When Things Go Wrong...

When things go wrong as they sometimes will
When the road you're trudging seems an uphill
When the funds are low and the debts are high
And you want to smile ,but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest! If you must; but don’t quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up, though the pace seems slow;
You might succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than it seems
To a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggle has given up
When he might have captured the victor's cup.
And he learned too late
When the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out;
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt;
And you never can tell how close you are;
It may be nearer when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you are hardest hit;
It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit.
Anonymous

Destiny

Few days ago, I was having a discussion with a learned colleague of mine on “destiny”. I however discovered that so many people have different perceptions on what is termed destiny. Before I share mine, I would like to give you a bucket of water from his well of thoughts. He said and I quote “Destiny is not something that is pre-arranged or ordered by God as most people think. It is something that we act out, something that we make to happen. We have the power to make our destiny. So many people sit recumbently chanting the mantra “God dey” while they destroy themselves with the faith that that’s how their life was planned by God. It’s their destiny. For instance, if a mechanic wey no get money go marry three wives and get like fifteen children don dey suffer, he go talk sey ‘na so God want am’. Na God send am? If you don’t control your destiny, someone else would.

Another friend of mine was of the opinion that you can change your destiny. He cited the case of Jabez who changed his destiny from ill-luck to good-luck. “Was it God that predestined Jabez for ill-luck? NO! Unlike most of us today, Jabez rose above his inability, he took an action, he moved from his limited environment, he prayed to God to change his destiny. So many of us just have to put in a little more effort to change our destiny. A little prayer, a little more hard work and a pint of faith can do it all” Our destiny lies in our hands. On our palms lies the answer to every of our questions and with our hands put to work, we can achieve anything we set out to achieve. As heaven and earth is set before every man to make a choice, so also was Goodluck, Nuhu Ribadu and Buhari were set before us and so also is success and failure set before us. Unlike an election where a criteria of 18 years of age has to be achieved before one can vote, in the game of life, you don’t have to be 18 years before you can be a player… you don’t have to be 18 before you can set goals and achieve them… you don’t have to be eighteen before you can #DreamBig! You are not too young to make a change…it’s not late to re-write your destiny. All you have to do is to take that little step of faith, pray that little prayer of faith and take that little action of faith. Just as Jabez changed his destiny, you also can change yours.

Goodbye 2012

The South Africans call it "Totsiens", the Japanese call it "Pirkano paye yan", the Italians call it "Ciao", the French call it "Aurevoir" the spanish call it "Adios"...Yorubas say "Ó dá bó", Igbos say "Ka odi" Hausas say "Sai an jima". We all say "Goodbye!" Oh yeah...goodbye to 2012, goodbye to all the tears shed in the 12th year of the second millennium on planet earth. Goodbye to the sorrows, heart-breaks and disappointments. As a nation in general and an individual we have been through a lot this year. Starting from our national New Year's package, the removal of fuel subsidy to the bombs dished out to hapless citizens to the Dana crash, a national tragedy and the recent death of top government officials. We have experienced ups and downs, surprises, shocks, dissapointments,frustrations, experienced great miracles and of course, imprinted in our hearts, in the sands of time of juggling memories are blueprints of laughters of loved ones, infectious smiles and funny moments. For some, 2012 was a year of fulfillment and ground breaking successes while for some, it was an unfortunate year of mishap and bad luck, but as a great man once said: The most pathetic man on earth is the man who falls and refuses to get up; the man who falls into a river and drowns not because he fell but because he made no effort to swim out. We may have made irreversible mistakes and committed unforgivable sins, but I tell you, It isn't over. Life has presented you once again with a chance to rise up against storms of discouragement and make a change...It's time to re-write history! All you have to do is pick up your pen, get your diary or notepad and write something you would really like to change in your life. Put it in prayer be you a christian or muslim, back it up with unrelentless and steadfast faith and you are one way closer to your dream. Martin Luther King Jnr. Once said," you don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step in faith". Faith makes all things possible, Love makes all things easy, Hope makes all things work and Prayer makes all things happen...you can makes things happen this new year, it starts with U! Go out there and show the world what you've got... Happy New Year!!!