BECOMING A GENDER WITH AN AGENDA!

Hello dear friend! How are you? Hope you’re fine. No sane man wakes up every morning and leaves his residence and family without having an objective in mind; a premeditated destination. A person who is oblivion of his/her true purpose in life is left with no other option than to wander. Enjoy!

“To live for something is to live up to something and vice-versa. A Marketer with no set sales target cannot tell on the long run whether s/he meets a target or not. To exist is not just to feast and gist, but to have and actualize a personal life list. ” –O.J.O

‘Kayode Oyero

                                                                                                                 

There is something interlocking about an action and an intention. Though, dreams are the seedling of reality. But, a deluge of intention without an action is as good as no intent. Likewise, an act without a prior intent or reason can be rightly adjudged to announce a display of mental aberration in rational quarters. You can imagine someone who acts without first thinking!

Truthfully, many of us may have in one way or the other come across a saying that one thousand good intentions is not as good as one action, but, imagine an ironic instance when one thousand actions is not as good as one intention: Imagine someone behind a moving Wheel with no specific direction or destination in mind; an individual or a family organizing a feast with no spectacular event or occurrence calling for such celebration; the recruitment of a Gardener when there’s no sprouting garden or bevy of flowers to prune; a corporate meeting without an agenda…… Simply imagine living a life without a well-spelt self-known purpose!

>>> People who take actions without an organized intention agonize aftermathly! Why? They don’t have charts. To have a chart is to arrive at a destination decided upon in advance!

Planning establishes co-ordinated efforts. It reduces uncertainty and wasteful activities. When you plan the execution of a certain goal, either mentally or in black and white, you minimize the chances of you failing. To be frank dear friend, without a plan, you are not sure of anything, not even yourself. You are prone to the vagaries of full-fledge uncertainties and the attendant thorns of probable failure. When you have a plan, you are as armed as a warrior on a conquest mission. Tell me with utmost sincerity friend, can the attack of a wild beast be averted with mere bare hands? Capital eehn, ooo, NO!

“Aimlessness is a vice, and such drifting must not continue for those who would steer clear of catastrophe and destruction. They who have no central purpose in their life fall an easy prey to petty worries, fears, troubles and self-pitying (Job diversification)…… we should conceive of a legitimate purpose in our hearts and set out to accomplish it… looking neither right nor left,” says a classic inspirational writer, James Allen in his book: As A Man Thinketh.

The word: ‘Why?’ has a deeper significance than the meaning generally attached to it as an ordinary three letter interrogative word; it tends to govern all human actions. For example, we need shelter basically because of protection and privacy. We own cars solely for the purpose of movement and transportation and not necessarily because of ornamental importance. We purchase a commodity having understood the essential or importance of that commodity to ourselves.

Summarily, you’d agree with me that in creative term, we buy after we know the why!  – Right? I can hear your firm Yes from here! Okay, let’s proceed! >>>

>>>You can’t do what you are supposed to do until you discover what you are supposed to do!

Dear friend! Have you ever thought of the reason why some folks change job line or direction of trade like cattle nomads? Why they never stick with any one business line long enough to become a Master in such area of specialization, build up a network of contacts, store of knowledge and professional reputation? The reason is simple. Such individuals lack direction. They are naïve of the power of focus and the law of concentration that maintains that scattered energy is a wasted effort and that to focus on something consistently is to become a Focus. This act of crisscrossing is what is called the trap of confusion. They are experimenting!

Time-wasting is one of the dangerous things in life. Show me a Time-waster and I’d show you a Life-waster. Time is a commodity so ephemeral that it can’t be recaptured once gone. What you’ve lived you can’t relived. So, it’s best to make judicious and fulfilling use of it in a way that will bring great results and personal satisfaction. ‘Why do I exist in the first place?’ is a soul searching question we need to ask ourselves and find a genuine answer to before we exit this world.

“Why precisely am I on earth?”

                 

American Buckminster Fuller, one of the greatest investors and thinkers of the twentieth century in his work, “Generalised principles” of the Universe asserted that honey bees are not in essence purposed to produced honey, they are purposed to cross-pollinate. It’s in this process of cross-pollination that they accidentally gather nectar for honey. For him, animals don’t earn a living. They are just doing what they are supposed to do. And by doing what they are supposed to do, nature and God looks after them.

Dear friend! For each of us, there is something we are supposed to be doing. And if we do that, then God and nature will look after us (just like animals) and money will come screaming for our attention!

“What does it mean to live a purposeful life?”  

      

Living a purposeful life is about enriching other people’s life: adding value to the life of others and not doing it with the cardinal motive of making money. The life of comedians and humorists suffice to this fact. Real successful comedians are accomplished not because they have to do comedy, but because they like and want to do comedy. They derive an inward satisfaction putting smiles on the faces of people. Thus, people reciprocate their welfarist gesture by putting smiles on their faces through compensations. (Nature nurtures them!)

Genuine born comedians and comedienne don’t struggle to get even the most inharmonious-contoured face happy and laughing hysterically. It’s their calling. It’s their passion. They are divinely anointed to do comedy! Just give them the audience of half a minute and they will send your eyes watery with tears of excitement. They feel inexistent and unfulfilling if they don’t exhibit satire! Its part and parcel of their make-up come what may. They make people giddy with excitement out of their volition and not out of a survival instinct or compulsion. They know what they are supposed to do and they do what they are supposed to do. And by so doing, nature and God caters for their welfare. Just like animals!

