https://www.facebook.com/295798726960666/

Baken Diaries, No 16\ 17 PS Egure Street Gwarinpa, Abuja (2026)

20/08/2026

Little Things

There was a time when she wanted things.

Not big things.

Just little things.

She wanted to ask for another helping of food without wondering if there was enough.

She wanted to say when something hurt her feelings.

She wanted to ask her mother to stay a little longer before leaving.

But she learned to watch first.

If money was tight, she didn't ask.

If everyone was tired, she kept quiet.

If someone was already upset, she decided whatever she wanted could wait.

Nobody told her to stop needing things.

She simply noticed what happened when she did.

So she adjusted.

She became the child who could make do.

The child who didn't complain.

The child everyone praised for being so understanding.

Years passed.

She became an adult who could walk away from a restaurant without ordering what she really wanted because something inside her still whispered,

Don't be difficult.

She could be disappointed and immediately convince herself it didn't matter.

She could want something deeply and talk herself out of wanting it.

Then one afternoon, her young daughter asked for something small.

“Can I have this?”

She almost answered automatically.

Then she looked at her daughter's face.

There was no shame in the asking.

No apology.

Just a little girl who wanted something and believed she was allowed to say so.

Her mother smiled.

“Yes.”

Later that evening, she found herself thinking about all the little things she had learned not to ask for.

And she finally understood.

She hadn't become easygoing.

She had become accustomed to adjusting herself.

There was a difference.

She couldn't go back and give that little girl everything she had once wanted.

But she could stop teaching the grown woman that wanting was something to apologize for.

So the next time she wanted something, she asked.

The first time felt strange.

The second time felt easier.

And slowly, she began making room for herself too.

Because Awareness Creates Protection.

Until I see you again, take care of yourself and take care of others.

19/08/2026

Their Name

In the Okoro family, the name mattered.

Everyone knew it.

Their parents had worked hard to build a respectable family.

Their children were expected to protect it.

So mistakes were kept quiet.

Failures were softened.

Problems were handled privately.

When their son lost his business, nobody outside the family knew.

When their daughter separated from her husband, the family told people she was “taking some time away.”

When one of the grandchildren began struggling at school, they worried more about what people would say than what the child was going through.

Then one evening, the youngest son looked around the dinner table.

“Do we ever talk about what is actually happening?”

Everyone became quiet.

His mother frowned.

“What do you mean?”

He looked at her.

“We're always making sure everyone thinks we're fine.”

Nobody answered.

Because the truth was sitting right there with them.

They had spent so many years protecting their name that they had forgotten the people carrying it.

And for the first time, someone was more concerned about the family than the family name.

Because awareness creates protection.

Until I see you again, take care of yourself and take care of others.

18/08/2026

What She Knew

Teni noticed the change as soon as she walked into the room.

The greeting was colder than usual.

The conversation was brief.

When she shared an idea, her colleague barely acknowledged it.

She felt the question rise almost immediately.

Did I do something?

She replayed the morning in her head.

Nothing came to mind.

Still, the thought followed her through the day.

Later, she watched the same colleague speak sharply to someone else.

A few minutes later, she saw her walk away, visibly frustrated.

Teni paused.

For the first time, she didn't make it about herself.

Maybe the woman was having a difficult day.

Maybe something had happened before she arrived.

Maybe she simply didn't like the idea Teni had shared.

Whatever the reason, it belonged to her.

Not Teni.

That realization made her think about how often she had allowed other people's reactions to become measurements of herself.

A cold response became They don't like me.

A criticism became Maybe I'm not good enough.

Someone's disagreement became Maybe I was wrong.

She had been treating every opinion as evidence.

But opinions were not facts.

And another person's attitude was not a report card on her worth.

The next day, her colleague walked in smiling.

“Good morning, Teni.”

Teni smiled back.

Nothing needed to be explained.

She had already learned what she needed to know.

People could have their moods.

They could have their opinions.

They could even misunderstand her.

She could notice all of it without allowing any of it to decide who she was.

Until I see you again, take care of yourself and take care of others.

17/08/2026

The One

Everyone in the family knew there was one child Mama could never say no to.

If he arrived late, there was always a reason.

If he made a mistake, someone else had misunderstood him.

If he needed something, it appeared.

His siblings noticed.

They noticed when Mama defended him.

They noticed when their mistakes became lessons while his became excuses.

But nobody talked about it.

At family gatherings, they smiled, ate, laughed, and moved on.

Over the years, the children found their own ways of dealing with it.

One became determined to prove she could do everything herself.

Another stopped asking Mama for anything.

