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Food for Living: Your Passion Will Be Tested
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
In the journey of life, everyone will be tested, and tests come in various ways. Someone can be tested with power, money, love, work, passion, etc. I think the ultimate test one will experience is the test for the love of God. One might be wondering why the test. Well, tests help to determine one’s interest in life. Tests help to know who someone is, and tests help one to be strong.
According to some schools of thought, if you want to know someone’s character, give him money and power. It’s easy for someone to say if I have an opportunity to be in government, I will do this and that, if I have money, I will help the less privileged, if I marry, I won’t cheat on my partner, if I’m employed, I will do my best, etc. The list is literally endless, but the truth is what will determine how effective one can be is the trial they will have to overcome, and this is where the test of life plays out.
Test is not as bad as some people will see it. Rather, it is used to determine how passionate someone can be to a cause. Just imagine someone saying I’m interested in serving humanity. The passion in that person will make the person look for an opportunity to make an impact in the lives of people. The test this fellow will pass might be leaving a well-paying job for a job that not only pays less, but also gives one the opportunity to serve people.
When you are working on passion, you will experience distraction, your love, loyalty, interest, personality, and faith will be tested in several ways. But if you believe in your cause, you will be determined to overcome it by seeing all the trial and challenges as distractions.
On a personal note, I have experienced my own test of passion. After studying Taxation Law at New York Law School, I refused to work in the industry which pays more and settled for a case manager job. In all sincerity, it wasn’t really a case of passion, but a case of lack of interest, joy, and fulfilment in the industry.
Again, writing and publishing articles every week is not an easy task, because it can be draining and energy sapping. If you think it’s easy to write an average of one thousand three hundred words every week consistently, please try it. Be advised, it takes more than passion to write every week. Discipline, interest and most importantly, the grace of God is at play.
It’s worthy to note that passion means different things to different people. Some people derive passion in acting, astronomy, science, computer programing, cooking, dancing, driving, exercising, family/relationship, fishing, health & wellness, investing, ministering, money, sports, praying, reading, singing, writing, teaching, travelling, swimming etc. This interest probably arose from childhood or experience of life.
Think back to when you were growing up, planning your future. What did you want to be when you grew up? A doctor? An engineer? An accountant, a pharmacist? A lawyer? A pilot? Etc. How did you come up with those occupations? It probably had something to do with things you lived to do or achievements you associated with those jobs.
Maybe you wanted to be a doctor because you had a passion for helping people; an athlete because you loved playing sports; a novelist because you were compelled to express yourself creatively.
Sometimes, I see entrepreneurs who have labored for a while and are on the verge of quitting, what comes to my mind is simply, they are not passionate about their business. Don’t get me wrong, one can still be passionate for a cause and still quit, especially when it’s not adding up, but the point I’m trying to share is the drive, believe, interest, determination, and test for the business will be determined by one’s passion never to give up when the challenges come up.
To determine one’s interest and passion, three ingredients come into play, they are love, faith, and hope. One interesting thing about this trial of excellence is that they are intertwined in one single umbrella – inspiration. According to Dr. Yomi Garnett, Faith- opens the doorway to inspiration. Hope powers the forward thrust of inspiration, Love gives divine direction to inspiration. Let’s analyze these qualities.
Love: As fondly stated, love is feeling, the same is applicable to passion. When you are passionate about a cause, the feeling will be different from that of someone who has a different passion. Your passion can be seen the way you love a person or business. You can’t love a person, business, or cause without making an effort to invest in it.
Faith: This is what opens the door to inspiration. Do you know some people can be inspired by the faith you have in a project? It’s your faith in your business or “cause” you believe that will enable you to invest time and resources into the venture. It’s only fools and uninformed people who invest their time and resources in business ventures or relationships they have no interest or passion about.
Hope: This is the lubricant that fuels the energy to drive home your vision. When people see the vision and passion you have for a project, they will be inspired to join you in bringing it to fruition or reality.
In conclusion, just so you know, regardless of what you are doing or passionate about, just know, you will be tested, but when you are tested, just know the test is to know how much you believe in a project or person.
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
Armed policemen have taken over the Wadata Plaza headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abuja, as tension continues to mount over the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, which is expected to hold today.
Channels Television quoted an unnamed party official, who alleged that the police were deployed to stop the proposed NEC Expanded Caucus meeting.
Though some staff members of the party were initially allowed to go into the premises of the secretariat without any resistance from the police, they were later sent out.
Journalists were also been asked to leave the premises of the secretariat.
Some policemen were seen cordoning off Dalaba Street, which is the road leading to Wadata Plaza.
The Presidency has said there has been no change in the position of Senator George Akume as Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
“There has been no change in the status of His Excellency, Senator George Akume, as Secretary to the Government of the Federation,” Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said in a statement made available to journalists.
The statement is titled ‘Akume Remains SGF.’
This followed multiple reports which quoted Presidency sources saying Tinubu had named his Special Adviser on Policy Coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman, to serve as the new SGF.
Onanuga said, “President Bola Tinubu, currently in Saint Lucia, has not made any new appointments.
“The information circulating about Akume’s replacement is untrue. Agents of mischief fabricated it.
“The Presidency advises Nigerians to disregard the fake news.”