But, quite sadly, a lot of us are grappling in places below our potentials, struggling with jobs we have no passion for, holding onto jobs in conflict with our recreational interest, all because of survival? We can do better! Inherent natural gift lies latent in us waiting for a productive explosion!

“What’s the way forward?”

>>> Make your passion your profession! 

Dear friend! The first step to living a purposeful life is to do for a living what you will do assuming you are a multi-billionaire with no monetary worry. Imagine not having to wake up before cock-crow to resume an official white or yellow collar duty solely because of salary or accumulated wages. A plush opulent life of all-round comfort, luxury and enablement: nothing to hustle or struggle for. What recreation would you –a creation, - do in such a life in other not to remain dormant? (Thinking?) Make such passion your profession and you’d gain an inward self-satisfaction that you’re living for something and not necessarily working because of something.

Dear friend! If you find yourself frequently doing something and the reason for your doing it is not because of pecuniary gratification. But, because you like yourself while exhibiting such an interest. Then, believe me, that’s your purpose! That’s your uniqueness! Brand yourself in such field. Quit brooding in official status and trades that you dislike in the deepest recesses of your mind but you opt for all because of the quest for survival, social glamour, societal elevation and celebration. A man‘s position and action must flow out of his purpose not the other way round. A real man is someone who is aware of the reality of ‘who he is?’ and who lives in that reality. You are an entity with a divine identity, a God-given talented creature endowed with an area of comparative advantage!

>>>One of the greatest secret to discover our purpose and start fulfilling our potentials is doing what we love and loving what we do.

Dear friend! Do you have a mellifluous voice such that the Hollies of Holies finds it irresistible during special number rendition in Church? Please consider the music ministry. Your business is not only in banking (guessing though) but with the notes. You know only death can separate you from singing, so, don’t you think you should devote your spare part in establishing your label?

Or are you a male with a sugar-coated tongue such that you can convince the stone-hearted of them all? A promising career awaits you in marketing, counseling, law, politics, evangelism, public speaking, public relations or international mediation. Stop wasting your time winning and breaking the hearts of impressionable ladies. Stop fabricating undetectable lies. Harp on your potential. Hone your gift of persuasion. A fulfilling career awaits you in one of these highlighted fields. Draw your life agenda in this direction. It’s what you like doing. You have all it takes to professionalize yourself as an Orator. Be in motion with this vision. Products are designed with the intention of the Producer. You’re to leverage on your gifts to fulfill your purpose!

Only death can terminate the true reason of our existence, not retirement or Job termination letters. Ever-wondered why medical practitioner predicts the life expectancy of persons after retirement to be between three to five years? The reason isn’t far-fetched. It’s because most retired people allow official it-is-over notice to wreck their maximum utilization of productive capacity. Retirement without doing anything for these persons causes speedy depletion of their life. It is called redundancy!

A benefit of making one’s passion, one’s profession is longevity of life and an absence of forced retirement. Lawyers, Judges, Doctors, Writers, Musicians, Instrumentalists and other persons undertaking interest-leaning careers tends to live longer than their man-must-shop counterparts. The longevity of the lives of the Late Chinua Achebe and Gani Fawehinmi, Wole Soyinka, King Sunny Ade, Bill Cosby, Ebenezer Obe is a testament to this fact. They love what they do and do what they love. They derive enjoyment alongside fulfillment with their job. Hence, the issue of retirement is a goner as far as they are concerned.

Why would they even think of retiring from doing what they love when they love what they do? Even at eighty and above, the Late Chinua Achebe wrote a published book: There was a country! Even at eighty something Pa Ebenezer Obe still performs live on stage, tantalizing his audience with melodious rhythms. Even at above Seventy, Bill Cosby still sends his audience laughing intoxicatingly with amusing talks and acts…… Isn’t that amazing?

“Mr Poter! Where’s my pre-Christmas gift?”

Here is it:

>>> Enjoyment + Fulfillment = Purpose. When you make your passion your profession, you’re liable to have mansions with effortless ease. You’ll get paid for enjoying yourself!

Thanks for the read. God bless you!

I’m @Imodoye_1 on Twitter!

…Kip da Optimism Alive!

An Attitude of Gratitude!

With esteemed gratitude to God, we at Petals of Thought use this special occasion of our one year celebration in the firmament of blogosphere to thank you, our dear valued readers, who shaped our delivery and effectiveness since last November by your responses and prodding.

Your open and tacit comments and criticisms, those seen and unseen on the scene have in no small way helped in the smooth running of this blog. To tell you, your feedbacks have been a formidable spine of our motivation. We are optimistic of more future mutually beneficial relationship.

And also as part of activities to mark this special occasion, our Board of Directors thought it deemed for us to take a week off. We shall be back on the radar next week God’s willing. Once again, we thank you dear well-wishers of Petals of Thought for giving us the opportunity to inspire you with our thoughts and utmostly to the Giver of every good thing who made this possible.

Without readers, there’s no writer, no you, no us. We appreciate your active and consistent readership!

We thank you!

In the hood of celebration!

…Kip da Optimism Alive!

Signed:

Oluwakayode Oyero for the Board of Directors.

DESIRE THE PRIZE? PAY THE PRICE!

