By Abike had just finished frying puff-puff when her phone rang. It was her friend Sade, crying so hard you’d think she was being chased by a goat.
“Abike, Kunle didn’t call me back yesterday!”
“Okay… but maybe he was busy?” Abike suggested.
Abike sighed. She’d heard this script before. Sade’s emotional weather forecast was always cloudy with a high chance of tears.
“Busy? BUSY?? But I saw him online at 9:03pm!”
Abike nearly choked on her puff-puff. “So you’ve now become EFCC for WhatsApp?”
The problem wasn’t just Kunle. The problem was Sade’s emotional health was directly tied to his mood swings. If Kunle was sweet, she was on cloud nine. If Kunle didn’t text, she sank into emotional Lagos traffic no movement, just stress.
Abike decided it was time for an emotional stability intervention.
“Sade, my dear, you need an earthquake drill.”
“Earthquake? What does that have to do with love?”
“Simple. Before the shaking starts, you need to know how to stand. If your joy collapses every time he frowns, then your relationship is built on uncemented sand. You have to be happy first before the love matter, or else you’ll be outsourcing your peace to somebody’s son.”
Sade was quiet.
“In fact,” Abike continued, “emotional stability is like puff-puff. You fry it in your own oil first before anyone comes to taste. Don’t use Kunle’s fire to cook your happiness.”
By the end of the call, Sade was laughing and ordering puff-puff from Abike.
Lesson: In relationships, your peace of mind is your own responsibility. If you hand it over to someone else, you’re basically giving them remote control of your joy… and batteries are not included.