By BOSEDE OLUSOLA-OBASA
Nice as our culture has taught us to be, it is difficult to give an outright positive assessment to a person who just doesn’t deserve it. Life is an opportunity, and the day you start living it intentionally is the day you have truly learnt to value your shot at life. In this piece, I hope to initiate you in the school of reasoning, so that you can become more intentional about your today, realising that it is the womb of your tomorrow. Do you understand how your today holds your yesterday accountable for what your tomorrow would be like? Do you know that life is often a chain of actions and reactions, such that everywhere you have been will eventually add up to where you would eventually be? As often as this principle has played out in the realities of people around them, a lot of people still act oblivious of the obvious. Their lifestyle keeps betraying their understanding that in life, one’s today is the fruit of his yesterday, while today is the seed of tomorrow. Talk about, “Your destiny being in your hands.”
No part of your life’s journey is totally exempted from the others. The point I’m stressing here is the need for you to become more intentional about ‘writing’ your life’s story on the tablets of people’s minds and hearts as you journey on. I want you to realise that your character would dictate people’s perception of you and drive their decisions about you.
No man is an Island; we all need people to help connect our life’s dots. Therefore, how you live should matter to you. Yes, I know that things do not have to follow these laid-down paths for some people who understand how to jump the process. And, in case you think you are already too old to utilise the message of my piece today, be kind enough to share it with a younger person. They should soon thank you.
Now, Think!
Did you know that things you did in primary school could later hunt or help you after you graduate from the University?
Do you realise that you could suddenly require the recommendation of your former boss at the point of clinching your next big appointment? And, what if you had left him on a bad note?
Now that you wish to ‘settle down,’ do you understand how the testimony of a neighbour who knew you as a young man living with your parents could determine whether you marry the girl of your dreams, who happens to be his relation? And, what if he knew you as ‘a player’,
Practical Life Experiences:
I have personally been at the receiving end of this principle of life, mostly positive. As I write this, I am retrospecting on the schools I have so far attended and the people I met while there. Many have either become long-time close friends or business patrons. It’s been amazing to see that whoever I was, and how I lived helped to form my overall assessment in their minds, many years after school.
I have also enjoyed plenty goodwill from people (neighbours) I met everywhere I had ever lived whether as a teenager, an unmarried or married lady. Note that the place of people being willing to vouch for you is not automatic and should not be taken for granted.
I have enjoyed great support from fellow church members, both older and young in every church or worship centre to which I belonged. Many of such relationships have successfully transitioned to core areas of benefits; including finding my life partner in Church.
I have enjoyed referrals for businesses and opportunities from people I met at every workplace where I worked as an employee. In fact, I had some experiences of reuniting with my former colleagues at another employment and our relationships continued seamlessly.
And, currently, as a business leader, my greatest human-linked asset has been a network of supportive people from all walks of life, as I described earlier.
I would not make light of the support system that members of my immediate and biological family give me. It is unquantifiable.
Life Lessons:
* You have more to benefit by carefully nurturing relationships with people you have reason to meet regularly, than to keep wishing for a stranger to appear to you with a surprise.
*Whatever is done is done, you can seldom undo it. However, you have power over carefully choosing what you will do differently going forward and doing it.
READ ALSO: WAEC apology not enough, By Adeola Soetan
*Come to terms with the truth that your yesterday matters greatly to today, just as today does to your tomorrow; so, wake up!
*Don’t lose hope, no matter how good or bad your yesterday was, (maybe no faults of yours), make your today the chance you have to ensure a desirable better tomorrow.
*Choose to do today what your tomorrow would thank you for.
*It is never too late to build good character and live right. As an adult, you will have no one to hold responsible for the content of your character… So, start building now.
*Where you are now and the people you are currently meeting are your opportunities for a greater tomorrow. Use your chance well!
*Be like me, take a step of commitment to the lifelong #BetterMeProject.
Every experience you have with people either builds or breaches trust in you, depending on whether they were positive or negative experiences. So, be careful how you live your life, realizing that you are leaving a trail of memories in their minds. Remember, it’s never too late to be right! I am super very excited about adding value to you today.
If you love what you read, let me know. Also reach out if you would love to book a corporate training session on teamwork attitude optimisation, leadership sustainability, corporate culture creation, exceptional customer service, or personal character development coaching.
Enjoy the rest of your week!
