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Food for Living: The Choices We Make
By Henry Ukazu
Compliments of the season Dear Friends,
I congratulate everyone for making it to the last few days of 2019. The year 2019 has come and will end in about 48 or 72hours depending on your location. At the end of the year, rational minds will take a deep breath to see how far they fared in life; they evaluate all their actions and decisions and judge if they improved or not. Business leaders, managers, administrators, government officials, entertainers, etc. are not left out in this struggle. They all take inventory of how they fared in order to prepare for the next year’s activities. Amidst all this, one factor that played a critical role is choice.
Choice played a fundamental role in influencing the outcome of our decisions. As we prepare and plan for the next decade which begins in 2020, we all need to make the right choices, and the first step is by associating with the right people with the right vision and understanding to life.
What really is choice? According to Google “Choice is an act of selecting or making a decision when faced with two or more possibilities”. We all make choices everyday consciously or unconsciously. Life is a matter of choice. We are making choices every day at every single step. According to John C. Maxwell, “Life is a matter of choices, and every choice you make makes you.” Before you wear cloth, eat a particular food, marry, watch a particular movie or channel, travel, apply for a job or school, etc., you made a decision to do that. That decision is what is simply referred to as choice. “In every single thing you do, you are choosing a direction. Your life is a product of choices.” It is this small choice and direction that leads to major success in life if properly articulated.
Growing up as kids, our parents and guardians trained and made decisions for us, but as we progress in life and become of age, we decide what works for us by making our own independent decision. It is sad to note that most people attribute their failures in life to their parents and the environment. This set of people fail to think outside the box to know that our parents and guardians may be responsible for where we are or even raising us up, but we are utterly responsible for what we become. Per Jean-Paul Sarte ” We are our choices”.
Your choice can make or mar you just like your decisions. However, it should be noted that, when you make the wrong choice, that is not the end of life, you can turn your failures into your friend by looking at the circumstances surrounding it. Our choice in life is responsible for stimulating our response and reactions in any circumstance.
In the course of this article, we shall be discussing how choice can play a unique and significant role in projecting us to destiny. The decision to succeed in life is up to the choice we make. It is a well-established principle that failing to prepare is preparing to fail. According to Pastor Reno Omokri, “People don’t succeed because they are destined for success, people succeed because they are determined to succeed, your destiny depends on your decision. Your luck depends on your work. Your prosperity or poverty is your choice”. Therefore, it will be right to say that, everything in life is centered on choice. We shall examine several component parts of life where choice plays a unique role.
Academic
Choice plays a unique role in our academics. Generally speaking, most people chose a particular major of interest while in College/University. A relatively low percentage chose or settled for a major based on “interest”. For instance, I have always loved to be a lawyer and by the special of Grace of God, I am a lawyer, I didn’t just get the title on a platter of gold, I earned it. However, when I emigrated to the USA, I did a graduate program in New York Law School that was totally out of my interest, but because I have a positive approach towards life, I had to turn a lemon into a lemonade with the profession and it has been one of the best choice/and decision I have made in recent times because it has really shaped me.
Relationship
According to George Eliot “The strongest principle of growth lies in human choice.” As human beings, we are all social animals. Nobody lives in insolation, rather we need each other to survive. True friendship comes with value. If you will agree with me, your network determines your net worth. Great minds know that the business of business is human relations, but the business of life is human connection. Making the right choice in friendship, association or organization cannot be overemphasized. It takes maturely and understanding to relate with people because human beings can be the most difficult people on earth. The people you relate and allow into your space can positively or negatively influence your life either consciously or unconsciously.
Choice
Making a choice can be very hard and at the same time easy; it is easy when you have peace and listen to your heart desires, but it becomes challenging when we have so many things requesting our attention in addition to other vested interests. It is highly imperative to listen to the inner still voice in your heart before making a decision. Your conscience can hardly fail you when you’re at peace with yourself. According to Stephen Covey “We are the creative force of our life, and through our own decisions rather than our conditions, if we carefully learn to do certain things, we can accomplish those goals”. Most people attribute their failure to man-made situations or hard luck; they fail to understand that nobody owes us anything and we are responsible for our choice and lots in life.
