SURVIVAL SKILLS FOR THE HUMAN SPECIES

Disclaimer: This post is not for everyone.

When you hear the word survival, what first comes to mind?

Life and death scenario or maybe survival of the fittest.

Well, for me, it’s easiest way to live the longest, how to make it out alive, how to be the last woman standing but there’s a clause.

“with not much of a struggle” 

“smoothly” 

“easily”

Simply put, how to live fully here on earth, easily.

Survival skills are therefore the skills you need to arm yourself with.

These skills will help you a lot in your journey. They are not necessarily for the affluent alone; everyone should acquire them preferably from a very young age.

In no particular order; 

Swimming: If you have the opportunity, parents please teach your kids how to swim from the age of 2-3. This will come in handy till the person leaves this earth. If you are unfortunate not to have been taught while growing up. Please save up and pay a professional to teach you. Many have drowned for lack of this skill. Many have lost opportunity to save a life or get a job for the mere lack of this skill. Doesn't this baby look cute swimming? Wouldn't you have loved him to be yours? 

  

Cooking: I’m not trying to start a gender war here but truth be told, everyone needs to know how to cook. Picture yourself in another country with no relatives and expensive restaurants, will you continue to make noodles or drink golden morn till you find a good wife, sorry cook? Or you have a quarrel with your wife and she refuses to cook for you, won’t you get tired of eating out or Awon “the way to a man’s heart is his belly”, so is the route for kobnomi (love portion). One a serious note, every human should know how to cook food not necessarily for aesthetic but for stomach sake.

Guys,wouldn't you love to get the girl with your culinary skills? I personally know some ladies who would fall for it. 

      Doesn't this Afang soup prepared by a Bayelsan man i know, call out your name?

Driving: Nigerians need to teach their teenagers how to drive since we don’t have the luxury of taking driving lessons in high school. It is not a thing of affluence or for the rich alone. That car you don’t want your children to drive, when you are old now you’ll start begging them to drive you to places. Teach them now. Let me tell you a short true life story. It happened to a friend of a friend. His dad had a fatal home accident when he was a year old. There was no one at home but his mother. Sadly she didn’t know how to drive at that time. So she went to beg neighbors to help drive her husband to the hospital because calling a cab was a more difficult and time wasting option. This was in the eighties. Before she eventually got help, her husband had died. One can’t even imagine how she felt at the moment. The woman is in her 80s now and she still drives herself to no matter how far she has to go. When it comes to job opportunities, it will give you an edge. It doesn’t matter if you’re from a rich home or not, once you’re above eighteen, look for someone to teach you how to drive. Your future self will be happy with you.

            I had to drive the family home here because my dad was exhausted. 

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In the picture below, I got a contract that required me to be mobile. Had I not known how to drive, I would have spent nothing less than 20,000 naira which was like 20% of my profit on taxis plus the stress of getting a taxi that will take you to some weird place to carry load including the time spent waiting. I was so thankful for my driving skill that period. 

Learn a skill: Any skill will do. Don’t be the person that doesn’t know how to do anything. Learn baking, sewing, knitting, leather works, marketing, furniture making. It will definitely come in handy tomorrow. You may turn the skill to a money making venture. You could teach the skill to others. The information you have about that skill may give you an edge for an appointment, contract or job offer. Our time is the jet age. things are moving at the speed of jets. Nine-to-five and white collar jobs don't open up for everyone. You might be the first class anatomy graduate that ended up as Nigeria's top 5 fashion designer or not because you were too proud or ignorant to learn a skill. Digital skills aren’t left out. It's the internet age. Learn digital marketing. You can learn to code here 

Another language: not so vital but being bilingual helps a whole lot. For the records, your native language is inclusive. Notice when filling forms for job interviews, there’s a section where one is asked to fill the languages you can speak and write fluently.

Communication: you may be wondering, what is this one saying? Just chill. You know how children were and are still told to shut up at home, in school, in church, every-freaking-where. That is how they lost the ability to express themselves. Then they grow up into adults that lack the ability to express themselves or speak up for themselves. They either end up in toxic relationships or are the toxin and the effects ripple to infinity. If you are in that place now, take a course on communications for yourself. Learn how to talk to, for and with people. This will take you further than you could ever have imagined. A word, they say is enough for the wise.

A few extra tips; as an adult Nigerian please try and get the following things to survive in this already hard economy, opportunity only happens to those on the dance floor.

A passport, driver’s license, national ID card and health insurance

God helping us, we shall survive.

If there are any other survival skills I didn’t mention please add it in the comment section.

Love Deedee,

XOXO