How my dad taught me courage by accident.

I had shared this as a Facebook post a while ago and I felt like sharing again.

Some folks don’t believe in heroes 'cause they haven’t met my dad

-Owl City

Living close to my dad in these past months has been the most real-time of my life. I mean learning from this wealth of a man has been the most amazing experience for me. On one of our occasional travels of recent, we were journeying on a highway.

I was buried in my phone in the back seat. What was I even doing? I think was battling with an ache on my temples (which was gradually becoming normal). Staring at the words in black that displayed on my screen from an eBook, was what held my tears back together (as a matter of fact).

At one time, I had switched to playing music, but the way he (dad) intentionally turned up the volume of the car stereo assured me that the book was a better choice.

Soon the other vehicles became talented artists as they drew our attention to the way they were beginning to slow down their paces. At first, we thought it was normal. Probably a trailer driver caught amnesia and forgot how to turn.

But then, I realized that more cars were in sight; there were no amnesia stricken trucks, and I think it got hotter inside — maybe it was the fear speaking.

For safety reasons, he kinda took caution and wanted to see for himself what was happening. Still maintaining his pace, he veered into safe spots until we gradually reached the front.

You should see the look on our faces, you'd think we won a front-row ticket to a musical. Then we saw them. A fleet of military vehicles. I heard my headaches taunting me ( it was really the fear speaking)

They (military) held a disgruntled look too familiar with Nigerian Soldiers. Their speed was as annoying as a bad network. If you'd pried into their minds, you'd think they were flying; but in reality, they weren't. And every other driver was willing to follow in their paces. Damn! It was slow.

An idea struck my dad, I am not a big fan of his courage, it scares the hell out of me. He increased his speed and was racing past them. My mind went numb as I remembered a million ways to die during drive-bys — thanks to GTA San Andreas.

He obviously didn't play that game, so I doubt any of those came into context, he just fired on. We passed the first truck, then the next, and continued towards the truck that seemed like the 100th and didn't want to be reached, we passed it.

It was his final expression that inspired me to share this story. The way he threw his hands up and screamed "Yeah" like the way you do when the super eagles score a goal. The way he punched the steering wheel with glee that got me. The way he laughed and threw his head out of the window to stare, and yelled: "I know others will do the same" that got me.

It’s the way he didn’t care about receiving a thrashing or even ending the journey abruptly with a bullet infested tyre that got me.

How motivated are you to break free from the dead branch you're clinging to? How ready are you to key into other people's breakthroughs? As a creative, I speak even to myself. You have so much to offer, so much. Are you bold enough?

I stifled back the chuckles that were trying to build in my throat and was like "daddy you need to be careful, you might not always be lucky".

It gets worse, he totally ignored me.

How confident are you when dealing with distractions and negative vibes from other people? How big are your dreams? Your motivation, courage and energy comes from within. It begins with you.

Happy Papa’s day to all fathers teaching their kids accidentally, these lessons stick more.