“Dear friend! Stop wishing. Start reaching! Every of life’s desirable ‘rice’ comes with a price. Be wise! Pay the price today. Enjoy the milk at the peak called ‘peak milk’ while you’re young. It’s no lies that you may never stay long!” –O.J.O

‘Kayode Oyero

Hello my friend! How are you doing? How’s business, career, family and studies?  Let’s talk about something important. Let’s talk about ourselves, so I’ve titled this one: Desire The Prize? Pay The Price!

---->>> Let’s get going!

There’s a story of an extremely wealthy man with an impressive business empire. His affluence stood head and shoulder not only in his country but also on his continent. He lived in a majestic mansion built of fine gold. The mansion was built on land and water. It was an amphibian-like residence of sort. He was extravagantly rich that not even the invasion of the canker worm of a great loss was capable of crippling his business dynasty. His affluence was reported by international news media every now and then. To say he was a public figure is an understatement, as he was an inter-continental personality who rubbed shoulders with the ‘Who Is Who?’ of the world during his time.

This wealthy man had a daughter. She was his only child. She was single and a full grown lady! She was light-skinned, dimple-cheeked and moderately skinny. Her slim figure wasn’t borne out of starvation, maltreatment or lack of care. In fact, she had world-class first-class dieticians, nutritionists and dermatologists at her service. She was marvelously porch, charming and vivacious. Her breast was firmly formed and cone-shaped. In fact, she was a beauty to behold and a feast for all eyes like an albino in an afternoon market. But in spite of her aura and panache, she was single.

And fully aware that his daughter was no longer a spring’s chicken, that she was ageing and her biological clock ticking, the rich business baron syndicated a notice in the press. Print, broadcast, on-line, local and international media were used in disseminating the information. The notice read that any man who was able to win his daughter’s heart  will automatically have her to himself as a wife and as a side attraction and compensation he will also have half of his entire wealth.

After the public announcement was made, the wealthy man’s daughter became a subject of innumerable sexual fantasies and cultish worship. Suitors began to worship at her father’s doorpost. Powerful kings and eligible handsome princes and many sincerely I-am-not-rich-but-I believe-in-myself bachelors also came forth to solicit her hand in marriage. They crowded the door to her external harem with wonderful gifts and pleas, visiting her father’s palatial mansion every now and then, each applicant in a bid to outsmart the other.

Every day, contemporary cars obviously owned by these interested candidates were jam-packed at the rich man’s residence. All the men sought her audience, but she wouldn’t give them any. She was acting on her father’s instruction which was in accord with his undisclosed game plan.

After few weeks of trying, none of the interested suitors gave up. They all kept coming, each nursing the glimmer of hope that he would be the lucky man. But, as many and enthusiastic as they were, their motives shouldered a greedy intention; an intention which focused on the ‘fifty percent inheritance bounty’ the one to win the wealthy man’s daughter would have to himself.

Sunset upon sunrise, their desire to have her mounted with possessive craving. Each of the men desired her the more, especially on the awareness that a host of others also desired her. Desire, what a virus! In actual fact, the assertion: “when we see that someone else desires something we desire, we tend to find that thing more desiring” is not a lie after all!

---------Let’s get back to the Subject!

During the period, the best of the best of bachelors showed their interest to have her. Some even displayed their financial capacity that they are up to the task of taking comfortable care of her by employing the expertise of excellent internationally acclaimed poets to praise-sing and appreciate her beauty in beautiful flattering lines of romance. The poems were published on first class dailies and magazines and also broadcast on national and international broadcast stations with the aim of reaching out to her in order to curry her favour as they were denied access to meet or talk to her in person or by phone. At the end of each poem was the name of the sponsor who was apparently the interested candidate.

To be called the husband of the daughter of one of the richest men on earth was a thrilling and glamorous identity each of them couldn’t wait to earn. But still, the rich man’s daughter stayed aloof, denying every of them a chance to communicate with her, both face-to-face or impersonally.

Don’t forget it was a game plan to sieve out the ‘Determined’ from the ‘Wishfuls’!

Soon, it was time for the wealthy man to unravel his plan and get the most determined suitor as husband for his daughter. His strategy was unbias. He again made an announcement that carried his official seal in the press. The announcement trumpeted that finally the time has come for one of the interested men to convince him that truly and really he is the most eligible and in-turn deserves fifty percent of his entire entity and ultimately his daughter. The announcement was all-inclusive as it also spelt out a precise date and time for them to converge at his paradise (for the examination).

On the deal day, the men, well-prepared arrived at the rich man’s house before sunrise, thinking that punctuality would also be considered a requirement and an action of seriousness. They waited impatiently and expectedly. And when the time came, the exact time that was appended with the publicity, he instructed his righthand aide to tell his gatemen to swing his central gate ajar and direct the ‘students’ to join him at his state-of-the-earth expansive examination hall- the swimming pool.

At the pool side, he intimated the candidates that inside the pool were aggressive alligators and other dangerous aquatic creatures which was no lies after all. He then told them that anyone who was the first to swim through the alligator-infested pool from one side and come out alive on the other side will automatically marry his daughter and have to himself, fifty percent of his entire entity.

Immediately after his delivery, an organized pandemonium ensued. The men broke apart furiously like startled bush fowls. Arms hurriedly flew up in protest. They were all visibly agitated. Some even cursed and abused him as some feet retreated and made their way back to the gate. “Is your daughter an Angel that it will cost us to risk our lives? What sort of a devilish and frenetic task! Go and marry your daughter yourself and in fact eat her……” all sorts of insults, invectives and criticisms rang in the air turning the poolside to a house of many bells.

