THE DOCTOR EVERYONE WANTED ME TO BE

 

I was thinking this morning.... I woke up this morning, a day after my birthday, thinking about how far I have come in my journey of life. In my reflection, I saw myself in the dark blue uniform of Mowoe Primary school Warri, clutching my school bag as I walked from our compound at 6 Ogboru Street. I meandered through 15B Father Healy Street, into Ometan Street, Ginuwa Road and finally into Robert Road where I branched into the gate of my beloved Mowoe Primary school. I recalled how my dad and uncles called me small doctor. I never understood why but that birthed my dream of becoming a doctor.

I then saw myself in the white shirt on sky blue shorts of Hussey college Warri. I was a day student and walked north from 6 Ogboru Street towards Obahor and into Upper Erejuwa where the sprawling compound of Hussey college is located. From Class 3 to Class 5, I was in the Sciences studying my way to becoming the doctor everyone wanted me to be. When my JAMB results were released, it fell short of the cutt-off mark to study medicine, marking the first setback in my journey to becoming the doctor everyone wanted me to be.

I was later admitted to the University of Benin to study Microbiology but was determined to switch to Medicine the following year. With good grades, the switch happened but was short-lived, as the interdepartmental transfer was cancelled after just 4 weeks, ending my dream of becoming the medical doctor everyone wanted me to be.

As I graduated with a B.Sc, I did not despair about my inability to become a medical doctor. I however took a slight detour and started studying to become an academic doctor. Afterall, doctor na doctor. Within a short period, I completed my M.Sc and started my PhD but 6 months later, I suspended the program to focus on building a career. It's been 28 years and my dream of becoming the doctor everyone wanted me to be, is still on hold.

In all my years on earth, many dreams have come to pass and many others fell through, but in all, I am on course with destiny. Along the way, I have learnt that not all dreams come to pass but that every sincere prayer and genuine effort you put into fulfilling that dream eventually leads you to destiny. Stay focused on life and not on dreams because it is the steps you take in life that fulfil dreams. I may not be the doctor everyone wanted me to be, but I am thankful that I am who God wants me to be (Romans 8:29).

Thanks to everyone that celebrated me yesterday.

Stay hopeful. God's got our back.

Happy Sunday!

......Just the thoughts of a certain Wey Mey

WHO IS SHAKING THE JAR?

 

I was thinking this morning..... I recently read that if you put 100 black ants and 100 red (fire) ants in a jar, nothing will happen. But if you shake the jar hard, the ants start killing each other. The red ants consider the black ants their enemies, and the black ants consider the red ants their enemies. The true enemy is the one shaking the jar.

The same is true of our society. I started my career as a contract staff with one of the multinationals in Warri. Like most contract staff every where in Nigeria, we worked so hard but paid little, unlike the direct employees who we saw as living in a land flowing with milk and honey. We also believed the direct staff are selfish and borderline wicked and will never do right by us. We gossip about them and always looked at them with 'gbejoro eye,' like we say in Warri.

It's been about 30 years since I came to know about the staff versus contract staff divide and the battle is still raging. With me now on the other side, most contract staff still believe the direct staff does not wish them well and are their enemies, while many direct staff believe most contract staff are not pulling their weight. The question is not about who is right or wrong but rather, who is shaking the jar.

One of the fiercest battle is that between Mother-in-law (MIL) and Daughter-in-law (DIL). When your sweet family gets agitated and the DIL turns against the MIL, stay calm and find out who is shaking the jar. Are you currently in the middle of a battle between gender (men vs women), rich vs poor, North vs South, Christians vs Muslims or Yoruba vs Ibo? Before you judge, take sides or fight each other, we should pause and ask who is shaking the jar?

There is always a third force that benefits from the infighting. If God places you in 'a jar' with someone of a different gender, colour, language or belief, please don't find reason to make an enemy of him or her, instead collaborate. If the system gets agitated, don't turn against yourself, instead find out who is shaking the jar. Maintain a healthy relationship with your friends and colleagues. No gree for anyone shaking your friendship jar to make enemies of you. Romans 12:18 says 'Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.'

