A Bowl Of Akpu and the Choices We Make [by Alexandra (@AlexandraZion)]

Image Source: CleanTechies

Chidera Taylor had returned to Africa after schooling of six years in Ukraine. Everything seemed somewhat strange to her in the first few months of her arrival: the language, the clothes, and especially, the food. A Ukrainian lifestyle had eaten deep into her now-eighteen-year old system, and she thought it hard to adapt to her roots all over again.

For three consecutive days, she watched her Aunt Ada eat Akpu and she found it disturbing in smell and in sight. Akpu seemed to be the staple food of her aunt’s life and ‘Dera could not fathom why. She had skipped afternoon meals for three days because she “did not know how to eat Akpu.”

On the fourth day, after Chidera drank pap in the early hours of the morning, she proceeded to the kitchen for a convinced lunch. Her considerate aunt was already making the Akpu soft and nice and Chidera made her know she would like to have some, with her left hand above her nose.

The food was ready in no time and Chidera sat with her dish in front of her. She stared at the Akpu for a while and finally summoned courage to take a first bite. She scuttled her hand to the bottom of the Akpu and examined the size she carved out of it, just as her aunt would do. Chidera dipped the Akpu ball into the Ogbono soup next to her and rolled the ball into the soup as she saw her aunt do. After a good deal of rolling, the soup-soaked Akpu finally got to her mouth and glided down her throat.

Her aunt, who had been watching her silently, burst into a sarcastic and hysterical laughter and said: “I actually don’t eat Akpu every afternoon. I just wanted you to learn how to.”

One thoughtfully said is “An entire sea can not sink a ship unless the water gets into it.” Recently, I discovered influence to actually be the driving force for our actions. Consciously, subconsciously and unconsciously, we take actions stemming from things that we have observed, heard or simply liked. I decided to define influence, moreover, as a global currency that purchases new behavioural dispositions from a variety of sellers.

I used the word “purchases” because whether we realise it or not, we never get influenced for free. In one way or the other, we pay a price for what influences us.

How true is this? One could ask.

The above fictional story of ‘influence by observation’ portrays that learning something new does not have a price tag, learning something new is the price tag. The moment we take the bull by the horns and decide to imbibe a new character into our lives, we have paid the price of moving beyond our supposed capacity; the status quo of our lives.

Come to think of it, how do you explain those moments when you suddenly begin to use a slang or form of salutation that your close friend usually makes use of? (and possibly, you are unable to recall what the normal was for you). This is because we tend to listen to people and appreciate how they speak and before we know it, we begin to do the same. The mind has processed our appreciations and sometimes, secret practices until such attitudes find expressions on the outside.

However, the core truth is that there is no form of influence that forces itself on us. We might begin to do something in the subconscious which we never used to, but once we continuously do this, it becomes absolutely conscious and this is where choice comes in.

Chidera, at first, ate Akpu in almost the exact manner her aunt did but it takes her choice to determine if she will keep eating Akpu that way or opt for a new one.

Therefore, in as much as good and bad influences can come into our lives, we are totally responsible for its permission to stay in our lives.

Make the right choices today.

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