Loda Blessing

Someone commented on my video and said my teeth are ugly.

To be honest, I didn’t feel angry.

Because it’s true — my lower teeth are not straight and not good looking

Sometimes when I record videos, I even try to hide my smile a little bit.

But that comment made me think about something.

I was born and raised in a rural area of China.

When I was a child, nobody ever talked about braces or teeth alignment.

Nobody told us that some habits could affect your teeth in the long run.

We would chew hard food, bite whatever we could, and grow up without thinking about it.

And our parents never mentioned anything about correcting teeth either.

At least in my childhood environment, that idea simply didn’t exist.

Honestly, I didn’t even know braces existed until I was already in my twenties at university.

The first time I saw someone wearing braces, I had no idea what it was for.

Only later did I understand that teeth could actually be corrected.

That moment made me realize something.

Sometimes the difference between people is not effort.

It is information, environment, and what you were exposed to while growing up.

Some things are “common knowledge” for some people, but completely unknown for others.

Later I came to Liberia.

And I noticed something interesting.

Many Liberians seem to have very straight and beautiful teeth.

It made me wonder why.

Is it because of diet?

Is it because of lifestyle?

Or is it simply because I only noticed certain people?

I honestly don’t have the answer.

But it reminded me of something I once read online.

Someone once said to another person:

“You’ve never been on a plane?”

The other person replied with different questions:

Have you ever watched thousands of fireflies lighting up a rice field at night?

Have you ever heard frogs singing across an entire valley after the rain?

Have you ever seen a sky full of stars with no city lights, just pure darkness and light?

Have you ever walked through mountains where there are no roads, no traffic, and no noise?

In that moment, I realized something very simple.

We all only see a small part of the world.

People who live in cities may never experience the quiet beauty of nature.

People who travel far may never understand a simple rural night.

No one has seen everything.

No one owns the “full version” of life.

We just experience different parts of it.

And maybe being real is more valuable than being perfect.

What is your thought ?

Many people asked me why that article suddenly got so much attention.

The truth is, I don’t know.

On the eve of Dragon Boat Festival, my mother called me from China.

After the call, I sat alone in my room in Liberia for a while.

I wasn’t planning to write anything.

But some thoughts came into my mind, so I wrote them down.

That article ended up getting more views than most of my recent posts.

Funny enough, it wasn’t carefully planned.I just wrote my thoughts.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to read it.

Funny enough, the post I spent the least time writing became the one that reached the most people.

Has that ever happened to you?

Today , my mother called me from China.

She asked, “What will you eat for Dragon Boat Festival tomorrow ? Will there be any special food?”

I smiled.

Life here is simple. We don’t really celebrate Chinese festivals .Most days look the same.

There is no city electricity in the nearby villages. At night, we rely on generators, solar power, and the internet from Starlink. No shopping malls, no cinemas, no fancy restaurants.

My mother always worries about me.

She says, “Why didn’t you stay in China? Why come all the way to Africa and live such a hard life?”

From her point of view, she is right.

Life here is not too comfortable.

But strangely, I don’t feel unhappy.

When I first came to Africa Liberia , I was chasing success and money. I wanted everything to happen quickly.

Now I am learning something different.

I am learning patience.

I am learning that not every dream grows overnight.

Some things need years of waiting, learning, and growing.

Out here, life is slower.

The nights are quiet.

And in that quiet, I have found something valuable: peace of mind.

Many people think happiness comes from what you eat, what you own, or where you live.

But I think happiness is also about sleeping well at night, feeling calm inside, and knowing you are moving forward little by little.

So no, there may not be a special meal next Dragon Boat Festival.

But I think I’m doing just fine.

Sometimes the richest thing a person can have is a peaceful mind.

What’s the most valuable wealth for you? Tag a friend who needs this reminder today.

HYDRATION
BREAK

One goalkeeper. One small nation. One unforgettable night.

Cape Verde has fewer than 600,000 people.

Spain has some of the best football players on Earth.

On paper, this game should have been easy.

Football doesn’t always follow paper.

For 90 minutes, Vozinha stood in goal and refused to give up.

Save after save.

Minute after minute.

Until the final whistle.

0-0.

A result that meant far more than a point.

It was a reminder that small nations can dream too.

That courage can compete with talent.

And that sometimes one man can make an entire country proud.

Respect, Vozinha.

A Football Match Brought Back a Childhood Memory

Tonight, heavy rain is falling outside in Liberia.

I was trying to watch a World Cup match, but the internet kept buffering because of the weather.

The video froze for a few seconds on a referee wearing an Adidas T-shirt.

For most people, it was just a football match.

For me, it became a time machine.

In an instant, I was no longer sitting in Liberia in 2026.

I was a 12-year-old boy again.

It was 2006. I had just started junior high school in China. My parents came to visit me and took me to a local market to buy some clothes.

In a small shop, I saw a white sports outfit hanging on the wall. Looking back, it was probably a cheap copy of a famous brand, but I didn’t care.

I thought it looked great.

Some older students wore similar clothes, and I wanted to look like them.

The outfit cost about $10.

My mother looked at it and felt the quality wasn’t very good. She started bargaining with the seller.

As a child, I didn’t understand why adults always negotiated prices.

I remember feeling embarrassed standing there while they argued over a few dollars.

I kept telling my parents to stop bargaining.

I just wanted to buy the outfit and leave.

Soon, an argument started between us.

I got upset, walked away, and even cried.

At that moment, I thought my parents simply didn’t want to spend the money on me.

Later that day, my father took me to a larger clothing store.

Instead of buying the cheaper outfit, my parents bought me a black winter tracksuit for about $20.

It was thicker, warmer, and much better quality.

At the time, I wasn’t happy.

I still wanted the white outfit.

But that black tracksuit lasted for three years.

I wore it through almost all of junior high school until I grew too tall for it.

Even after years of use, it was still in good condition.

Tonight, nearly twenty years later, sitting in Liberia and listening to the rain, I suddenly remembered that day.

Funny enough, I can barely remember what that white outfit looked like anymore.

But I still remember my parents standing beside me in that small shop.

When we are children, we remember the things we didn’t get.

When we grow older, we begin to understand the love behind the decisions our parents made.

Sometimes, a frozen football screen is enough to bring back an entire chapter of life.