And in a fit of bluster, a deep sound was heard to their amazement, a young man had plunged into the ‘red sea’ and within sluice of seconds, after maneuvering the deadly alligators as fast as he could emerged victoriously on the other side of the pool, panting heavily with triumph.

Dear friend, a lot of us are like the other men. We complain instead of attaining. We desire but refuse to aspire and perspire. We expect life to be fair on us and to get everything easily on the altar of no sacrifice. We relax and yet want a palace for a residence. We blame and refuse to aim. We sit and scorn people who eat meat not putting to mind that to eat meat, one mustn’t sit. We fault our friends, family, people and government for our not-satisfying condition when we can take the bull by the horn and fight the circumstances tending to restrain us from getting our most cherish heart desires.

A lot of us like to toil the line of least resistance. Lines of less challenges like mediocre vocation. For example, instead of going through the furnace of rigors and training years of studying pharmacy at the University, a lazy chap will in his or her wise foolishness finds it better and time-saving to enroll under the tutelage of a backyard patent medicine seller. Tell me dear friend which is preferable professional-wise to discern a doctor’s drug prescription between a graduate of pharmacy and a product of a roadside patent medicine seller? Tell me which enjoys more social respect? Tell me which you’ll like your son or daughter settle for? My friend, you can’t afford to be a local champion. You are an international champion. The top is beckoning for you!

Now, let’s face it right in the face!

It’s quite unfortunate that a lot of us like to trail short cuts forgetting that inherent in short cuts are gunshots that cut life short. We detest stress but like rest. Fine! It’s a good thing! But, to rest when we ought to be stressed will inevitably result to being stressed when we ought to rest. Listen, You can’t afford to live a life of poverty and mediocrity when all you need do in order to reel in abundant prosperity is to wake-up and never give-up. To be the first, now is not the time to rest.

Hmmn! To be the first, now is not the time to rest!

To state the honest truth, no one wants to live a fake life, yet not everyone is willing to stay awake, bake and make a cake-like life. For every prize, there’s a price. For every grain of rice, there’s a price. Likewise, for every rise, a price is to be paid.

Dear friend, if you desire something, walk and work towards achieving it. It’s not enough to desire, you must also aspire. Owning that house or car of your dream is not a mountain if only you attain getting it.

It’s quite baffling that a lot of us hate the process, but yet long for an access to a life of durable comfort, accomplishment, fulfillment and luxury. We only want to reap without sowing not taking to mind that people who sleep deep don’t reap leap! We only wish we could relish without making dogged resolution to reach for what we wish to relish. What an impossibility!

My dear friend, show me a band notable for having many wins and I’d show you a troupe who invests heavily in rehearsals; a goal-getter and I’d show you a goal-setter; an apartheid-free South-Africa and I’d tell you the story of a restless freedom-fighter and lastly show me a brilliant student well-known for passing his examinations in flying colours, and I’d show you a studious folk who shun frivolities for priorities.

Dear Not-yet-there friend, it’s time you faced reality! It’s time you shun frivolities! Contemporary Germans can’t afford the pleasure of leisure hours. Stop wasting time fantasying when you can make it happen in reality. Stop frolicking in boisterous cum uncontrolled laughter, slander, idle talks, and joking merely to raise a laugh. All these things are imprudent waste of valuable energy and irretrievable time. Listen, when you don’t have, people will laugh at you, but when you have, people will laugh with you. It’s a good thing to desire. It’s a good thought. But it’s more better to aspire one’s desire with one’s deed. It’s time you made ‘busyness’ your business. It’s time you started reaching for the prize by paying the price! To strive is to thrive. To try is to triumph!

Wake-up and rise-up dear friend! Don’t be discouraged by previous attempts in which you failed. With courage, you can pluck life sweetest orange! You still have time for a make-up!

I truly believe this!

Enjoy the rest of the day while you:

…Kip da Optimism Alive!

You can follow me on Twitter @Imodoye_1

STOP THE SOBS MAN! WITH PLAN, YOU CAN!

“Like Columbus, you can sail west and reach new lands by accident. But if you have charts, you can do better, you can arrive at a destination decided upon in advance.” –Edward Barney, Public Relations Guru

‘Kayode Oyero         

               

There is something paralyzing and shattering about failure. Though completely inevitable but wholly avoidable if its preventive panacea is identified and applied.

Failure is synonymous to death in the heart-rending grieve it arouse upon its arrival. The difference between failure and death is simply that the latter is a termination so irrevocably, giving no chance for further existence. But, for failure, it is a slap that weakens the body, infusing the human mind and body with toxic sadness.

As humans whose psychology is efficiently functional, we groan, wail, and throw ourselves into the abyss of many self-justifiable exclamations when failure forcibly calls at our doorstep. While nipped by its sorrowful peg on the rope of depression, our hearts lament in endless refrain ‘not-again!’, ‘why me?’, ‘enough is enough!’ amongst many other expressions of exasperation: expressions that paint in graphical manner, the mosaic portrait of deep-rooted agony.