Stay hopeful. God's got our back.

Happy Sunday!

......Just the thoughts of a certain Wey Mey

THE MELTING MAN

 

I was thinking this morning..... In 2009, Brazilian artist Nele Azevedo carved 1,000 ‘Melting Men’ out of ice and placed them on a stairway in a Square of Berlin in order to bring awareness to Global Warming. She created the installation to visually remind people of the melting ice caps in Greenland and Antartica. With temperatures of 23 degress celsius, the ice figures began melting within half an hour after setup. With every passing moment an ice-man melts into water. Though the main message was on Global Warming, the display taught me another lesson that 'Life is like ice, make the best of it before it melts.'

It is estimated that about 117 billion humans have been born and lived on earth since creation, with only about 8 billion alive today. 109 billion people, like ice blocks, have melted into oblivion. Every human, like ice, starts melting the day one is born. How fast one melts will depend on the temperature one is exposed to. The higher the temperature, the faster one melts. Some are born into homes as hot as a village kitchen and melts away in a short time. Others make their homes hot by their bad behaviour. Life is like ice block, it melts with each passing moment.

In this year 2024, be intentional not to give yourself heat or put yourself under any condition that will heat you up or increase the temperature around you because every one degree rise in temperature makes you melt faster. Some are saying 'no gree for anyone this year.' That is a recipe for friction and friction produces heat which will make your ice to melt faster. Like we say in Warri, 'I no go gree, I no go gree, na im dey tear shirt o.' Life is like ice block, it melts with each passing moment.

With a worsening economic situation around the world, many bread winners are doubling up the time they spend at work, business and hustling leaving little or no time to unwind. This year 2024, take time out to unwind, relax, refresh and enjoy because life is like ice block, it melts with each passing moment. Psalms 103:15 says "Our days on earth are like grass; like wildflowers, we bloom and die."

Stay hopeful. God's got our back.

Happy Sunday!

......Just the thoughts of a certain Wey Mey

Flight 2024

 

I was thinking this morning... I once had to fly Emirates Airline from Lagos to New York. I dreaded the trip because in my mind then it was a very long trip: 7 hrs to Dubai and then 15 unbroken hours to New York. After boarding, with a lot of entertainment and so much to eat, the trip became an easy ride.

I remember starting 2023 on a sad note following a major incident at work. That was quickly followed by waves of personal fears and challenges. As the year kept grinding like a locomotive train, one day at a time, I overcame. Today, the first Sunday of 2024, I woke up thinking, 'wow! it is one full year already.'

As I sat back appreciating God for my second child that just turned 20, I imagined the little me years ago at Hussey college Warri, dreaming and thinking of remaining a teenager forever. Today, my second child is no longer a teen. It all seemed like yesterday. Hmm!!! How did I get here so fast? I reflected on the three life journeys above as I fixed my gaze on my photo of almost 20 years ago. I couldn't but wonder how it all seemed like yesterday. Of a truth, it is wisdom to make the most of your time on planet earth, because it's only a short trip.

Have you ever looked forward to something or prayed for a bad spell to come to an end and it seems it will never happen? The waiting time seems like forever. When it eventually happens and you look back a while later, it will be like yesterday and the waiting time like a moment. That's the feeling. It is called life and it teaches us to make the most of our time on planet earth because it's only a short trip.

My Emirates flight taught me a great lesson to be deliberate about how I spend my time on a flight because it is like life. Think about what you do when you fly. Some read books, others just sleep or watch movies. Make the most of your time on the plane, sorry planet… it’s only a short trip.

We are still on the journey of life and have commenced flight 2024. In 359 days, you will look back and wonder how the year had gone by so fast. Create value and impact lives this year remembering 2nd Peter 3:8 "But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." Welcome on-board Flight 2024.

Stay hopeful. God's got our back.

Happy Sunday!

......Just the thoughts of a certain Wey Mey