IS EVERY TRIAL A MESSENGER WITH A HIDDEN GIFT FOR YOU?

On a few occasions, I have heard people say “every trial is a messenger sent to deliver a hidden gift to you”. A lot of us may want to hold that thought as true while many others may beg to differ and may simply let out statements such as “that’s not true”. On the other hand, another group would say ‘not entirely true’ as they would rather do without such hidden gifts than go through any horrible trial accompanying it.

A few days ago, I read in one of the dailies, Thisday to be precise, about a former bank employee, one Omotade Johnson on how he lost his banking job a couple of years back during the era of voluntary and involuntary  bankers ‘mass exodus’  due to the biting harsh realities of economic recession which was experienced all over the world at the time.

According to Omotade, he decided to face reality and picked up what was left of his life and with the little he had from his savings, decided on entrepreneurship hence went ahead to set up a puff-puff selling business, thereby turning his trial into triumph. What a lot of people in his same predicament at the time would never have given a second thought having just left a Porsche or ‘tush’ paying job.

Without a care in the world of what people would think about his new status of ‘puff-puff’ selling, Omotade strove hard at it and today, he is inspiring a lot of people with his story.

In his own words, “Formerly, I worked with Intercontinental Bank PLC. That happened shortly; I lost the job when the bank got liquidated and everything went flat. But, as a man, you have to work and I can’t see anything I can’t do. So that was why I joined the new trend. The business has been on for the past 11 years; I met it in 2012, when I came to Lagos. I never went to school for it, I learnt it from my friends who were professionals in the business. Although, some of them were younger than me in age then, but that never mattered to me, because all I wanted was for them to teach me how to fry and all other things involved, which they obliged and taught me, even without demanding I should pay money for the training. So, since I joined, the business has been good; I don’t have anything to regret. I’m not lacking any money. I love the business. It’s quite a profitable one. Of course, if it’s not, this my team you see working here wouldn’t have been here. Because you can’t just wake up early in morning, stay here till night without going home with something that is worth the time and you continue working”.

Quite inspiring. I have come across a lot of individuals who are not willing to do such jobs yet they will go out to beg from the people who do such jobs. Kai! What an irony of life. That is one of the things one would signature ‘wickedness or witchcraft’.

A couple of years ago, a friend told me about a family who would always approach her for help on a nearly daily basis. Healthy family with a couple of kids, yet father and mother were doing nothing except begging from one person to the other nevertheless they had this ‘high horse’ thing going on around them.

So one day, this friend of mine had an opening in a laundry organization and so asked the lady to apply but she bluntly refused that she couldn’t do such a job so did her husband. These were people with nothing but barely secondary school certificates nor any professional certificates, yet they were selecting jobs.

My good friend was so upset and told them out rightly that they were both ungrateful people and hence should never ask her for a dime anymore as she did all sorts of jobs including menial jobs to make the monies that they always hounded her to give to them. And according to her, that was the last they heard from her till today as they kept grudges with her from that day. Interestingly, my friend was past caring about how ever they felt or thought about her anyway.

Another inspiring story before I draw the curtains on this outing.

I also read in the course of the week about a lady as seen in the picture on the right with no arms who drives a car on her own, proving again that no fully healthy human being has a right to be idle not to talk about even those with minor disabilities as the picture resounds the notion again that there is ‘really ability In Disability’ hence nothing should be impossible if you are willing to make a difference in life.

Again, I know many people will say that she is advantaged because she was born and lives in a society where things work, hence she can flourish and accomplish her many dreams given her abilities. To a large extent you could be right, however, in this same country of Nigeria, there is an endless list of many disabled people who have achieved many of their dreams and are doing well to a large extent. Thus no one has any excuse to go hungry or begging on the streets. Do something to make a living.

Finally, when I say ‘do something’ I do not in any way insinuate ‘something’ as prostitution, fraud, rituals and their likes, I mean do something legal, good and dignifying to make ends meet and not any form of vices thereby becoming a menace to the society.

So, dear reader, turn that your trial and situation around. Cheers!