IT WILL ALWAYS BE YOUR CHOICE!




A friend of mine put up some pictures on his social media platform a while ago. There were memories about an aspect of his life that he was grateful for and really appreciative about. There were a lot of known faces in those pictures. Some I know have personally have gone off their paths of purpose and are trying to get their lives back and people who have made something of great importance out of their lives on earth.

Then I saw this picture and I was really saddened. In the particular picture were 3 guys. At that point, they looked the same, lost. They had issues in their lives and I could say that they were on the same level because I knew them then.

“You may not be responsible for the place where you are born and the experience of your birth. But, you are very responsible for your future and the experience that would invariably occur because of your choices.”

When you are faced with a brick wall or when you are faced with an impossible situation or a very hard life circumstance, where nothing seems to work for you. What will you do? The grass on the other side all of a sudden look so green, rich and luscious while yours is dry and brown. So my question to you is at that point when you are down and out, will you scramble around and see how best you can sort out your own present and immediate need or will you fight to be a value creator who is not the one who meets the needs of those who have chosen not to create wealth.

I was speaking with one of my mentors some days ago and she said something to me that resonated. She said when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. This is my take on that popular statement. When life gives you lemons, you can make a local brew which we call ‘SHEPE’ in Nigeria or you can make ‘lemonade’.  Follow me, I am going somewhere with this.
The process making these two drink are different. The process of ‘SHEPE’ is easy.  Cut the lemons; get herb leaves and herb stalk. You may choose not to wash the lemons or the herbs. Throw it all in a container, add some water and cover it up. Leave it to ferment and your ‘SHEPE’ is ready. The process to making ‘lemonade’ is entirely different. You need clean utensils, very clean lemons (sliced) and sugar. You put the lemons in a clean jar and add water. You need to stir and keep stirring till the lemons become infused in the water, then you add some sugar and keep stirring. After a while, you take a clean spoon and you taste it. If there is too much lemon, you add a bit of sugar and keep stirring. Then you taste it again and if it’s too sweet, you are more slices of well cleaned and cut lemons. You keep doing this until you have the exact taste of ‘lemonade’ that you want.

What is the difference between ‘SHEPE’ and ‘lemonade’? ‘SHEPE’ takes about 15mins flat. The making of ‘lemonade’ could take up to 30 - 45mins based on the quantity, the taste level and your strength to stir. Which would you think people would  pay premium value to have? ‘SHEPE’ or ‘lemonade’?

It is the same thing with your life. If you choose to blame everyone and everything for the reason why you are not thinking like a smarter person and creating value, you may just have SHEPE to sell and only SHEPE appreciating people will buy it. But, if you choose to make your life count and fight to create value and make your future different from your past, then you may just have a LEMONADE franchise that is being sold in all the continents of the world.

"IT WILL ALWAYS BE YOUR CHOICE."

To end this, let me tell you the current outcome of the 3 guys I saw in the picture I mentioned above. One is successful in his career and breaking barriers daily. Another is trying to make it. Learning from his mistakes and getting smarter while the third is still begging and trying to squeeze money out of people howbeit dubiously sometimes to get his immediate needs met.

And I say this to end this post “You are the sole determinant of your future”

Shalom
Yele 


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