Success
Succeeding in life can be a herculean task, especially when you don’t play by the rules. Most leaders sometimes find it hard to bring change while in government or large corporations or organizations due to various factors and interests that might be at stake. It takes courage, risk, and gut to bring lasting positive change especially when you have an idea that will change the status quo. For leaders and captains of industries who are serious of making a lasting change in their space, please note the word of Denis Whitley “There are two primary choices in life; to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.” –
Let me share with you some tips on how to make a good choice.
1. Remind yourself your priority, goal, and future impact of the outcome while choosing or deciding to take a particular route.
2. Never allow emotions, sentiments or vested interest to sway your decisions. Moral, use your intuition and not your head when making a choice.
3. Always consider as many alternatives and options before making any decision. This will help you to make an informed decision.
The height of great men was not attained by luck, they were attained by hard and smart work and also careful plan. They also used sound polices and sound judgmental discretion backed by informed advice from reliable people. According to Jim Collins Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline.” Therefore, the choice to succeed and fail in life is not up to anyone, but you. That is why Roy Bennett stated “You are not the victim of the world, but rather the master of your own destiny. It is your choices and decisions that determine your destiny.”
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. He can be reached via henrous@gmail.com
Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminialayi Fubara has extended an olive branch to lawmakers loyal to his rival, Nyesome Wike.
The governor invited the Amaewhule-led House of Assembly members to a peace meeting, following the Supreme Court’s judgement on the state’s political unrest.
The invitation was made through a letter from Dr. Tammy Danagogo, Secretary to the State Government, to Speaker Martins Amaewhule.
The meeting is scheduled for Monday at 10 am at the Government House in Port Harcourt.
The agenda includes addressing lingering issues, presenting the 2025 state budget, and discussing payment of lawmakers’ allowances.
The letter read: “I hereby write in furtherance of His Excellency’s promise stated in my letter dated 5th March 2025 to notify you that His Excellency has received the Supreme Court Judgment, and has therefore directed me to invite you and your colleagues -the Honourable members of Rivers State House of Assembly, to a meeting to discuss:-
“Provision of a befitting space for the Assembly’s sittings. Payment of all outstanding remuneration or allowances of the Honourable members. Presentation of Budget and sundry matters;
“Any other matter(s), as may be necessary, to chart the way forward in the best interest of the State. Sequel to the above, I hereby humbly invite the Rt. Hon. Speaker, and all the Rivers State House of Assembly members to a meeting with the Governor as follows.”
The Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) has extended the closing date for receiving applications for various vacancies in the Federal Civil Service to Monday, March 17 2025, to allow more eligible candidates to participate in the exercise.
The announcement, according to a statement by the Head, Press and Public Relations, Mr. Taiwon Hassan, supersedes the previous announcements in various national media on Monday, January 27, 2025 including FCSC website: www.fedcivilservice.gov.ng, where the deadline was pegged at Monday, March 10, 2025.
Qualified Nigerians are urged to avail themselves of the extension opportunity and apply for the vacancies of their choice.
The Commission assures applicants of merit-driven and transparent recruitment.
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
The importance of timing cannot be overemphasized. Timing is everything in life. It is critical to one’s success. You can lose your money and get it back in many folds. You can even lose your health and get it back all things being equal, but when you lose time, you can hardly get it back again.
The importance of timing can be seen in crops. Every crop has a season, a good farmer won’t plant maize when it’s time for oranges, nor will he plant pears when it’s the season for mangoes.
Time is very instrumental to the success and failure of anyone. Imagine having a meeting or interview at 9:00am and you arrive at 10:10am, it will take the grace of God to be interviewed. As an employee, apart from one not being able to diligently do his job, one of the fastest ways for an employee to lose his job is by being late to work.
