No Space For Junk: Inspired by a True Life Journey to Finding Happiness

By Nike Okeke

We have all heard the common sayings like “happiness comes from within” and “happiness is a choice". The questions then are, if happiness is within, how do you tap into it? And if happiness is a choice, how do you choose to be happy in the midst of the world’s chaos?

 

After many unproductive years of struggles and acquiring “stuffs" to be happy, Nike Okeke went on a soul-searching journey to find answers to the questions above. A powerful and never-failing way she found to tap into the happiness within is by clearing the junks in one's life. Everyone has these junks. Some people realize they have the junk while some people don’t. What are these junks? How do you know if you have them? How do you clear out the junks? And how do you guard yourself against acquiring more junks thereby deliberately choosing to be happy? NoSpaceForJunk is written to help empower every reader and encourage them to take charge of their lives.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Release date: Jun 4, 2019
• ISBN: 9780310107507

Nike Okeke

Nike Okeke migrated to Canada about ten years ago. She is a registered nurse with a strong passion for mental health. Nike understands how significant forgiveness can be in maintaining a human’s physical and especially, mental health. She has therefore written about how she found inner peace and happiness and says everyone is capable of doing it, too.

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

Idecided to go on a journey to find happiness after I had a scary experience and thought I might die! I obviously survived this experience, but I had to rethink and regroup. I thought of what my life’s purpose was and I found that the true purpose of life is simple—to be happy. The main reason why people acquire money, cars, houses, friends, even eat and drink sometimes is to be happy.

Most people will tell you that happiness is a choice, but what choices are they making? The choice to buy that expensive car that you know you can’t afford? The choice to get into that mortgage just so people can notice that you now live in a big house? The choice to do things, not because you want to do it but because everybody else is doing it? The choice to belong? Belong to the wrong crowd? The choice to dwell on the hurtful incident that happened twenty years ago?

I made so many choices in my quest for happiness—the choice to move to another country, the choice of emotional dependence, the choice of buying a nice car, the choice of getting a good job and so many more. In all my choices, I can tell you that the choice to forgive is what helped me most.

Forgiveness, first for myself and then for others, came like a solid foundation on which my happiness could forever stand.

In this book, I use the term nospaceforjunk to describe forgiveness as a way to clear up the emotional junk in one’s life. I also elaborated on what these emotional junks are, and the different strategies that can work to help with forgiveness.

In the first two chapters, I shared my life story about how I got to the point where I thought I needed to start living and being truly happy. The subsequent chapters focus on why we need to forgive and the ways to achieve happiness.

CHAPTER 1

MY WAKE-UP CALL

What if I die at this moment? I thought to myself as I watched the paramedic prepare an IV solution of magnesium sulphate.

You have an IV line already, so I wouldn’t need to poke you again, the paramedic said in response to one of the so many questions that I asked him.

It was Friday, April 22, 2016. I was thirty-five weeks and about six days pregnant. I had gone for a scheduled prenatal visit in one of the small towns close to where I lived (I lived in a town where one has to travel at least forty-five minutes for prenatal visits and deliveries).

This was my first time on the ambulance, as the patient. An ambulance, I know, is for life-threatening situations, so I knew my situation must be very bad. My blood pressure had been high for the most part of this pregnancy, but it was very high on this day, with an overwhelming headache and medications not working to control my blood pressure, the hospital was done. They didn’t have enough facility to deal with my case. I was transported on an ambulance to one of the hospitals in the city.

I was gripped with fear throughout the ride. The thought that I might die made me regret the life that I had lived. Have I really enjoyed my life? My answer was NO. My whole life flashed in front of my eyes. I had complained every step of the way! I came to Canada some years ago in search of a good life and happiness, but all I did was complain about everything. Happiness, for me, had always been in one thing that I needed to attain, but after attaining it the happiness never lasted, so I started to search for something else. My heart was filled with desires that I never truly enjoyed because I always focused on the next thing.

What do you do? the paramedic asked, interrupting my thought.

I am a registered nurse, I said. I answered a few more of his questions then drifted back into thinking… Yes, I am a registered nurse. I work in a mental-health facility. It was what I had dreamt of since my second year of nursing… The paramedic interrupted my thoughts again. I don’t remember his question this time. I don’t think it’s relevant. My eyes were closed. I think he was just making sure I wasn’t sleeping or slipping into death.

When we got to the nearest hospital in the city, a lady came out to receive me. I could see her lips moving but I didn’t hear what she was saying. However, I kept nodding my head in affirmation. Maybe she was introducing herself. I didn’t care. I