A question I used to ask in my more naive days was ‘Why?’ I’m a bit wiser now, just a bit, so I don’t ask that anymore ¬– not because I don’t want to, but because I know there isn’t going to be an answer.
A question I used to ask in my more naive days was ‘Why?’ I’m a bit wiser now, just a bit, so I don’t ask that anymore ¬– not because I don’t want to, but because I know there isn’t going to be an answer.
What most drives me crazy is the uncertainty and the speed at which things change. I mean, we’re on a high one minute then down the very next. In debt one day and lending out the very next. An heir apparent today, then more broke than MC Hammer the next. It doesn’t add up in any way.
A friend of mine many years ago back in high school used to say, ‘Life is what you make it.’ How true Dayo was! I mean, he said a lot of silly things as we all did anyway, but Dee was bang on with this one.
Personally, I made up my mind a while back: the world I can’t change, but my world I can. I’ll prefer if I don’t step on toes doing it, but if toes are placed across my path purposely, then stepping on them becomes an inevitability as long as my spirit convinces me I’m on the right path.
Listen... life is a battle. It’s not a Shangri-La type of place where every cupid-looking person is indeed a cupid inside out (though many of us wish that was the case anyway). Life doesn’t give you what you desire; it gives you what you require. Things will push you, and you can either mope about it or push back. If it’s too big for you to push, beg for someone bigger – God, in my case ¬– to push for you. Then after that, push some more. Whether it’s you pushing or God pushing on your behalf, one thing I’m sure you can’t afford to do is not push.
I get sick to my gut when I see people who just sit and moan. I’m not talking about people who are unhappy or sad or depressed – we all feel or have felt that sometime. I mean folks who just complain and hope for pity parties. I get so disgusted when I hear them whine – ‘My husband drinks too much’, ‘My boss is ‘unnice’ to me’ – that I often scream back ‘So what?!’ They killed Jesus, who was sinless, simply for having convictions in an idea. MLK, JFK, Gandhi – all were assassinated for their belief in an idea. It’s not a stretch to believe that the more untrue accusations levelled against you, the vaster your empire is. I’ve even read of Obama being called the antichrist! But one thing all these people had in common was that they ignored their detractors.
You see, I believe that against what anyone tells me, the two most important entities in your life are you and God – at least for those of us who believe in Him. Every other thing, person, place, position or situation is a bonus (in all fairness, though, a necessary bonus). And what happens to you, and in you, is determined by these.
Stay in tune with your star player, the person you are inside. Get one thing that keeps you inspired and stay true to it – God, religion, family, meditation, whatever. Then dare everything else and make the world your personal space.
Olajide Jatto is a software engineer and writer based in Dublin.
