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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