Upon its arrival: when knocked down by failure’s thudding blow, the body is subjected to the pangs of emotive torture. The mind mourns silently, bed-spreading distaste into the whole body like vile from a ruminant’s bile mistakenly punctured by a butcher’s clinical knife during animal cutting and cleansing. Failure comes in many disguised form. It could be in the form of an unthinkable disappointment, an uncalculated defeat, an unanticipated shortcoming, an unplanned job termination notice and a heartbreak caused by the news of a sudden move-on notice from a significant second. Worthy of clarity is that failure is failure regardless of how it presents itself. It is failure once on awareness, the body mourns.

Helplessly we are in the dawn of his visitation. The heart, as fragile as it is pumps grief into the whole body making it heavy and groggy the same manner a bile as miniature and insignificant as it is efficiently infuses the whole beef of a slaughtered animal with its bitterness.

Instantly, when the receptive organs of the ear and eye receive the news of failure, the heart sends with immediacy, the shocking tremor of the sad news rapidly into the body making it heavy and weighty. No wonder it is said that bad news travels faster than good ones! No wonder bad emotional state of the mind apprehends the normalness of body faster than good ones! Truly, the inmost is the outmost!

When failure knocks, we turned downcast, being indoors become an enclave to seek solace. Or should I say to hide our anguished and tearful-torn face from the detection of the public, in an attempt to conceal our predicament. “Don’t you get it? I need to be left alone!” we yell, at the slightest opportunity, visiting our frustration on those around us as pronounced sigh of hot aggression escapes our nostril.

At such hapless times, we unconsciously act out the frustration-aggression theory that justifies the going bloody of a frustrated soul. For the stoics who are perfectionists at enduring pain in silence, retreating into the valley of seclusion, down the planes of starring endlessly with unblinking gaze at the ceiling top become not a daily routine but a minute routine. And for The Complainer who must attribute a reason, other than himself for being the cause of his failure, you’ll hear his teeth grin as though grappling with a stubborn muscled-meat: ‘things are hard’, ‘the turf is tough and rough’, ‘the government is insensitive in providing an atmosphere where one can thrive with less-strive’ and ‘it is so and so that is responsible for my fatal fate because he refused to give me so and so enablement’. Hmmn! Excuses and excuses, the Complainer provides for the cause of his failure! What a mindset!

Now, let’s face failure right in the face!

Failure can be chronic and its clamp completely unavoidable but preventable, no doubt about that. But Mister, why not re-visit your drawing board when you reap the gaunt and malnourished yam of failure repeatedly and almost ceaselessly in a certain area where others are harvesting astounding feats? Get me, there’s a thick distinction between obstacles and failure. Obstacles are cock-sure hurdles in the sprint race of any accomplishment while failure is the result or to sound mildly humorous, the deserved prize of one’s inability to navigate and surmount the roadblocks called obstacles.

Now to a very special Mr. Griever:

Dear Mr. Griever! Worry is suicidal to your soul. Why loll in the bed of chagrin and despondency instead of changing your fate with this pronouncement of faith: ‘Well, yesterday’s loss and failure is gone and worry won‘t bring success or replace the loss, but hard work and strategic planning will.’?

Again, I call on you, dear Mr. Griever! How long will you bury your head in things of the past?

How long will you allow your feet to be mired in the moist alluvium of past dissatisfying occurrences? – be it natural, circumstantial, enemy-orchestrated or self-made.

How long will you continue to blame people for your present lackluster and harsh condition?

How long will it take you to realize that your present un-envious state is not your fate if only you know what you have to know and do what you have to do with what you know at the time it has to be done in order to get what you want in life?

How long will you continue to reel in complacency of the identity: “Victim of circumstance” when in actual fact, you can be a proud bearer of the identity: “Victor of circumstance” if only you live with the article of faith that you’re a Winner even if your chances go thinner?

How long will it take you to realize that your methodology is destined for nothing but failure and in essence, deserves to be dumped into the gutter for a well-crafted and feasibly planned and comprehensive strategy?

How long, I repeat, how long will it take you to believe in yourself that you can accomplish your ambition regardless of the daunting challenges posing as threats and limitations to the actualization of your dreams and much desired golden aspirations? How long, how long, I ask how long?

Listen dear friend, it is unwise to blame people when you fall, for a wise fellow is the one who rise up quickly and move on briskly when toppled by the marshy and slippery floor of failure. Let’s face it! it’s no mal-thinking that to try is to triumph. And for every desert, there’s an oasis. For every desert, there’s a plant called cactus. For every challenge, there’s a solution. Stop wearing the look of hopelessness friend! There’s a way out of your repeated failures and the way out is efficient preparation and planning.

Planning establishes co-ordinated efforts. It reduces uncertainty and wasteful activities. When you plan the execution of a certain goal, either mentally or in black and white, you minimize the chances of you failing. To be frank dear friend, without a plan, you are not sure of anything, not even yourself. You are prone to the vagaries of full-fledge uncertainty and the attendant thorns of probable failure. When you have a plan, you are as armed as a warrior on a conquest mission. Tell me with utmost sincerity friend, can the attack of a wild beast be averted with mere bare hands? Capital eehn, ooo, NO! A good plan is no different a weapon to trounce the failure that has shamefaced you and rolled your back on the sandy ground of life over and over. A good plan calculates the end from the beginning!

Listen, if you are not organized, you’ll agonize!

Hmmn! If you are not organized, you’ll agonize. Let’s get going!