The youngest learned to keep quiet whenever the conversation turned toward him.

They grew older.

The family changed.

But the old arrangement remained.

Then one Christmas, one of the daughters arrived with her own family.

Her little girl wanted something from her.

She said no.

The child looked disappointed.

Without thinking, Mama turned to her daughter.

“Why can't you just give it to her?”

Her daughter looked at her mother.

Then at her own child.

Something shifted.

She suddenly understood why she had spent so many years trying so hard not to need anyone.

She had learned early that asking could leave her disappointed.

That fairness was not always guaranteed.

That being the easy child was safer than expecting the same treatment.

She looked at her daughter and smiled.

“No, Mama. She can be disappointed. She'll be okay.”

For once, she didn't adjust herself to keep the old peace.

She simply made a different choice.

And perhaps that was how the pattern finally lost its place in the family.

Not with an argument.

Not with blame.

Just one person deciding that what she had learned did not have to become what her child learned too.

Until I see you again, take care of yourself and take care of others.

16/08/2026

It Stopped

For years, Ada believed she had to be liked.

She watched what she said.

She softened her opinions.

She apologized when she had done nothing wrong.

If someone became distant, she blamed herself.

If a relationship ended, she searched for what she could have done differently.

She became an expert at keeping everyone comfortable.

Everyone except herself.

One afternoon, she met an old friend for coffee.

As they talked, her friend smiled and said,

"You've changed."

Ada laughed.

"I have."

"You don't seem bothered by what people think anymore."

She stirred her coffee before answering.

"I realized I was trying to win approval from people who had already decided who I was."

Her friend looked at her quietly.

"So... what changed?"

Ada smiled.

"I stopped believing that being misunderstood was something I had to fix."

From that day, criticism became easier to carry.

Not because people stopped judging her.

But because she stopped measuring herself by their opinions.

The comments didn't stop.

The assumptions didn't stop.

The gossip didn't stop.

It stopped bothering her

Not because she stopped caring.

Because she finally understood that other people's approval was never the measure of her worth.

Until I see you again, take care of yourself and take care of others.

15/08/2026

And She Chose Better

For a long time, Amara believed being strong meant never struggling.

She admired people who always looked calm.

People who seemed unaffected.

People who never appeared shaken by what life brought their way.

So whenever things became difficult, she judged herself.

“Why am I finding this hard?”

She thought strength meant having no difficult emotions.

Then one day, a conversation with an older friend changed how she saw things.

The woman said,

“Strength is not measured by whether life challenges you. It is shown in what you choose to do when it does.”

The words stayed with Amara.

She began noticing something.

The strongest people she knew were not people who never faced problems.

They were people who paused before reacting.

People who chose their words carefully.

People who allowed themselves to feel disappointed without letting disappointment control their decisions.

People who faced difficult moments without allowing those moments to define them.

Amara realized she had been fighting the wrong battle.

She was not weak because life affected her.

She was human.

The difference was learning that every situation did not deserve the same response.

A difficult moment could meet patience instead of anger.

A setback could meet determination instead of giving up.

A painful experience could meet wisdom instead of bitterness.

Life would continue to bring challenges.

But she no longer measured her strength by what she felt.

She measured it by the choices she made after.

Until I see you again, take care of yourself and take care of others.

09/08/2026

She Outgrew The Lie

For a long time, Ada believed something about herself.

She believed she had to prove her worth.

Not because anyone said it directly.

It was something she learned over time.

Through experiences.

Through moments that made her question herself.

Through situations where being accepted felt connected to how well she performed, how others saw her, and whether she made mistakes.

So she carried the belief quietly.

She became careful with her choices.

She thought too much about how she was perceived.

A simple disagreement could feel like rejection.

A mistake could feel like failure.

A person's opinion could become a reflection of her value.

Then one day, she stopped and asked herself a question:

Where did I learn this?

For the first time, she realized she had been living by a rule she never chose.

A belief created during moments when she was simply trying to understand the world around her.

It helped her survive then.

But it was limiting her now.

She began to see that her worth was not something she had to constantly earn.

She didn't need to convince everyone.

She didn't need to be perfect to be accepted.

She didn't need to carry a belief that was never true.

The world around her did not suddenly change.

The opinions did not disappear.

But something inside her did.

She outgrew the lie.

And when she did, it stopped controlling her.

Until I see you again, take care of yourself and take care of others.

Baken Diaries

20/08/2026

19/08/2026

18/08/2026

17/08/2026

16/08/2026

15/08/2026

09/08/2026

Address

Website

Alerts

Shortcuts

Share

Category

Listing takedown request