Glowreeyah Braimah: Through the peaks and lows, lessons have been learned (30 Days of Gratitude)

It’s time. Time has come for me again. Time. Time is a gift, a measuring-scale, an x-ray, an assessor. Time. Every birthday, every anniversary, every commemoration, every remembrance, etc serves as a tool of time to provide a rare opportunity to initiate or to end, to remember or to forget, to gravitate towards or to escape from, to give life to or to deliberately terminate.

This time it’s the end of year 2015. So, here I am once again, standing on the terra-firma of my life and purpose amidst the tick-tock of it all. Nanoseconds ,microseconds, milliseconds, seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and another year ebbing away like a tide.

Still I stand. Watching in a mental slide-show a year captured in sturdy frames of moments gone by, of memories created, of tears shed, of smiles made, of life lived, of lessons learnt, of hope and faith re-affirmed! In utmost gratitude, for this time.

Moments went by when I didn’t have a clue as to what I was doing with my life. The questions echoing through everyday living. Will that plan work? Will my prayers be answered now? Does this wig sit well on my scalp? Criss-cross steps. Walking on the waters of faith. Every step taken with a beating heart in tow.

Glowreeyah-Braimah

Memories were created in diverse ways. I heard loads of testimonies from all over the world as regards my song ‘Miracle-Worker’. A  song birthed in the trenches of pain but bringing life and consolation to many.

I’ve heard from nurses who play it to soothe patients in the hospital wards .I’ve heard from mothers who have played it as lullabies for their kids who had trouble sleeping. I’ve heard from foreigners, from strangers, from children, from the elderly, from the high and mighty, from the regular guy on the street. I’ve heard varying versions.

I’ve heard it on the airwaves. For every time I hear, I get that dewy-eyed-humbling inexplicable feeling; that mushy joy that warmly sweeps over my entire being; to show that someway, somehow, I just might have made a difference and impact in someone’s life out there. To this purpose, I remain happy to serve. What if I had never taken a bold step to record and release that song?

Tears were shed when it was my late Mother’s 10th year remembrance. Flashbacks of that Bellview crash in 2005 etched in my memory-bank. How could 10 years have gone by so fast?

For Pete’s sake, I can still hear the familiar ring and tingle in her voice when she sought to call my name or emphasize a point in a conversation. Sigh. Tears shed in remembrance of what once was and what could have been. Still, I remember the comforting re-assurance of Isaiah 57 verses 1 and 2.

Smiles were made during my ‘Aunty-natal’ leave when I carried and helped to look after my sisters’ babies in The States. Betty’s handsome boy. Jane-Terese’s tremendous triplets. Bou-bou wearing, multi-tasking octopus-moments. Flashback. One fine day,I happened to be alone with them.

I remember holding one of the triplets against my chest while patting her little sister on the bed and rocking their feisty brother in his rocker using my legs. Singing at the top of my lungs in an effort to drown out their whimpers. Oh what a sight! Love can be inconvenient.

Life has been lived. Through the peaks and lows. Through the extraordinariness and ordinariness of it all. Remembering forgiveness in the face of bitterness. Seeking healing in the midst of brokenness.

Lessons learned are too numerous to mention. I have learned that wisdom is better than weapons of war. I have learned that just because I have an opportunity to render judgement does not mean that I cannot trade this for a moment of mercy. I have learned that what I do not seek as a harvest, I will not sow as a seed.

I have learned that people will act differently towards you through your caterpillar to butterfly process. They cannot fathom the thought. How can a crawler obtain wings? People will always be people. Be patient and compassionate towards them. For we all have never been this way before.

My hope and faith is constantly being re-affirmed in the promise of the word of God to me. This gives me Godfidence in the One who knows the plans He has concerning me; plans of good, never of evil, to bring me to a future and an expected glowreeyous end.

In summary; I’m grateful that Grace has preserved me. Grace has kept me. Grace has done me well(culled from the lyrics of my song ‘Wings of Grace’ on my new album’THE EXPRESSION’).

Overall, I’m grateful for being a serial survivor; for the opportunity to write this piece retrospectively and in good health/state of mind; for the gift of introspection ,innovation and creativity; for my mentors and mentees in every sphere; for the savory taste of ‘Ekpangkwukwo’; for the moist-yumsciousness of Chef Attah’s chocolate cake; for friends who love and commit inspite of it all; for every social, political, spiritual platform that has given me an opportunity to share ,inspire and just be me.

The ultimate thanks and gratitude to my Heavenly Father who is madly, deeply ,intentionally in love with me. Oh and lest I forget. For His time. Time to trust. Time to look forward again. It’s time.

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30 Days of Gratitude is a month-long series curated by Leading Ladies Africa. It chronicles the unique experiences of different African women, and presents them the opportunity to share their, life-learned lessons, dreams& aspirations, and their hopes for the future.

Follow Leading Ladies Africa on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to get daily updates on the series.

 

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