The old maxim “Proper preparation prevents poor performance” has a deeper significance than is generally attached to it. Dear friend, show me an effective debater and I’ll show you a prepared contestant, not only skillful in the art of oratory but also equipped with the knowledge of the subject of discourse; an incorruptible lowly income earner who is a proud owner of a lush duplex residency and I’ll show you a financially disciplined fellow who pays his monthly investment bill, refusing to live a hand-to-mouth kind of life even in subtly cash-strapped situations;  a winning troupe of performers and I’ll show you a group diligent in frequent rehearsals; an intellectual and I’ll show you a continuous learning mind and lastly, dear friend, show me, I repeat, show me a man who blames the government for his wretchedly poor condition and I'll show you a man whose hands are literally lame. Friend, you sure desire to move up the ladder, work harder!

Hmmn! When you accept a state, it becomes your fate! Start anywhere to get somewhere!

Now, to an important fellow:

Dear depressed friend, to you I write! Dust up yourself from the mat of pessimism and ‘things-can’t-get-any-better-if-not-even -worse’. Exorcise negative thoughts from your mind. Stop being disturbed that things aren’t going well for you instead sit and think, do some mental calculations and re-planning. Draw up a chart detailing your course. Ask yourself: ‘what new action do I need to take to get achieve my course?; how can I successfully navigate and challenge with defiance, the challenges that has been disgracing me on the path of my striving to achieve my course?; what new path do I need to discover and follow to achieve my course? For, if untamable obstacles arise, you can change the direction to your goal but not the decision to get there. If you can’t get hold of what you want over time, then your approach is old, ineffectual and has outlasted its usefulness. Employ a different approach friend! And ultimately, be time-conscious. Outline the duration it will take you to achieve your course. For a goal, is dream with a deadline and a dream, the seedling of reality.

Listen, you are not a failure until you retire from the game of trying and calculative planning. To try is to triumph! Life is a risk, only risk-takers emerge goal-getters!

Dear friend, whether unbeknownst or not, it’s time you broke away from the shackles of the philosophical belief called Determinism: the belief that people are not free to choose what conditions they like because these things are decided by their surrounding and other things which they have no control over. It’s a fat lie friend! Even if you don’t fully have control over everything that happens to you, you have the utmost control, which is the way you respond to it. ‘what a man conceives, he sees. What a man sees, he receives’ is inscribed with a permanent board marker upon the white portals of Eternity. Whatsoever you harbor in the innermost recesses of your mind will sooner or later shapes itself into reality. As a man thinketh…..

Hmmn! It’s no deception that perception is possession!

Dear friend having drawn a purpose-driven plan and already acting out its content, for if you don’t move, nothing will move, take off the bitter countenance that cloth your face and carpet your face with hysteric smiles of optimism that things will get better sooner. Play your card well by adequately equipping yourself intellectually, by the acquisition of peculiar skills. Forget about the rhetoric that things are hard. Relentless hard work and persistence is indisputably a virtue. In fact, the way to true riches is the acquisition of skills. With hard work, hard times are conquered! Success is no doubt the ability to move from one failure to another without the loss of enthusiasm. ‘The pathway to success always looks barren at its commencement’ wrote a classic inspirational Writer. Isn’t that paradoxical?

Please, think out the answer dear friend!

As you do so, remember to:

…Kip da Optimism Alive!

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SAKA: HOW LONG WILL YOU BE A SALARY-EARNER? ARE YOU A LEARNER? E-4

EPISODE IV

‘Kayode Oyero

“When the desperation velocity at which you pursue your aspiration is too racy, it’s a sign of an on-coming termination. Sincerely, it’s no ignorance that life is a test of endurance…..  To rush is to be crushed; more haste, more waste!” –O.J.O

     Griiinn, grriiin!

     “Hello Uncle Saka!”

     “Hello Fatai! Bawo ni, sorry I mean how are you?”

     “Alaafia ni Sa- I am fine Sir!”

     “Alright! Ope ni fun olorun- God’s name be praised! You know He is the only God that should forever be glorified. And again, He is the Alpha who in his bounteous mercy brought us this far, I mean to witness the shining broad day light of the last day of this month.”

     “You’re hundred percent correct Sir! And I must also confess and profess that your expression is good an attitude of gratitude!”

    “Fatai, Eda to ba monuro, a dupe- a reasonable being must know surely that he has all the reason and cause to be thankful! You know, many are right now enjoying the hospitality of the hospital bed.”

    “Uhhhnn! Egbon Saka- Uncle Saka, that is again deeply thoughtfully intelligent of you! Opolo po- too much brain!”

   “It’s alright! By the way, how’s Risikatu and the children?”

    “They are very fine Sir! And Sir, I must thank you for your encouragement last week! Sincerely I must say that your words revitalized my spirit which was low as at the time.”

    “Haa! Fatai, you mean I revitalized you last week?”

   “Bee ni exactly Sir!”

   “But, Fatai, I can’t remember giving you any multivitamin whether syrup or pill?”

    “Haa! Uncle Saka! You have again started with your humorous choruses! Anyways, you sure did gave me some dose, it’s just that it was in the abstract, I mean it is un-grippable for a hand to grip.”

    “Haaaaaa! Fatai! Alawada ni E- you’re such a clown! Maa so wipe O so bee- I will say you say so! But, lest I forget, I have to quickly teach you something today before you hang up the call. You know life is a teacher, and the more we live, the more we learn. In fact, the more we learn, the more we earn. That is why information is  said to the fuel of transformation.”

