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Food for Living: Overcoming Challenges with Hope
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
Challenges come in different shapes and sizes. As rational beings, we do face one form of challenge or another. The challenges can be financial, health related, socio-economic, relationship, personal or even spiritual. The question now becomes how do we overcome these challenges?
Overcoming challenges can be tough, especially if we have little or no control over the situation. However, it should be noted that tough times never last but tough people do.
The world is currently experiencing one of the most devastating and depressing pandemics in recent times-Coronavirus. Globally, many businesses have been deeply affected, hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost, many people have lost their jobs and the world seems prepared to enter a new normal.
Every challenge we go through can either shape or define or mar us depending on how we handle it. It’s a well-established fact that we must definitely experience one form of challenge or another, but the difference is how we are able to overcome the challenge. Isn’t it true that hard times don’t define us—they refine us?
We can overcome challenges in different ways because we are all wired in different ways and have different thresholds. Globally, many people have lost their jobs as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. Many corporate organizations have been deeply affected. Academic institutions have been shut down. Government agencies are nor left out. As a matter of fact, there’s no sector of the economy that is not affected. Even the health sector is badly hit. Many people have lost their lives trying to save souls. But one factor is sure to help overcome whatever form of challenge – hope.
In the course of this article we shall be discussing how we can use hope to overcome challenges.
Despite all these setbacks, some organizations have fared well, e.g. digital technology and the health sector. This is because we saw the rise in e-commerce, especially as it relates to purchasing masks and other health related and personal products just to stay healthy and safe. In the area of technology, we saw the rise in zoom calls, stream calls, and the rise in using the internet to transact business. In the midst of all these, one thing is certain; some people have expressed hope of coming back stronger while others feel the year and the world has come to an end. I don’t know where you belong, but the truth of the matter is that we are definitely going to go into a new normal because life will not remain the same for a substantial amount of time.
If I may ask, how do you overcome challenges during this pandemic? Are you hopeful that this too shall pass. Can you see light at the of the tunnel or are you among the bandwagon who feels the year, businesses and life will never remain the same again? Regardless of your line of thought, one underlying fact we all have to know is that if you ever lose all options, never lose hope.
Hope is the last straw we should always aspire to regardless of the vicissitudes of life. If you have a business which has been thriving before COVID-19, a great way of strategizing is by improvising a new way of doing business. You may ask, how do I re-strategize? You can do this by asking yourself, how can I meet the demands of my clients. You may want to improvise by thinking out of the box. Let’s say you are into buying and selling of properties, cars, or any business that involves sightseeing, you can do this by sending email or using online tools like zoom call, skype or even stream calls to show them what the product is about. You can even tell them, if they don’t like it upon physical sight, you’re open to giving them back their money.
The interesting thing about business is that clients and customers love to see new products every now and then, this keeps them engaged and open to always think of doing business with you. You can use this trying period to teach or sensitize your customers who are not technological or internet savvy how they can learn new skills which ordinarily they wouldn’t have been exposed to. One lesson I have learned from the difficult times in my life is to always prepare myself for the best and expect the worst, just like COVID-19 has made many people prepare for the future in case there’s another outbreak.
We are all accustomed to the saying, when the desirable is not available, the available becomes the desirable. That’s simply the thought of both great minds who think out of the box and myopic minds who are confined to their comfort zone. However, the unassailable truth is that we always have options for doing any task. Isn’t it true that every problem has a solution. The only problem that doesn’t have a solution exists simply because the right person with the right solution hasn’t arrived.
The power and role of hope cannot be overemphasized. The interesting and inherent power of hope is that it has an underlying message of belief embedded in it. Without hope, it will be difficult to forge ahead in life.
When you truly understand the power and intrinsic value of hope as it relates to your life, you’ll come to the sublime realization of it’s magical power. When you have hope, it will be very difficult for the challenges of life to weigh you down whether in your business, academic, relationship, finance or life in general. Whenever any challenge pops up, just say, this too shall pass; I will come out stronger; there’s always another way of doing it; this is an experience, etc. When you have a firm belief in these words, you’ll literally be amazed to see how lines will fall in place for you.
