Last year was capricious for me. In 2012,
I grew more short beards. I flossed with more Sensodyne paste. I ate in a few rustic
cafeterias. James Lisandro even got many spam mails in his inbox. More seriously,
I set various goals, achieved most of them before August 9 and revised the
irrelevant desires and whatnots before the arrival of December 1. With the
guidance of a dynamic boss (the kind that never says “die”), I attempted tough
tasks and set a better record professionally. It was a year garnished with
interesting challenges that ranged from the provision of free service to
humanity to the aching realisation of undiluted bachelorhood. I worked for the
government as an attaché in a reputable multinational company and worked with
people from various cultural backgrounds again. I passionately served the poor
in the rich community to which I was assigned through several social works. Then,
I found myself in the midst of a persistently degrading marital relationship.
Of course, I was not married to anyone; I was squatting with a wonderful couple
in a choice portion of the vast Island in Lagos. I learnt a lot from their
lives. Many hidden truths were revealed and the badness of a good man I fanned was
made bare. Though no one is perfect, when a man says, “I cannot do without
clubbing every weekend, womanising and drinking alcohol” and he means it, how
do you advise the wife with whom he’s supposed to trust God for an issue to
stay put at countdown to menopause? When I put myself in her shoes, there was
nothing to say. Nothing. Nothing but, “Have some faith.” Faith here means great
faith and the last time I saw its kind, I was reading the incredible Holy Bible.
Last year, my thoughts changed. I thought
about the past and present more than the future. I thought about my friends and
the people I really want to help. I considered those I wished to help but could
not help because I had not even helped myself beyond the level of helplessness.
I thought positively and took many unexpected risks. I explored all good
options until I became a man with no option; a bloke chocked with one choice. I
turned a job applicant and wrote several job tests. I attended interviews to
the point of meeting Sahara Energy’s Group CEO and his highly-fascinated co-directors
at a final stage interview. The jollof rice served at their staff canteen
reminded me of Kehinde Morakinyo’s Christmas delicacies. But it did not keep us
together. Sahara and I had to part ways for reasons less known to me. I wrote
more tests. I worked free at the expense of my corper’s savings and beyond regular
office hours. I did not work alone. I
worked with another workaholic; a friend like a brother. Then, one day, I read
Richard Temple’s book on Work and adjusted my demeanour to free work. I took more tests and almost blamed myself for not pursuing the offer I
almost got before NYSC. At a point, I thought about heaven and wondered why the
earth still exists. But it was all good. It all culminated into the learning
process that opened my eyes to my own blindness. I realised that I was not
suffering. In fact, I have never suffered. If you have met some of the people I
met, you’ll probably think likewise. Who are they? The expensively wretched. The
highly less privileged. The very old proletarians and really young drudges.
I was adventurous in 2012. To discover
what they do at such gatherings, I honoured an invite to an exclusive beach
party where my flash drive was pilfered, even when I did not stay beyond 6pm. Perhaps,
seeing that I did not do the things other partyers did, some of the guys that
kept staring at me finally decided to unveil my hidden personality while I was
away from the bamboo house, testing the rolling waves at shore. They did not
steal the golden wristwatch mom gave me when I clocked 21. Instead, they took a
USB stick. Poor them, they couldn’t have found more than a few office spreadsheets
and some published articles in it. Last year, I set a new record by driving two
great friends from Lagos to Ekiti state in a Land Rover and set another one by
igniting the driving potential of a friend who now plies some of our most dangerous
roads courageously, travelling across the South-West like an experienced Ekenedilichukwu
bus driver. But, I wasted the money I did not have in 2012. I did many right things
wrongly and didn’t do the wrong things rightly. But since I did many things, I
still had an impressive record of good deeds. I was wonderfully disappointed by
many people. To worsen it, I fell in love with the right person at the wrong
time (but lucky me, it was saved by grace and mercy). Yet, God did not abandon
me. I survived an accident in August; a day after I had what some celebrants
call their silver jubilee. I praised God outside for about 3 hours in the
afternoon on my birthday and overcame what could have been a fatal accident the
next morning. After the incident, I could not walk straight. But to His glory,
I travelled home within an hour and was in church three days after. No one
could have guessed that I survived an accident. I shuttled between Lagos and
Ibadan in October and resumed on a new job in November. In December, another
brother-friend transported me and my heavy luggage to Ibadan. Christmas time
was a reunion with childhood friends and Miss Pretty. I used my belief on
December 31 with the highest hope that it will bring me a testimony this year.
But that old year ended and it’s a new year now. I’m back at the company where
we sell bandwidth and my job is to troubleshoot, monitor, compute data and most importantly,
communicate. I have counted my troubles or challenges or goals this year and
they are surmountable.
Do you think you have troubles? Well,
wait till you see what some people call trouble; it looks like having a mixture
of AIDS & SARS and living at the boy’s quarters in hell fire. Are you upset
because you have meagre savings, wait; let me introduce you to people who have
no livelihood. Do you wish you could do more, come; let’s go the cemetery and
read many epitaphs. Maybe like me, you didn’t achieve all your goals last year.
Well, this year is a fresh sheet. Ink your plans through positive actions. If
you’re thinking, “What if I don’t?” Then I am asking you, “What if you could
but you don’t try?” Even if it does not depend on you solely, do your part to
the best of your ability and leave the rest to God. 2012 came with its troubles
and you survived. 2013 will come with more challenges that you ought to overcome.
For instance, last year, I procrastinated about putting a chapbook together.
This year, it will be published. Period!
Reader, may 2013 be much better for you
than 2012. May it bring you so many good surprises and stimulate your heart to
forget your troubles and focus on new possibilities. May you grow in faith and achieve
more for others and yourself. Write down the things you want to do this year in
a book today and review them every month from January till December. If you’re
faithful at it, you’ll be amazed at what you can do. So, what are you waiting
for? On your mark. Get your pen & journal set. Go! Happy New Year!
Fact:
A
younger friend sent a text containing a prayer that God should lead me into the
great and mighty plans He has for me this year. I was startled. What great and
mighty plans? Before I read her text, I had no goals. But after reading her
words, the New Year goals emerged. If you don’t have a place you want to go,
then you’re going nowhere in 2013. Wake up!