    “Hmmn! Interesting! Ododo Oro- undiluted truth. The more we learn, the more we earn!”

    “Bee ni- Yes Fatai! You see, people who know flow while those who don’t know lie low in ignorance and anguishing poverty. You see, I should have told you some of the things that I am now about to tell you last week, but for your gloomy countenance, I suspended it. But today, there’s time, and there’s talk. Yes! Aaye wa, oro wa! In fact, airtime wa pelu. Abi, sebi, I yesterday transferred five thousand naira worth of call-card to you courtesy of Y’hello mtn?”

    “All correct Sir! What a perfect coincidence Sir!”

    “Fatai! You see, as I was saying last week, you have to be exceedingly patient in that your new business. O gbudo bu omi suuru mu. Life operates on the maxim: ‘No cross, No Crown!’ Just as it’s impossible for anyone to get to a willing Boss if the secretary is unwilling, rebuff and unco-operative, so also, you can’t be established in the business if you are unwilling to challenge challenges. In fact, disappointments take precedence before ground-shaking, landslide and phenomenal appointments. See, there’s nothing as to say being patient is ancient an attitude. It’s also not an ignorance that life is a test of endurance. Oni suuru, lole fun wara Kiniun- only a patient person can pass a saliva-un-moist thread through a needle’s eye. Yes- Beeni!”

    “Sorry, Egbon Saka- Uncle Saka! You are beginning to chants incantations!”

    “Yes- Beeni! You can say that again and again till kingdom come. Yes, only a patient person can study Law, which takes ayeraye- forever years, Medicine, which takes time everlasting and Engineering, which also takes lot of years in the engagement of nuts and screws and lever that the discipline is known for. In fact, hardcore discipline is what is needed to achieve success in these Aro meta- tripod disciplines. You see, it was patience that made that young man, ehmmn, eehmmn…”

   “Which young man Sir?”

   “The one that made the scientific discovery of an electric bulb of course!”

    “Ehhmn, ehhmnn, it must be Thomas Edison Sir!”

   “Yes! Fatai! Ori E pe! O geti E- you are rightly correct! O ya patewo fun ‘ra E- applaud yourself!”

   “kpa, kpa, kpa, kpa!”

     “You see, that man called Thomas is what can be described as a persistent pursuer of dream. It took Thomas many many years to hatch the discovery of a commercially feasible electric bulb. You can see how dogged and ruggedly untiring Thomas was. Can’t you?”

    “I seeeeeee!”

    “And again, there’s this other person, his name is Jonas Salk. You see, it took this oyinbo man almost ten years if not beyond to develop the polio vaccine, that today prevent a juvenile illness that one time claimed the lives of thousands of children and adults all over the world.”

    “This is interesting uncle! I never knew you are so vast in the history of technological invention like this.”

    “Haaa! Fatai, you make me laugh! Oju agba to jin, o nidii- the hollow in an elders’ eye is as a result of years of accumulated wealth of experience!”

    “Ododo oro- truthful words!”

    “Thank you for the compliment Fatai! That reminds me of something and somebody.”

    “Okay! Who is that Sir?”

   “That apartheid man.”

    “Uncle Saka, which apartheid man is that?”

   “I am talking about the number one and only integrity-conscious Moses of the South-African people…”

   “Mandiba, Right?”

   “Mandiba, wrong!”

   “Haahaa, Uncle Saka!”

   “Fatai, you’re wrong! His korokoro name is not Mandiba. His true name is Nelson Mandela! Yes, Mandela Nelson! It’s only just that ‘Mandiba’ or whatever you called it is his clan name.”

   “But I got it now! At least, Gbomo-gbomo and Kidnapper is the same now.”

    “Shut up Fatai! How dare you argue with your well-read and versatile elderly mature brother, Sakastic himself? Even if you are not scared of my skin colour, don’t you fear the rich man in me? Or have you quickly forgotten the proverbs of our elders that say that ‘Eni juni lo, le juni nu- a Superior may decide to treat the Inferior with insufferable treatment if such Superior is not conscience-driven’.  Fatai, you must always ‘gba-submissive’ in the presence of Agbas- Elders.”

    “I’m sorry Sa- apologies Sir!”

    “That’s alright! Agba ti ko binu, lomo E n po- Only an enduring person can accommodatingly lead people. You see, Fatai, that man called Mandela wrote in his wisdom, in his life book, Long Walk To Freedom that the mill of God grind exceedingly slowly. Fatai, when you have the type of understanding that with patience, endurance and persistence, every good thing will come, then, you are a stone’s throw from being Outstanding. Abi, can a seedling mature into a plant in a day? Or better still, is it possible for a plant, no matter how manured, to develop into a fruit-bearing tree in just a day? It’s arrant No! an impossican’t of the impossible! Just as it takes persistent weeding and watering to achieve the maturation of a tiny seedling to bring it into a plant, so also is it necessary that for everything in life, particularly your business, relentless is important! You see, it’s no fallacy that ordinary beget extra-ordinary! Imagine a sperm cell as ordinary as it is transposed into me and you. Imagine a small miniature white orange seedling becoming tree-bearing juicy fruits… the list of probable example is ceaselessly endless."

    Fatai, More haste, more waste! And remember to save all I have said in your left hand so that it will be safe. Bye-bye for now!"

"Alright Sir!"

ff @Imodoye_1

...Kip da Optimism Alive!

