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Food for Living: The Fragility of Life
By Henry Ukazu
Greetings Dear Friends
Everything in life is truly a struggle, especially as it relates to third world countries. Nobody will entrust you with opportunities if you don’t work for it. In civilized climes where dignity of work is appreciated, you must earn whatever opportunity comes your way. In our daily search for the meaning and purpose of life, we come across many challenges. Despite these numerous challenges, what makes the difference is how you manage each situation.
If you have a business, and you don’t manage it well, it will flop; if you joke with your academics, you won’t pass with good grades; if you don’t love or treat your spouse, children or family with care, you might end up raising a generation of monsters; if you don’t appreciate a good employee with the right pay and benefits for the work he or she does, you might end up loosing them.
What therefore, is fragility of life? Every reasonable person knows that life is truly fragile and must be handled like an egg to avoid cracking. However, in this context, we will be looking at fragility of life from an empowerment point of view. During the course of this article, we shall be discussing how we can manage the vicissitudes of life in order to avoid crashing.
Life is truly fragile. To really understand how fragile life is, imagine having a raw egg which is yet to boil or cook and it falls to the hard surface, what do you think will happen? Simple, it will definitely break. That’s simply how life works. We all have a life to live, from birth, our parents trained us in High schools, colleges and in some cases doctorate programmes, but its quite unfortunate, many people squander this opportunity which sometimes comes once in a while. While some people merely manage to get middle school or High school diploma, others strive to attain perfection and excellence, and some others, who may be from privileged background choose to take life for granted because they operate under the mindset they are comfortable, and as such have abundant resources at their beck and call.
In striving for mastery and excellence, most people miss golden opportunities to mark their names in gold. It should be noted that nobody will give you anything you want, you have to demand and hunger for it. Saying you deserve it without showing why you deserve it only leaves you with an entitlement mentality.
Life is money if handled with care. To enjoy money, you need to be more resourceful with your time, but sometimes, we allow it to be stolen by waste.
The question we should be asking ourselves is how can we handle life? Just like you treat your family, work, money, and personality with care, you must treat your life the same way if you truly want to enjoy life. If you fail to manage life, life will manage you.
How to manage fragility.
Planning:
According to Benjamin Franklin, “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. In the Book of Life, it is stated, orderliness is the first law in heaven. Being able to mange people and resources is one of the most enriching skill one can have in contemporary times. A good planner must be able to think out of the box, be progressive minded and explore opportunities that can serve humanity.
Understanding:
When you don’t understand how a product or person works, it will be hard to work with the product or person. Understanding is not rocket science, all it entails is to apply emotional intelligence and common sense. It’s instructive to note that there can be no problem where there’s problem and there can be problem when there’s no problem depending on how understanding is harnessed with common sense. Understanding makes the difference in the management of issues, be it big or small.
Love
The greatest force in the word is love. Love is a feeling you can’t touch, but can feel. If you truly love someone or treasure anything, you’ll definitely apply tender loving care by nurturing it to grow so you don’t lose it. To understand how love works in empowering yourself, you’ll give all you have in addition to working for the kind of life you want to live. You’ll also ensure you stay away from all toxic situations that can deter you from reaching your desired goal.
When you master the art of handling life, you won’t take any opportunity for granted, especially when it refers to networking and having values for what we truly appreciate. Value is what you place on anything you treasure. For instance, if you place value on trust, loyalty and honesty, money won’t be able to influence your lifestyle, but if you are materialistic, it will be easy to be influenced with money.
To understand the fragility of life, imagine having a dry tissue in your hand, it will serve multiple purpose, but when it is wet, the purpose will be limited, if not being of little or no value.
Most times people think success only comes in terms of wealth, they fail to understand that health, spirituality, academics and being professional play a huge role. This is because if you don’t manage your spiritual life as a new convert, you might head back to the street, and if you don’t manage your health, you’ll lose it.
This is the reason rational minds plan ahead by prioritizing their needs above their wants. If you don’t take charge of what concerns you, you may end up living other people’s life in addition to being controlled by them.
Most time, we have a carefree attitude on what concerns us. We joke with our time, we joke with our work, we joke with our family and friends with hope we’ll will be able to recover, but sometimes, it doesn’t work that way. To improve your life, you have to be deliberate and intentional in whatever you do.
In conclusion, I will strongly suggest you take stock of your life by writing out the little things that play a role in your life.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He’s a mindset coach and self-discovery expert. 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
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Lucky Aiyedatiwa, as the winner of the just concluded Ondo State governorship election, held on Saturday, November 16, 2024.
The Returning Officer for the election Olayemi Akinwumi, who is also the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University, Lokoja, Kogi State declared Aiyedatiwa winner of the election on Sunday, extending the governor’s stay at the Government House in Alagbaka, Akure.
Governor Aiyedatiwa polled 366,781 votes to defeat his closest rival and a former deputy governor of the state Ajayi Agboola who flew the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flag. He scored 117,845 votes, more than twice lower than the APC candidate.
“That Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa of the APC having satisfied the requirement of the law is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected,” the returning officer said at exactly 2:30 pm at the INEC collation centre in Akure.
The declaration came hours after the collation of results for the election began in the early hours of Sunday. Although the collation centre went on breaks, the APC took a commanding lead with over 200,000 votes ahead of the PDP.
The final results showed that the APC won the election in a landslide, clearing all 18 local government areas.
