A few Lessons from 2013

A Few Lessons From 2013.

As this year draws to a conclusion, I thought of a few lessons I have learnt from the year 2013 which I have decided to share for the enlightenment of mankind. These are lessons I wish to carry with me into 2014, I’ll also carry the accompanying stories with me.

What goes around comes around

What goes around doesn’t always come around, but most times it does come around. So whatever you do to others, do it as you’d want it done to you. The story below really happened to me, this year.

One of my buddies was having a birthday shindig and I happened upon the party. I pleasantly gatecrashed and surprised him with my presence. Everyone who knew me couldn’t believe I was at the gig. There was this dude who couldn’t handle his surprise well. We had this convo:

Him: Dude! I can’t believe this is really you.

Me: (In my usual drawl) It’s me oh bros.

Him: I can’t believe am seeing you here, how did you come?

Me: I came the normal way.

Him: How did you do it? (I usually live in a different town, maybe that’s why he was so surprised)

Me: (Trying to be sarcastic) I conjured a portal, went through it and I appeared here.

Hours later am about leaving the gathering and I have forgotten my way back home, so I meet this same dude.

Me: Please umm, how to I get to the major road?

Him: Shey you opened up a portal before? Do it again!

Talk of a perfect comeback. This story always reminds me not to go asking people I have been sarcastic to questions. Looking at the bigger picture, I guess the lesson to learn here is a stitch in time saves nine. However the biggest picture is this, be nice to everyone, I mean everyone!

Be wary of what people tell you

Whatever people tell you, especially if it is discouragement, take it with a pinch of salt. Do not always believe what people say hook, line, and sinker without making your own investigations. Am not even saying everyone is a liar, but then you should not always respond to some facts with discouragement. You may not get it, let me give you an example.

Back in 2012 there was a design course we took. It was a grueling  exercise and awon boys were at the end of their tethers. So this night we were in the studio bent over our tables drawing and bemoaning our fate, believing we were stuck in an accursed department.

It was then this guy says he wants to tell us the truth, he says that he was sure the Lecturer had already awarded marks for the course even before we had submitted our portfolios. He also pointed out how hard it was to come out with a good grade, especially as the lecturers seemed bent on not giving any student more than a C. He also said if the lecturer thinks you are a good student you’ll get a good grade.  This demoralized me a great deal, I swallowed everything the guy spewed and did a mediocre job. I came out with a D or C, and I was like “I know those wicked lecturers wouldn’t do anything good”.

Truth be told what the guy told us was true, but then I had a choice of approaching the matter differently but I didn’t. So I got a C, or was even a D?

Fast forward to 2013, we are doing another design course, the parameters were the same and since my CGPA is dancing on the brink, I could not afford a mediocre grade. I decide to take action based on the same things that guy from 2012 said. Since lecturers award grades based on perceived intelligence, I decided to act more intelligent, I even became a group leader, did almost all the group myself (my group members were lazy), and was in the studio even after hours. It paid off, I got an A in the course, and my SGPA that semester was superb. If to say my SGPA was my phone account balance, it would be capable of sending MTN-MTN text.

The lesson is clear, do not always be discouraged. If you are not clear with this example, look up the example of Joshua and Caleb in the Bible.

When things are not going as you wish, take action

In as much as we don’t always get to control what happens to us, there are times when we have to get up and take action when things do not go as we wish.

There is this young girl in our neighbourhood, let’s call her Farida. One day, Farida had a male visitor. The visit did not go well with the boys who lived in our street. They believed it was improper, for an outsider to come and be harvesting from our vineyards. They were so enraged at the intruder and his hostess that they all picked up sticks and armed their fists and gave him a hot chase. May I state at this juncture that all the characters in this incident were all below 15 years of age.

While the boys on from the street were chasing the intruder to harm, Farida ran to my house and sought my Father’s intervention, for she believed if no higher power intervened, her guy friend would be seriously injured.

Well, it ended bloodlessly and appropriate disciplinary actions must have been taken.

What do you learn from this story? Here is what I learnt, there are two paths you can take when confronted by troubles, distractions, interference, tribulations etc. First of all, you can report it to the highest power for intervention, and who has the highest power but God? Secondly, you can be like the dudes from my hood who take action and confronted the intruder to their wellbeing. These two courses of action can even be acted upon simultaneously. You pray, and then you attack the problem. It worked for David, it still works.