‘Do zombies exist?’ I asked in my mind. Or maybe not, ‘cause the lady on the seat beside me in the bus turned to stare at me, her eyes clearly weary from weight lifting the eye-bags.

‘Zombies are real- I guess’. I continued musing as I picked out my smartphone to google it. One of the posts that popped up made a clear distinction; Zombies in the sense of reanimated human corpses are less likely to exist. While, zombies as organisms behaving without a will of their own are more common in nature.

Yeah, that’s the kind of zombie I am- we all are;  I concluded as I glanced at the other 42 passengers on the bus all trying to catch up with the sleep their alarm clocks had rudely awoken them from. I woke up by 4:30 AM in order to catch up with the third bus for 5:30 AM. I wonder who went with the first two buses. Ghosts? Zombies?

I peered out the window to look at all the other cars on standstill- classic Lagos traffic at 6:00 am! We get up so early to go for jobs that keep us ‘Just Over Broke’. Jobs we often have no deep passion for and could easily pass over for the next one with a fatter paycheque.  Waking up so early, mumbling a quick prayer to God on the way hoping ‘He understands’, as He always does. We barely have any time to spend with family, friends or even ourselves! Hanging out with friends is like planning a wedding! Whatever happened to just catching up over lunch and at church meetings? Oh yes! Midweek church meetings. Can’t remember when last I attended one- never get back in time to join one, thanks to traffic. Then how about exercise? Wake me up on a Saturday morning to jog and I’ll punch you in the face-literally!

So yes! Zombies exist. They are all around us. Eyes glued to the screens, involved in an endless race to death. Smartphones are so smart, they make us dumb– can’t even rack my brain for anything when there’s Google. We are all in a race to death, talk about lack of proper sleep; taking pills so we could work all night, unhealthy eating habits; who even has time for homemade meals when there’s fast food to keep you on-the-go? Environmental pollution, noise pollution, work stress, lack of exercise…the list is endless!

Why are we doing this? For survival? More money? Fear of being unemployed? Don’t even get me started on who spends this money when we all die. Come on! Take a break. Pause and smell the roses! What season is it? Try not to check the weather forecast on your phone.

What is our fate? Do we keep maintaining this vicious cycle to death?  For how long? Truthfully, I’m not in a hurry to die and I’m pretty sure you aren’t. So how do we step out of the race?

It’s true that money is always the driving force. The paycheque at the end of the month makes a zombie outta us. With the loads of responsibilities on our feeble shoulders, we just can’t afford to lose that job! And you would probably say something like; ‘Come on M, if only you knew how many people out there are without jobs, you’d understand why I’ve gotta be a zombie every single day…’ Of course! This isn’t a script on being ungrateful with your life and the jobs you have. This is a post on how to live abundantly and not exist like a zombie in this zombie-land we live in.

So just before you cut me off, hear me out; What if the focus shifted? What if we focus more on value adding than money stockpiling? I know that’s a hard pill to swallow especially in this part of the world where we barely have enough to go by-everyone is hustling.

Don’t just go to work ’cause you have to, do something that makes you happy and adds value. Have a sense of purpose and fulfillment!  Imagine how fulfilled you would be when you wake up in the morning excited about the lives you’re going to save and the value you’re going to add. Let the payment be a plus, not the main factor. Remember;

You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you. Psalm 128:2 (ESV)

I could go on and on but I have to draw the curtain here. Maybe we’d continue this some other day.

So are you involved in a race to death? Are you one of the zombies that wake up early against your will just to make enough money to feed on? Yeah, it’s a zombie land out there but God has paid too much for you to live as one of the clueless zombies. Take a step back to re-evaluate your life and motives. Chillax! Set new goals and choose to be more than a zombie. Choose life and live abundantly!

It’s always my desire that you live victorious lives!

It’s a new week! Don’t forget to show some love.

Love you! ❤

 Mfon Etuk, 2015