Discovering what you're passionate about is a great accomplishment which so many people fail to do on time or even at all. Society restrains our aspirations and ambitions: society being parents, friends, teachers, elders, etc. Coming from an African background, you are expected to aspire to be a doctor, engineer, lawyer, etc. Actors, dancers, musicians, artist, athlete are professions which are shunned by society. This pressure can be very compelling but if you find yourself in such a situation, my friend you have to 'DARE TO DEFY'. Defy the norms, expectations, beliefs, defy them all. It's one thing to discover your passion and another to embrace it. Discovering ones passion isn't all it takes to achieve success, one has to accept their passion. Weird, right? How won't you accept what you're passionate about? Well, it's possible. Not embracing your passion means not working to develop your ability, letting your doubts and fears stop you from trying, not sharing your passion with the rest of the world, not setting a goal and a plan on how to reach that goal. It's okay to be afraid, but it isn't okay to let the fear stop you. A ship is always safe at the shore but that isn't what it was built for. Let your fear motivate you because if you don't embrace your passion you're just as guilty as the people who told you not to go for it. I believe everyone's aspiration in life should be to be happy; The only way you can be happy is doing something you're passionate about. Think about it! Don't you want to look at your life 10 or 20 years from now and say you're living the life you chose not the one you settled for?
Newark, NJ, USA
The Next Step
Discovering what you're passionate about is a great accomplishment which so many people fail to do on time or even at all. Society restrains our aspirations and ambitions: society being parents, friends, teachers, elders, etc. Coming from an African background, you are expected to aspire to be a doctor, engineer, lawyer, etc. Actors, dancers, musicians, artist, athlete are professions which are shunned by society. This pressure can be very compelling but if you find yourself in such a situation, my friend you have to 'DARE TO DEFY'. Defy the norms, expectations, beliefs, defy them all. It's one thing to discover your passion and another to embrace it. Discovering ones passion isn't all it takes to achieve success, one has to accept their passion. Weird, right? How won't you accept what you're passionate about? Well, it's possible. Not embracing your passion means not working to develop your ability, letting your doubts and fears stop you from trying, not sharing your passion with the rest of the world, not setting a goal and a plan on how to reach that goal. It's okay to be afraid, but it isn't okay to let the fear stop you. A ship is always safe at the shore but that isn't what it was built for. Let your fear motivate you because if you don't embrace your passion you're just as guilty as the people who told you not to go for it. I believe everyone's aspiration in life should be to be happy; The only way you can be happy is doing something you're passionate about. Think about it! Don't you want to look at your life 10 or 20 years from now and say you're living the life you chose not the one you settled for?
But no one sees it coming when suddenly these friends become so distant and people you used to talk to everyday unfailingly are now so far away. Seeing them is challenging, keeping in touch doesn't seem as important any longer.
It hurts. It stings a lot more when you're trying to hold on to the friendship but the other parties are more or less done with you. If we could see the end of a friendship from the beginning I honestly wonder what it would change.
Instead of looking at all the negatives, let's try to savour what time we do have and understand that everyone who we ever called a friend was meant to last for perhaps only a short while while some other friends last forever.
For me, it's the only way out of the sadness that comes with loosing a friend. Now think, what is your coping mechanism that works best for you??
Ginika.
Lagos, Nigeria
Letting Go Hurts
But no one sees it coming when suddenly these friends become so distant and people you used to talk to everyday unfailingly are now so far away. Seeing them is challenging, keeping in touch doesn't seem as important any longer.
It hurts. It stings a lot more when you're trying to hold on to the friendship but the other parties are more or less done with you. If we could see the end of a friendship from the beginning I honestly wonder what it would change.
Instead of looking at all the negatives, let's try to savour what time we do have and understand that everyone who we ever called a friend was meant to last for perhaps only a short while while some other friends last forever.
For me, it's the only way out of the sadness that comes with loosing a friend. Now think, what is your coping mechanism that works best for you??
Ginika.
I am the third child of four, my only brother is the firstborn, my elder sister is the first girl, and my little sister is the last born. By Nigerian standards, I am the definition of a middle child.
- Let me let you in on some fun facts about middle children.
- We are very adaptable by nature, which makes us great at group activities.
- Our parents a bit less stern with us...lucky us.