I don’t know what your situation is at this moment, but my humble message to you is to believe this problem will not see the end of you. You’ll overcome it and come out stronger. This is because loss is not forever. You can do this by remembering the feeling you had when you began the journey. What were you thinking and having the hope to accomplish? Did you have everything in place before you began? Did you meet or ever thought you’ll come this far and be blessed? These are great ways of thinking out of the box with hope.
Therefore, I encourage you to be hopeful by not only believing in yourself, but also in your business and everyone and everything around you, knowing fully well, you’ll be an overcomer. You might not see or imagine it, but you sure can feel the energy of hope spreading inside of you.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the author of the acclaimed book Design Your Destiny – Actualizing Your Birthright To Success and President of gloemi.com. He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
Secrets are exclusive preserves of certain individuals or institutions. They are one’s advantage over others, in the sense of ‘there’s something I know, which no one else knows. No one can ever claim that they don’t have a secret, either in the good or bad light.
Secrets therefore, exist in the family circle, business terrain, academic environment, career/professional pursuit, health management, spiritual connectivity and even in everyday personal living. It is an undeniable fact that everyone has a secret that works for them.
Let’s take a minute to discuss some of the aforementioned secrets.
Family
Every family has a secret. It will be foolhardy for anyone to disclose family secrets. Most families die with their secrets. To understand how family secrets work, imagine the Coca-Cola company. The family is said to be the only one in the world that has the formula for the beverage; a trade secret that originated with its creator, John Pemberton.
It is said that not even all family members enter the room where Coca-Cola is mixed or manufactured for fear of the secret being divulged. Imagine where spouses have access to the room and the marriage goes south, there’s a tendency that a spiteful divorced partner might leak the secret and the rest as they say is history.
There are many secrets that bind many families which only the immediate family members know. In some cases, only the parents or grandparents know. They can decide to share the secret to either the first male child, first female child or even a member of the family that one considers rational. For instance, imagine where a family is faced with a peculiar life threatening illness which ordinarily might scare anyone who wants to get married into that family, it will be stupid for anyone to spit it out, that act alone can make the intending spouse to reconsider his/her plan to marry from the family.
Business
Every business has a trade secret. Trade secrets are what makes a business unique. Every business has a unique selling point. (USP), which is a distinct benefit that sets the business or product apart from its competitors. A shrewd businessman will never leak his secret to his employees or competitors. The best his employees will know are the values, the operational systems or structures of the business and how his mindset works. But what makes the business stand out is the mystery that one will need to unravel.
Academic
Every student has a distinct trait that makes him/her succeed academically. This unique trait makes the student exceptional. For any student to succeed in their academics, he must know himself and what works for him. While some might study at night, some might study during the day, others might just listen during the lecture and understand the key points.
It’s sad to see students, who haven’t discovered who they are and what works for them following students who have discovered who they are. For example, while some students have good listening and understanding ability, and can listen to lectures and read a little and pass their examinations, some other students will have to read the course material before the lecture, listen during the lecture, read after the lecture and read thoroughly for examination before they can get a decent grade.
In some cases, they might not get the desired grade. Some students will even party hard during the day and at night they study, while some will party at night and study during the day. So, you can see that while some students have discovered themselves and what works for them, some others follow them sheepishly. Moral: Know what works for you and do what works for you because according to Oscar Wilde, “be yourself because others are taken”.
Career/Profession
Every career professional has a secret that works for them. In the same way, every industry knows what makes it stands out. The secret of what makes someone in the entertainment industry successful is quite different from what makes someone in politics or law enforcement, energy, education, legal, or health sector different. They all have different strokes, and the ability of one to do the needful in addition to playing the associated game can be the game changer.
Health
Health is a personal thing. Nobody knows you more than you know yourself. To show you how secretive and important one’s health is, it’s been said that there are three kinds of life: Public life, private life and secret life.
Your public life is the life that is generally known by everyone. It is the character we exhibit in the public space. It can also be regarded as the image perception lifestyle; we don’t generally go around revealing our health status in the public domain except where necessary. The private lifestyle; this is the kind of life only our family and close friends know.
Again, we don’t disclose such pertinent information to them only where and when necessary, then we have the secret lifestyle which only us and our creator knows. In some cases, we go to the graveyard with this. Do you see why health is a personal issue which needs to be kept in a secret place?
