My Sacred-ables

For many years I hated breakfast. I knew how important it was to my body and even for my growth. I just couldn’t bring myself to eat in the morning. At a point, I even realized I was always tired in the morning because I wasn’t eating. But something happened one day and everything changed. I developed a stomach ulcer and the pain was enough to tell me all that I needed to know.

Since I knew what the huge contributor was, I began figuring out how to fix my breakfast issue. So here’s what I found: I do like eating in the morning, but just not light food. I just wasn’t a fan of eating toast or cereal for breakfast. I wanted heavy foods like kenkey, banku, emo tuo, and waakye. I know, I know. More like dinner for breakfast, yes.

Ever since I found that out, one thing I don’t play with is my breakfast. Even before I go to bed, I mostly make sure the food I’ll eat in the morning is ready and waiting for me. I've also seen tremendous progress in my productivity and even my strength in the morning. Unlike those years when I used to feel weak in the morning, I’m now always active.

I know someone might be wondering if heavy foods in the morning don’t make me sleepy. Funny enough, it’s rather the teas and the cereals that make me sleepy. I remember sleeping one morning at work after having cornflakes, and nobody told me to advise myself.

Another thing in my life that is nonnegotiable is my current sleeping time. I go to bed at exactly 10:30pm. The latest is 11:00pm. I’ve seen how a messed-up sleep schedule can torment one’s life, and I’m really not ready to compromise my current sleep schedule for anyone.

The funny part about me staying up late at night was how I was never able to be productive. I normally just wasted the night. I hear people say they work better at night, but my deal was to make hay while the sun shines. So I wonder why I allowed myself to embrace nightlife.

Just yesterday, someone texted me around 10:15pm. I wasn’t expecting our conversation to go deeper, but it did, and before I realized it, it was 11:38pm. I immediately asked if we could continue talking the next day and quickly went to bed.

One thing I’ve realized is that most of the things I don’t play with are all targeted at the betterment of my health. I must say I’m not surprised because, for me, I learned the hard way that health is wealth. And until I hear that we can now get to live twice, these concerns about my health will forever be my non-negotiables.