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
There is no gainsaying the fact that everyone desirous of making impact in life must live a life of purpose. This is where knowledge and information come to play. It is these knowledge and information that will set an individual apart from his contemporaries.
I strongly believe, if one is not informed, they are ill-informed, and when they are ill-informed, they can’t perform well in any given endeavour. This is because information leads to reformation and transformation. We can therefore, confidently say that information leads to formation because everyone is a product of what they know.
Knowledge acquisition is one of the best things that can happen to anyone. People with knowledge are revered, and highly respected. Having knowledge is like having money. People from all walks of life will seek you.
There are different kinds of knowledge, and they include Revealed Knowledge, which comes from those who wrote the Bible and Intuitive Knowledge, which comes from the mind. It is the ability to gain knowledge without conscious reason or explanation.
Others are Empirical Knowledge, which is information gained through observation, experimentation, and direct experience, rather than through theoretical reason or intuition; Authoritative Knowledge, which is the knowledge a man has because of his expertise in a particular field; and finally but not the least, Rational Knowledge, which is a form of knowledge that uses reasoning and philosophy to understand the world.
From this illustration, a decisive mind can see that knowledge is priceless. Knowledge is like education. It can provide security and access. Even the Book of life says in Proverbs 4:13, “your education is your life, guard it very well”; and in Hosea 4:6 that “my people perish for lack of knowledge”.
From my personal experience in life, apart from death, one of the greatest levelers of all time is education. This is because the child of a certified pauper can become a man of means tomorrow if properly educated. That explains why children from humble backgrounds ought to take their education very seriously, especially if they don’t have affluence.
On a personal note, I come from a very humble background, my late parents didn’t have the opportunity of acquiring a decent education, but they knew the value of education and endeavored to give me and my siblings a decent education. In retrospect, when I look back and see some of my contemporaries whose parents couldn’t give them a decent education, I bless my late parents because education has exposed me to lots of opportunities in the United States, and the global world in addition to granting me an audience with the high and mighty in society.
Sometimes, when I look at my modest achievement, I’m deeply humbled because I know it is the grace of God. Who am I to author two amazing trailblazers’ books, get featured and profiled by the New York Times, engage in high level conversation with leaders of thought and captains of industries. Apart from the grace of God, intentional seeking of knowledge, and wise counsel from mentors and strategically positioning myself have been some of the cornerstone to my success.
Imagine if my late parents didn’t give me a decent education and opportunity of travelling to the United States, most of these opportunities and exposure wouldn’t have been readily available.
When one is decently enlightened, educated and informed about life, their level of reasoning and understanding differ from an ordinary man. If one desires to go far in life, one must seek knowledge.
It is your knowledge that sets you apart from others.
According to Dr. Yomi Garnett, an accomplished Ghostwriter, “If you are a man of great knowledge, people will have great respect for you. If you are a man of great wisdom, people will have great reverence for you. And if you are a man of both, great knowledge and great wisdom, you will be the most eminent of men. But in real terms, people don’t care how much you know, or how much wisdom you have, unless they know how much you care.”
The moral of this quote is that despite the knowledge and information at one’s disposal, if one lacks empathy, their knowledge, experience and whatever they have mean nothing.
The importance of knowledge cannot be overemphasized. In our contemporary society, a fast way of attracting opportunities is by showcasing the knowledge at one’s disposal. It is so sad that many people don’t take time to read, research and learn new trends applicable in their industry, and in the world generally and as such, they find it difficult to fit in and grow.
It is instructive to note that when you seek knowledge, opportunities will seek for you. A major reason people are poor is simply because they are not solving problems and to solve problems, one ought to have understanding. Do you know that if you don’t have money, the reason is often because you are not solving a problem, or you are not solving enough problems, or you are not solving the right problem or you are not solving problems for the right people. Generally, we make money because we have something unique to offer to the world. Therefore, to solve problems, one must have knowledge and information.
We currently live in an age of technological, where skills, talent and creativity are in high demand. Any progressive being that desires to go far must be intentional in seeking knowledge. Successful acquisition of knowledge, information and understanding can lead to discernment and wisdom.
In conclusion, as you journey towards life, if you want to make an impact, seek opportunities, and earn more money, do yourself a favour by endeavoring to seek knowledge, wisdom, and information. You can’t get these by sitting on your sofa or staying in your comfort zone.
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
President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Daniel Bwala as Special Adviser, Media and Public Communications (State House).
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, announced this in a statement, on Thursday.
A former aide of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 election, Bwala worked actively for his former principal who lost to Tinubu.
However, after the elections, he worked his way into the camp of Tinubu, sparking controversy.
Onanuga also announced the appointments of three directors-general of various agencies.
They are:
(1) Mr. Olawale Olopade — Director-General, National Sports Commission
(2) Dr. Abisoye Fagade — Director-General, National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism
(3) Dr. Adebowale Adedokun — Director-General, Bureau of Public Procurement
Olopade, the new Director-General of the National Sports Commission, is a sports administrator with many years of experience in the sector.
He served as commissioner of youth and sports in Ogun state and was chairman of the local organising committee of the 2024 National Sports Festival.
The new Director-General of the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism, Dr. Abisoye Fagade is a marketing communication professional. He is the founder and managing director of Sodium Brand Solutions.
Adedokun, the new helmsman of the Bureau of Public Procurement, was the director of Research/Training and Strategic Planning at the bureau before his appointment.
Daily Trust