Personal
As mentioned earlier, everyone is unique. One of the best things that can happen to anyone is knowing themselves, and knowing what makes them different. I strongly believe we all have seeds of greatness in us. What works for Mr. A might not work for Mr. B. Like I always say, you can copy my style, but you can’t be me because imitation is a limitation.
For instance, I have unique energy and inspiration when it comes to writing. I have developed a keen interest and passion for writing. If tomorrow I become very successful or attract a unique opportunity, and someone decides to try writing to attract similar opportunities, the person might fail because God is the one that decides what opportunities come to anyone nor matter how hard someone may work.
Spiritual
This is another interesting aspect of life. Life is indeed spiritual. There’s nothing that happens physically without taking place spiritually. Everyone has a covenant point that was assigned to them at birth. Once that covenant point is touched that fellow might lose their blessings, anointing or what makes them strong.
There have been many testimonies about this. For instance, in the Bible, Samson’s touching point was his hair. He knows his power lies in his hair, that’s why Delilah tried so many times to know the secret of his strength, but Samson refused to tell her. She tried to make him drunk, but Samson still has the power. Samson repeatedly lied to Delilah about the secret of his strength, first saying it was new bowstrings, then new ropes, and finally by weaving his hair into a loom. Each time, he easily broke free, but Delilah continued to pressure him.
Weary from her constant questioning, Samson finally confessed that his strength was tied to his hair, which had never been cut because he was a Nazirite from birth. Delilah then called for a man to shave Samson’s seven locks of hair while he slept in her lap. His secret was revealed. His hair was cut. He strength was gone.
Do you see that Samson’s secret place was his hair?
In conclusion, depending on what we are working on, we all have our secret strength and place. The onus is on us to cultivate and dwell on this secret place to avoid losing power and focus.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer and author of Design Your Destiny Design and Unleash Your Destiny . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
Amid growing insecurity in different parts of the country, Niger State Governor, Umaru Bago, has urged residents to defend themselves against persistent bandit attacks.
He insisted that his administration would neither negotiate with nor pay ransom to criminals under any circumstances.
Bago made the declaration during a visit to the Rijau and Magama local government areas, where several communities were recently attacked by bandits operating from the Kontagora axis.
The governor said the State has reached a critical stage that demands collective action, warning that ransom payments would only embolden the criminals and turn kidnapping into a profitable venture.
“I will not negotiate with bandits. I will not pay ransom.
“The moment we start paying, they will open shop on our heads and continue kidnapping people,” he said.
“The situation has reached a state of war that requires collective resistance. We are surrounded by enemies, but we will not give up.
“The constitution gives us the right to defend our lives and property, and we will do just that,” the governor added.
Describing the recurring attacks and displacement of residents as “embarrassing and unacceptable,” Bago announced plans to recruit and train 10,000 personnel into the state’s joint task force to strengthen community security and restore peace.
In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Print Media, Aisha Wakaso, the governor also announced a total ban on all mining activities across Zone C of the state.
The affected local government areas include Magama, Kontagora, Rijau, Wushishi, Mariga, Borgu, Mashegu, and Agwara.
Bago explained that illegal mining had become a major driver of insecurity in the zone, noting that many miners had unrestricted access to forest areas considered unsafe for residents.
“It is suspicious that miners can enter the forests freely, yet the bandits don’t touch them. I have ordered the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to arrest anyone caught engaging in mining activities,” he said.
Governor Bago also reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to ending the cycle of violence and restoring lasting peace throughout the state.
The Nigeria Police have reportedly arrested human rights activist Omoyele Sowore.
Sowore was taken into custody at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
This was revealed in a post on X by human rights lawyer Inibehe Effiong, who accused the police and President Bola Tinubu’s administration of undermining Nigeria’s judicial system.
He wrote: “The arrest of Omoyele Sowore at the Federal High Court in Abuja moments ago is preposterous.
“The police and the Tinubu regime are making a mockery of our judicial system.He should be freed immediately. Stop the shenanigans.”
Sowore had earlier posted on Facebook that he was with Kanu Agabi, the lead lawyer for Nnamdi Kanu, at the Federal High Court.
According to him, Agabi disclosed that his team would be withdrawing from the case, leaving Kanu to continue his trial without representation.