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
It is everybody’s desire to be successful in whatever field of endeavour he finds himself. It can be in career, family life, business endeavors or personal development. But there’s absolutely nothing good that comes easy. Everything in life involves a lot of hard work, smart work, dedication, discipline, network, sacrifice, prayers, and determination among a whole lot if one is intentional to succeed.
Of a truth, success is not for the faint-hearted. In all honesty, everyone wants to be ahead of everyone, especially contemporaries and funnily enough, the average human being sometimes have a bit of ill- feeling when competitors arise or seem to outsmart them either with better quality or price. The good thing about this however, is that it makes one sit up.
Now, this brings us to the essence of today’s article. For anyone to be ahead of their competitors, they must fly like the eagle. Eagles are known for their powerful build, sharp vision, and fearless nature. They are highflyers, capable of soaring to great heights, and gliding for extended periods. Eagles are also known for their tenacity, using storms to their advantage to gain altitude. Other notable characteristics include their strong talons and beaks, used for hunting, and their protective nature towards their young. These are some of the qualities that make it unique.
The eagle is not regarded as the king of the sky for fun, no. The eagle flies so high because that’s where it gets a chunk of its strength. This ability enables the eagle to take its prey and predators alike to it’s abode where it will have enough emotional and physical strength to dismantle them.
I will be sharing characteristics of an eagle to enable us know why we ought to be like the eagle if we want to soar.
VISION
The eagle has a sharp vision. Their vision is so precise. They can see farther than any animal. They possess exceptional eyesight, allowing them to spot prey from great distances. As human beings, we must have eagle eyes to know what we really want, and what we don’t want. Vision allows us to go for what we desire and deserve. When we have vision, we won’t wait for anyone to tell us when to strike. We flow through the wind despite the waves and heavy current and associated challenges. When our vision is precise, it will give people clarity to understand how they can assist us.
Let’s take a closer look at great leaders of this world who have come and gone. There are many great leaders that came and went but one characteristic that is common in all is “Vision”.
Vision is a successful leadership characteristic
You must have a vision that guides and leads your team towards the organizations or societal goals. The vision must be big and focused. A big, focused vision will produce big results
FLIGHT
Eagles are known for their ability to soar and glide, using their large wings to their advantage. Eagles can fly up to an altitude of 10,000 feet, but they are able to swiftly land on the ground. At 10, 000 feet, you will never find another bird. If you find another bird, it must be an eagle.
An eagle doesn’t mingle around with the pigeons. It was Dr. Myles Munroe who said that. Pigeons scavenge on the ground and grumble and complain all day long. Eagles are not. They fly and make less noise waiting for opportunities to strike their next prey or glide with the current of the storm.
Great leaders are problem solvers. They don’t complain like the pigeons do. They love to take challenges as the eagle does when the storm comes. As human beings, we all have our strengths and weaknesses.
It’s always good for one to take any fight to their home ground where it will give them advantage over their predators. For instance, a fish is stronger in water, but weak on land, a lion is stronger on land, but weak in water, a monkey is strong on trees but weak on air. Just like an eagle is strong on air and weak on water and land. That’s why it always takes its prey to the sky where they have greater advantage to shine.
As human beings, we also must know what we are naturally good at, the ability to know this will enable us to maximize our strength and work on our weakness. We can only do this when we know ourselves and what we are naturally good at. Our ability to focus on our expertise and what we are naturally good at will make us unique and ahead of our contemporaries.
TENACITY
The eagles are known for their ability to withstand storms and use them to their advantage, rising above the challenges. Watch an eagle when a storm comes. When other birds fly away from the storm with fear, an eagle spreads its mighty wings and uses the current to soar to greater heights. The eagle takes advantage of the very storm that lesser birds fear and head for cover.
Challenges in the life of a leader are many. These are the storms we must face as leaders to rise to greater heights. Like an eagle, a leader can only rise to greater heights if he takes up the challenges head on without running away from it. This is yet another leadership characteristic.
As humans, we all will experience challenges and setbacks, however, the ability to apply strength will go a long way to show how determined we are to overcome the hurdles that pose as challenges.
FEARLESS
An eagle will never surrender to the size or strength of its prey. It will always give a fight to win its prey or regain its territory.
Successful leaders are fearless, so we are expected to fear no man, but respect all men. They face problems head on. We are supposed to have the eagle fearless mindset regardless of how big the problem may appear. Confront your fear and rise or face your fear and run. The choice is yours.
VITALITY NATURE
One of the strongest characteristics of an eagle is their vitality. Eagles are full of life and are visionary, but they find time to look back at their life and re-energize themselves. This happens at about the age of 30. What happens is that when the eagles reach the age of 30, their physical body condition deteriorates fast making it difficult for them to survive.
What is interesting is that the eagle never gives up living, instead it retreats to a mountaintop and over a five-month period goes through a metamorphosis. As humans, we are expected to reexamine ourselves, retreat to a safe zone. We can do this by fasting as Christians, we can also do this by learning new skills, volunteering our time and seeking for mentors who can hold us by the hand to show us how the appearance of life is not the reality of life.
In conclusion, as human beings, we are encouraged to be like an eagle if we want to scale through life.
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
