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Food for Living: Time As Man’s Most Precious Gift
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
Time is one of the most precious gifts available to man. And one’s time unarguably is one’s time. Note that one of the greatest ways to know a man/woman is to study the way they invest their time and what they spend their time on. It’s easy to say you love or care for someone, but the effort or measure you put in will determine how valuable the person is to you. It is also instructive to note that we are not too busy for anyone we care about. You can never be too busy for your family and close friends. In the same way, if you cherish a commodity like gold/diamond you will treat it like a priceless jewel or asset.
Time is largely underrated. Sometimes we think we have all the time in the world, especially when you are young or have no project at hand. If you want to know you have no time, start a project or vision that is bigger than you. Sometimes, we think we can always have a second chance to make a first impression; that may be true but that’s not always the case. The phrase time waits for no man is simply another way of saying that the passing of time is unstoppable, and it will march on regardless of what anyone says or does. So, if you are still thinking of the time you will invest in any project, you will be surprised to know that time will come and go, and the task will remain undone. Moral: Don’t look at the time you will spend if you’re passionate about a worthy cause. You can explore options to know what’s reasonable and attainable.
When you host events or training, people are not merely paying you because they like you, they are paying you for your experience which is your time. The same principle is applicable in any job, employers are always concerned about your experience and what you have done to prove you love the opportunity in addition to being the best for the position.
Attention is the price you pay for value. According to Gary Chapman in his book “The Five Love Language”, the five love languages are words affirmation, gift, services, time and physical touch. Any creative man who knows how to use this five-love language will not have a hard time getting a lady of his choice. Of interest to me is the value of time. This is because when you lose money, you can easily get it back if you play by the right rules, but if you lose your time, you can never get it back.
Time is more precious and valuable than money. When you spend your time on any lady, it has a way of showing your attention and in most cases, that’s what love means to you.
In the journey of life, we will never have the perfect time to do the needful, but we will always have time to do what we want to do. To know how to use your time, the best question to ask yourself is what is the best use of my time right now. If we are honest to ourselves, good things don’t always come easy, if you desire to be a published author, you have to put in the work, if you desire success in your academics, business, relationship/marriage, profession, spirituality, politics etc., you must invest your resources into it, but most especially your time is what will make the ultimate difference.
The question we should be asking ourselves is what is my attitude to time? How do I spend my time? Who do I spend my time with? How intentional are you with your life? And most importantly what legacy will I like to be remembered when I depart this sinful world? As a rational and progressive being, it is always important to examine your life by taking stock and evaluating the progress you have made every day, week, month, year or decade. By doing so, you will come to the sublime realization that we don’t really have time to do the needful. You will also realize that you may have made mistakes by investing your time in projects and endeavors that didn’t yield much fruit. Some of which can be regarded as frivolous.
Whatever is the case, we always have time to reset our lives. According to an African proverb, ‘whenever a man wakes up from sleep, that is when his day begins’. This adage simply means, you are never late when you begin to live your life on purpose. So, it doesn’t matter how old you are, it doesn’t matter how far you may have gone out of your path, it doesn’t matter what your past may have been, you can still hit the reset button if you are intentional about living a life of authenticity. It doesn’t matter if you have been fired from your job, if you are divorced, or whatever your situation might be, if you can look past those challenges and setbacks and ask yourself what lesson did I learn, what is it I should have done better, and how can I move from here. This is a healthy way of living and learning from life.
Trust me, time runs faster than light. If you really want to make an impact with your life, set a timeline for a vision your dream of or have in mind. By the time you set your calendar by drawing the plan on what is needed, you would wish you started early to engage with the right people, association, in addition to doing the needful which entails your own personal effort because before anyone can raise his/her finger to assist you, they will like to see the effort you have invested in yourself.
By the time you are done doing the numbers, you will release that indeed, time waits for no man. It is on such occasions you may begin to have regrets, and once regrets begin to set in, you may begin to lose the inspiration to be fired up. But like I mentioned earlier, you are never too late to live a life of purpose. Whenever you wake up from your slumber, that’s when your day begins. You can move with your determination, and time which is the arsenal you need. If late President Nelson Mandela can spend 27 years in prison and still win an election, that should ring a bell for you. You might say, his case is different, but the point and message I want to emphasize is that he was determined to fight for a cause he believed in and it paid off.
In conclusion, as you move along in life, ask yourself, what is the best use of my time now? It is only by doing so you’ll truly realize how valuable time is.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He’s a Human Capacity & mindset coach. He’s also a public speaker. 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