SAKA: HOW LONG WILL YOU BE A SALARY-EARNER? ARE YOU A LEARNER? E-3

EPISODE III

 “Life is tossy, not always rosy. To focus on one thing consistently is to become a Focus: scattered energy is a wasted effort….. Why move away when the grass isn’t green? Can it be green always?” –O.J.O

‘Kayode Oyero

      “Good morning Uncle Saka!”

     “Bawo ni Fatai- how are you Fatai?"

     “I’m trying to be fine Sir!”

    “Trying to be fine bi bawo? What happened? Your countenance is gloomy- Oju E kore lowo.”

    “Egbon Saka- Uncle Saka! I am fed up! Totally fed up!”

    “Haba! Fatai! Fed up ke! Why are you fed up? What are you fed up of?”

    “Everything and anything! In fact, life in general!”

    “Calm down Fatai. Okun ki n ho ruru, ka waa ruu- Aggressiveness does not solve anything. More fury, more worry! Fatai, ease, please- pele pele dowo E! O ya, aburo, what tempest rages your soul?”

   “Uncle, it is this business of a thing! It is three years now, and all seemed not to want to be well again with the business. You can imagine recently, things have been falling apart and the center of the business seems like it could no longer hold. Can you imagine Uncle that the cost of maintaining the business is higher than the profit coming in from it? Can you just imagine that patronage has declined so drastically. And that Competitors have sprouted from nowhere and everywhere like cactus in the desert. In fact, to be candid Uncle Saka, I am suspecting that the matriarch of the under-world are after me! To tell you Uncle, I am beginning to think that this line of business I settled for doesn’t fit my star! Yes, O da bi eni wi pe ko barawo Mi mu I think I need to consider a business diversification.”

    “Ha ba! Fatai, don’t say that again- Ma so bee mo! Your language is that of hopelessness. And your aggression that borne by frustration. Fatai, you have to know that life is tossy and not always rosy. The fact that the grass isn’t green today doesn’t mean it won’t be green again. Everything in life is bound to be challenged by the blizzard wave of life. Persistence is the cock-sure resistance in the face of daunting challenges. Wo- see, Fatai, there’s a natural principle called the power of concentration. When you converge your attention on something consistently, you’ll eventually become a Focus in that area. You’ll be a point of reference in that particular field of human endeavor. Fatai, it is sad that some people lack patience whilst pursuing a goal or a career. They stay when there’s grain and gladly enjoy the gains that accrue from the grains while they abscond in times of pain.”

    “Uncle Saka, I don’t quite understand what you mean by ‘they flee in moments of pain’?”

    “Alright, Fatai, don’t get it twisted. You see, the pain I mean here is relative. Let me give you an instance, in white collar ministry, the pain may be delayed promotion, while in entrepreneur, the pain most time is frustrated sales and deterring turn-outs.  People who dance to the rhythm of the stay-when-it-is-green-only music are people with the Nomadic mentality.”

    “Egbon Saka-Uncle Saka! What again do you mean by Nomadic mentality?”

    “O se- thank you Fatai! You see, Nomadic mentality is a toxic mindset. It is the mindset of Cattle rearers. People with this type of mindset are never stable on a genre of business or build a career at a firm. They change job and business line between the intervals of every two or three years. They move where the grass is green; where there is relative succor; where there’s moolarh! Today, they are Car sellers, tomorrow, they are Paint manufacturer, next tomorrow they are into clothing and textile. And the day after next tomorrow, they are into Cathering and hotel management. They are consumers who don’t want to invest their sweat into anything but to consume solely. They are always unstable. No definite goal or mission. No set ambition. Experimenting characterize their lifestyle. They go where they know the grass is rosy, forgetting that to thrive in life, one must sweat it out striving. Fatai, you see, people with this nomadic mindset have no understanding that it’s a taboo for a baby to walk perfectly in a day without first crawling for months and tottering for a little while.”

    “Uncle Ododo oro you have spoken! They are indeed cattle rearers!”

    “Yes, Fatai, ko siro bee- All correct! You see, our fore fathers have a saying that Oju kan bayii ni a maa n to si, ti o fi maa n ru- Scattered energy is a wasted effort. You see, Fatai, let me not deceive you, life is a process and not a recess. It is a series of instruction and a number of operations. No line of trade or career path is challenges-free. Problems are the price of progress. The obstacles in life are to make us better and not bitter.”

    “Hmmnn!”

    “Fatai, your case is a reminder of the words of Martins Luther King Jr.! He had said long long time ago that the ultimate measure of man is not where he stands in moments of relative comforts but where he stands at times of challenges and controversy. There’s also this wise man. I have forgotten his name ooo! Okay, now I remember his name! They call him Oral Roberts. He also reflected many many years ago that no one can bring renewal or change without confrontation. He said then before you came into this world that the truth is, if you like things easy, you will have difficulties. And for those that like problems, they will quickly succeed. To take chances is to make advances. Take the obstacles you’re facing in your business as an opportunity to make advances by defeating it.  Fatai, get up! Don’t give up! Mere seeds become a forest of thick and sturdy timber! Don’t dump a business because of the little, little shortcomings of the moment. Obstacles is the breakfast of champions and not cereal.

    Tuju ka Fatai- Cheer up Fatai! You can prevail over your travails!” (O.J.O |09, 13)

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…Kip da Optimism Alive!