What My Alert Never Explained

A few years ago, I got an alert of close to a million naira on my phone, one of the biggest amounts that my phone, a torchlight Nokia, has received at once. Then, it was a balance of a project I did some weeks ago. I remember looking at my phone, maybe in disbelief, and in my head, I was already calculating what to buy.

Just within a few weeks, all the money was gone, phew. No one stole it; I didn't even mismanage it in any funny way I could categorically pinpoint. It all went to small decisions, a system upgrade, giving small amounts to people who came to me for help, buying clothes, feeding, selling, and giving to family members that I felt too guilty to say no to, the money didn't go into reckless spending; everything was just a collective fatal.

I know on someone else that we worked on the project together, and he also received almost the same amount as mine. He went ahead to put some percentage into a fixed deposit, and the rest in a trading portfolio he has been managing in his free time. A few months later, his money has gotten more value, while mine has turned into a memory with almost nothing to say this is what I used it for.

Then, my opinion was that we are different in a way that he is more disciplined than I am. Well, I don't think that anymore. Somebody had lectured her by sitting her down and explaining what money is supposed to do once it arrives, while nobody in my upbringing ever needed to teach that lesson, because for generations, there was rarely enough left over after survival for it to matter.

So, among all the skills now, if I should go with one, it will definitely be that missing one, not earning money, since I know that part in a way, but I know how to go about it with purpose when the money comes.

Thank you for reading.

_{Images created by Gemini AI}