I am Whitney Edna Ibe 

A lot of people ask, “ Whitney, who needs counselling these days. No one’s secret is safe?”

My response: “Everyone!

Your secrets and that of my clients are in safe hands. Trust me, I won’t drop the ball. I consider it an honor and rare privilege to hear the stories of other people during and after sessions. A lot of people shy and run away from counselling and that’s understandable, as trust is overrated nowadays. As a result, so many people have underlining issues, problems that they are unaware of, some are aware but choose to brush it off. People don’t go for counselling as they should and that tends to make my life beautiful (if you know what I mean).
By all means I love what I do. Daily I pray for people to be free to approach me and talk to me. Earning someone’s trust is one of the most difficult things to do. As a counselor, I create an enabling environment that gives people the closure they seek to open up. Confidentiality and confidence are my watch word.

Admittedly, there are sad moments in being a counselor, coach and emotional recovery therapist. One has to be professional and emotionally capable of handling people’s problems. One of the most challenging aspect of my job is listening to horrific stories of people, the pains and fears they live with. Witnessing their bravery makes my day. One of the beauties of being a counselor is that I get to share the burden of my clients. When their burdens are shared, they are able to make rational decisions. Its human nature to desire the best for yourself at all times, but selfless service is the crown of life. When I get to meet a client, they become my friend, my nephew, my niece, my brother. I see them beyond their pains and do everything within my power to help them see it too.

No one said it was going to be easy, but hey, “ I love being me and I love what I do!”. Whether I am having a good day or a bad day, I remain thankful and optimistic.

Here's what my life in a week looks like (Mon – Sat)

4:00 -7:30am: Yeah, I know that look on your face… I am an early bird. I am currently working on being a late bird (winks). Get up, say my prayers, reflect on the word of God. There’s no me without Christ. He is the center of everything I do. The reason I am focused, strong and committed. Exercise for a few minutes. Take a glass of water. Review my schedule for the day and list my goals I need to accomplish in my diary. Yes! You heard that right. I’ve got a diary. I just love them.

8:00am: Have breakfast. Write new post on my blog as I listen to good music. I love listening to soft and gospel songs. It helps to keep me relaxed. I also catch up with local and international news. My favorite channel is AIT.

9:00am: Respond to emails, inquiries from clients and potential clients, comments and reviews from fans.

10:00am: Work begins. Sessions with clients and this includes: children, family, individuals, parenting, relationship, extra-marital affairs, work and life issues.

11:00am – 1:00pm: Sessions continue. Attend to my blog, edits, write for other websites I work with and have my lunch.

2:00pm- 4:00pm: Attend to invites to speak in schools, forums, (this depends on when the time for the meet was scheduled or booked), do some research to remain updated and learn more about counselling, handling difficult situations, and emotional balancing.

5:00pm – 6:00pm: Take some time to just breathe. It does me a lot of good. You can’t make sound judgement calls with a clouded mind. Listening to the stories of other people can be a bit overwhelming, so, as often as I can, I keep a sound mind. Often times, people do not understand who a counselor is and what counselling entails. I provide them with options to choose and meditate on after a session. I am not hasty in offering advice.

7:00pm- 9:00pm: Head home. Have dinner with family and spend time with loved ones. Watch my Telemundo series and soap operas. Get my things for work the next day ready. Lagos traffic sometimes makes this very difficult. Ugh…

9:00pm -10:30pm: Run through my emails again and respond to clients who need me urgently. Read briefly. Spend time with my man and give thanks together.

10:45pm: Bedtime.

I have been writing on Whitneyibeblog for 5 years now and counting. I have been privileged and fortunate to meet with amazing, ace and prolific writers. Some became friends, others now family. The different type of people I’ve come across has taught me a lot. I’ve learned from each of their experiences.

The journey hasn’t been all rosy I must say. Through blogging, I have learned that it’s not about being on top of the game, it’s about staying in the game. Lessons have been learned; experienced writer’s block, got scrutinized and criticized. The whole experience has been larger than the streams in the south and still growing. I guess that’s the rub, isn’t it? I am blogging for passion and maybe someday soon I will do it for a living.

A Typical Day in My Life

4:00AM -10:00PM- Yeah, I know that look on your face... I am an early bird. I am currently working on being a late bird (winks). Get up, say my prayers, and reflect on the word of God. There’s no me without Christ. He is the center of everything I do. The reason I am focused, strong and committed. Exercise for a few minutes. Take a glass of water. Then I write as the inspiration comes. Sometimes, I already have the post I want to publish-ready from the previous day, so I just post it.

Follow up on the works of another blogger. I make it a habit not to judge blogging by the average blogs I come across. Because at the top of the huge pyramid of the blogosphere, there are thousand of readable and useful blogs to learn from.

I know it’s hard to imagine blogging as a career, in our ever-changing, hyper-active world. It goes against every societal norm and breaking social norms can be quite scary, but then I am doing what I love and I enjoy it. I have been able to impact lives and affect the world from my own little corner. I have inspired, educated, enlightened and motivated thousands from my blog. I can pick up my bag and take my work and my fans with me to anywhere I choose to be.

I respond to my emails (For some perspective, I usually have about 150+ emails to respond to every day), phone calls, and comments on my blog posts and in turn, review the works of some visitors on my blog if not all. I endeavor to stay engaged with my fans, brand ambassadors, and followers.

I write as many posts as I can and publish them. Creating is one thing, publishing is another. It’s not enough to write in your diary, it takes bravery, courage and resilience to publish your creation and when you publish your creation and get to see that some of it did resonate with another, it’s everything.

Read a book a day and also read the works of other writers, both new and old. I also follow back new followers. I also find time to educate myself about this growing industry such as digital marketing and social media marketing. Blogging has shown me that these careers are here to stay.

And of course, not every day is full of work, reading and writing. Some days, I take out time and rest, visit the beach, and treat myself to a good meal. I don’t pay much attention to food as I should, but, I am working on improving that every day. Blogging is still work, but it’s fun and flexible work. It allows me to do other things I love to do conveniently.

My fans are everything and I love them.

My words affect my world.

Success comes in different stages, but I truly believe that our words is the key to much success if not all. There are many things that bring joy to me, but I believe my words is my passion. Words are very powerful. As I grew and had knowledge of who I am, what my dreams are, and of all that life had to offer, I became more passionate about what I say, how I say it, when I say it and whom I say it to. Few words can change a life or mar it. Hate, violence, and wars all starts with a word. And, if you want peace, it also begins with a word.

I can change my world and the world I live in with my words. Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Daily, I strive to watch my words and to be a woman of her words. The words we say has tremendous effect on people big or small and once spoken, cannot be retrieved, but we can change the outcome by choosing to change our words.
We can put an end to a lot of vices in our homes, schools, prayer houses, society, by changing our words. We are what we say we are! I am passionate about my words, and they sure affect my world.