When I was in New York Law School studying Taxation law, I did a course titled, the Problem of Timing. During the semester, I learnt about cash and accrued income. Let me do some academic exercise here. In cash income, just like the name entails, one is paid in cash as soon as the work is completed. It’s just like going to the market to make a purchase. One can either pay directly with cash or with debit or credit card. But Accrued income refers to revenue a company has earned by providing goods or services, but for which payment has not yet been received, one will have to do the work first before getting paid. This is applicable when one works in either a public or private organization where one is paid either weekly, bi-weekly or at the end of the month depending on the stipulated mode of payment.
It’s important to note that before the money is paid either in cash or accrued, one would have earned it. It’s just like one learning g before earning, and one will have to update to upgrade. These are just the practical principles that will work with life.
In the same way, in life there’s a seed time and harvest time. It’s a universal principle of life. Whether as a parent, entrepreneur, student or employee. As a parent, if you don’t train your kids very well, they will grow up to reflect the opposite of what you desire. As an entrepreneur when you invest in your business, you will get the reward in due time. As a student, if you take your studies seriously, your grades will improve, and as an employee, you stand to get promotions and opportunities when you add value to your work. In summary, one will have to put in the work before recognition comes on.
To understand how seedtime and harvest work, imagine where parents tend to like one child more than others just because they see potential in him, or he’s smart, hardworking or even creative. They fail to understand that every child is different and as such their timing can be different. Some kinds take time to develop.
I personally believe there’s something so unique about each individual which God has deposited in everyone of us. It’s just a matter of time for it to manifest. Your timing of manifestation is different from your siblings and colleagues.
Personally, I didn’t mature fast with my contemporaries. Overtime, I have seen much improvement in my personal and professional life. Maybe because I have added value to my work with the assistance of mentors and good friends, or God had to humble my colleagues and mentors . Why do I say this? During my formative years, I had little or nothing to show for it. I was looking at my contemporaries as mentor and seeing my mentors as small gods whose feat is unattainable, but now, the reverse seems to be case as I have developed capacity some of my colleagues are yet to attain, while I have even surpassed the achievement of my some of my mentors in some quarters.
In all these, they are all surprised how it happened. Some are yet to comprehend or articulate the feat. It’s just like watching a film where everyone slept and woke up to see the game and tides have changed. The secret behind it is the seed time and harvest time. I was probably learning the trade while in the wilderness, and when the training season matured and ripe enough to be harvested, I became attractive to almost everyone who loved the seed I was producing.
There are litany of examples of people, who have been in the wilderness during the seed planting season. Let’s take a case study of Joseph in the Bible, his journey to stardom took a little twist. Despite the travails he experienced in the hands of his siblings who sold him, his experience while in the jail, and with Portiphar’s wife, who tried to seduce him; they were all set ups for success. The moral here is Joseph seed time and harvest time was quite different, it wasn’t a smooth journey. Ordinarily, one would have cursed his siblings or his friends who were with him in prison and forgot him after they were released. But at the end of time, everything worked out for his favor. Joseph’s seed days were his dark days while in the wilderness.
Another inspiring story of note was that of Pastor Ibukun Awosika, the former board Chairman of First Bank of Nigeria. She once shared a pathetic story during her formative years of being in business. According to her, she sojourned for about 15 years. She cried because lines were not adding up for her and she wouldn’t do what her contemporaries were doing to get opportunities. At a point in her business, it appeared like she was in a race of own life because everything seemed to be against her, but at the appropriate time, lines began to fall in place for her. Appointments, business opportunities, favours and goodwill began to fall in place for her. Again, she had a fair share of seed time.
An interesting question I would like to ask you is, what’s your seed time? Have you ever been in the wilderness when you appeared to be fixed? It’s unfortunate many people are not willing to pass through the storms or experience seeds and harvest time. Amidst all these, one must do some work before they get opportunities. However, before such opportunities will come up, one will have to plant the seed.
In conclusion, seed time and harvest time is critical in the journey of life. Take a seat and determine what seed you would like to sow and what you’ll like to harvest.
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 Your and Unleash Your Destiny . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
