xo2&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