- We tend to be really independent from a young age having siblings older and younger than us makes us very good negotiators.
- We find ourselves attracted to other middle children.
- We are very self-motivated and self-driven children.
- We are pushing ourselves harder in a slight quest for attention.
- We turn out to either be very responsible or very lazy.
- We also tend to be very rebellious.
- We turn out to be very empathetic after a lifetime of compromising.
Honestly, I started off this post with the intention of making life as a middle child seem horrible, but I realized that the middle children are awesome and well without us this world wouldn't be nearly the same.
Middle children, love yourselves. Don't let the bigger ones or even the younger ones put you down. Show them what bosses we are and shine brightly for everyone to see.
See you next time...
Ginika...
Lagos, Nigeria
Being the middle child
I am the third child of four, my only brother is the firstborn, my elder sister is the first girl, and my little sister is the last born. By Nigerian standards, I am the definition of a middle child.
- Let me let you in on some fun facts about middle children.
- We are very adaptable by nature, which makes us great at group activities.
- Our parents a bit less stern with us...lucky us.
- We tend to be really independent from a young age having siblings older and younger than us makes us very good negotiators.
- We find ourselves attracted to other middle children.
- We are very self-motivated and self-driven children.
- We are pushing ourselves harder in a slight quest for attention.
- We turn out to either be very responsible or very lazy.
- We also tend to be very rebellious.
- We turn out to be very empathetic after a lifetime of compromising.
Honestly, I started off this post with the intention of making life as a middle child seem horrible, but I realized that the middle children are awesome and well without us this world wouldn't be nearly the same.
Middle children, love yourselves. Don't let the bigger ones or even the younger ones put you down. Show them what bosses we are and shine brightly for everyone to see.
See you next time...
Ginika...
Let's talk about talent...
There are so many misconceptions about talent; so many questions swarming out brains when talent it talked about. And with every discussion about talent, we feel a tad bit more confused than we were before the discussion.
My take on talent is that it is simply your God-given abilities. It is that (or maybe those) special gift(s) or ability that has been Mildred into your very existence.
However, even though many of us can say the dictionary meaning of talent, we still don't understand the larger picture.
One of the multifarious misconceptions about talent is that it has to be grande. News flash dear! Not everyone can have such. Talent can be as little or seemingly insignificant as being able to interact with babies.
Growing up, I began to believe overtime that I didn't have talent. I didn't feel like I could sing, neither could I dance, nor act. I was very quiet and I could never address a crowd. Even with the things I loved to do, I never stood out. I was always seemingly unimportant.
But with time, these talents started to unfold. My mum always says I am meticulous about everything I do and without a doubt, I agree with her. I like things to be organised and well designed and I pay attention to the slightest details. Whether or not it sounds like much, that is my talent and it will never change about me.
I urge us all to embrace our talents and stop envying that of our neighbour because you might not know that the same neighbour yearns for what you have but aren't appreciating.
Finally, remember that if you don't value your talent, no one les will.
See you next time...
Ginika...
Talent
Let's talk about talent...
There are so many misconceptions about talent; so many questions swarming out brains when talent it talked about. And with every discussion about talent, we feel a tad bit more confused than we were before the discussion.
My take on talent is that it is simply your God-given abilities. It is that (or maybe those) special gift(s) or ability that has been Mildred into your very existence.
However, even though many of us can say the dictionary meaning of talent, we still don't understand the larger picture.
One of the multifarious misconceptions about talent is that it has to be grande. News flash dear! Not everyone can have such. Talent can be as little or seemingly insignificant as being able to interact with babies.
Growing up, I began to believe overtime that I didn't have talent. I didn't feel like I could sing, neither could I dance, nor act. I was very quiet and I could never address a crowd. Even with the things I loved to do, I never stood out. I was always seemingly unimportant.
But with time, these talents started to unfold. My mum always says I am meticulous about everything I do and without a doubt, I agree with her. I like things to be organised and well designed and I pay attention to the slightest details. Whether or not it sounds like much, that is my talent and it will never change about me.
I urge us all to embrace our talents and stop envying that of our neighbour because you might not know that the same neighbour yearns for what you have but aren't appreciating.
Finally, remember that if you don't value your talent, no one les will.
See you next time...
Ginika...
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