Whenever I feel self-conscious, I take 3 deep breaths and exhale. It feels like I have been tense all the while for no reason and all that weight just sauntered off my shoulders. This has made me aim at becoming as self-aware and consequently as relaxed as I can be, and for the past couple of months, I've been doing a lot of finding my pace.

I've always been known to have a calm demeanor, regardless of how crazy my experiences have been, I recently had my phone stolen and my friends thought I was not serious because I seemed unperturbed, considering I had gotten the phone less than 12 hours prior and it was my second phone loss in 4 days.

Security in my university has been in shambles for quite some time now, and just two days ago, my bestfriend @verifiedwiz called me to meet him let us study overnight in school, and I obliged.

On my way through some of the well known dangerous areas, someone walked up to me and began walking alongside me, making enquiries like my name and class. I decided a conversation on the long lonely path would not be bad so I obliged.

When we arrived at an area where the streetlights did not work, he asked me to give him my bicycle set cap (a common tactic used by armed robbers to "drive" you in nigeria, they take your possessions, from least valuable)

I took two steps back, he showed me his gun, I took 3 deep breaths while he watched me carefully, I exhaled and sauntered harmlessly past him whilst saying (in Igbo, I'll translate)

"I do not feel like giving you any of my valuables today, you're either using that gun on me or not"

I kid you not, he stood rooted for a few seconds, before catching up to me, still gun in hand and trying to keep his "power" he said something in Igbo roughly translated as

"Run, be quick before I change my mind. You know the mind of a man is not stable at night."

To which I looked him deadpan in the face and said

"I do not have the strength to run, it has been a long day, lets enjoy this walk" in Igbo too

At this point he began accusing me of ruining his day, when all he came to do was find his "daily bread" (by robbing people? such hardwork, sheesh)

I ignored him and kept walking till he left me and withdrew when he spotted a couple of students headed toward us.

This little story is the most recent example of how I slowed time down to my pace and let myself react with composure. Just like that thief, life comes at us fast and tries to deceive us into getting on the same frequency and thereby reacting and acting at a pace preset by other people or circumstances.

Being an accounting student and my professional exams (ICAN) always around the corner with the threat of losing my scholarship looming over me every examination seasosn, I achieve the clarity I need to study by finding my pace. Always at my pace, not the school's, not my loving but overbearing family's, not my mentor's, not my professional body's pace.

NO

My own pace. 3 or more deep inhalations to fill my lungs to the max and one exhalation to clear it. Do this thrice and you slow everything down.

I have sometimes used the euphoric and relaxed state of mind induced by THC in marijuana to achieve my pace setting. For some reason it seems to slow how time passes and I have more time to think, act and achieve things with speed, minimal stress and efficiency.

The clock will never stop ticking, time will never wait for you, Always stop to breathe.

• TheOjo

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