20 Years and 20/20 Vision

 

I was thinking this morning...... Last Friday, 22nd November, was the Long Service Award (LSA) ceremony in my organisation. Staff that had put in 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 years of service were honoured. I am still in awe that it's been 20 years since I walked into that office to commence a new career. Wow! 20 years no be beans o.

As I walked into the majestic and grand EUI Event Centre in GRA Port-Harcourt, the large hall room unfolded like an outstretched arm. Soft light danced, a gentle ethereal glow, illuminated round tables with empty seats, in silence they bestowed.

Along with other awardees and our guests, we gradually filled the hall, gorgeously dressed to receive my award for 20 years of meritorious service. As the roll call progressed, I remembered July 2004 when I resumed work in this world-class organisation. After years of kabashing, my prayers were finally answered.

Twenty years had since flown by like the NASA X-43 jet. I started my new career with lots of dreams and aspirations. Many had been answered and some yet to be answered. As I reflected on the past 20 years, I felt like I had underachieved. But then, as I mused, I discovered that the blessing is not in the position one occupies today but rather it is in being alive to be celebrated after 20 years.

In the last few weeks, we have been stunned by the death of three colleagues, with the latest sad news breaking on the morning of Friday, the day of the Long Service Award. While many of us were preparing for our 20 years LSA, this lady that had been with us for about 20 years was no more.

I have long known that hindsight is 20/20 vision. 20/20 indicates normal vision at 20 feet, although it is commonly used to mean 'perfect vision.' When someone is able to see only after an event how things turned out, that person is often said to have had "20/20 hindsight. For many of my colleagues, celebrating 20 years was a time to eat, drink, and feast, but for me, 20 years was a time to reflect on the last 20 years. Truly, hindsight is 20/20 vision.

For the last 20 years, I have been thankful for being alive, for my career, and for friends and colleagues. Romans 9:16 - So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

Stay hopeful. God's got our back.

Happy Sunday!

......Just the thoughts of a certain Wey Mey

THE FEAR-FEAR WARRI BOY

 

I was thinking this morning.... Growing up in Warri was tough and rough but it never really made me a man of steel. Yes, I grew up in the rugged neighbourhood of Ogboru and Father Healy streets, occassionally mingling with 'jagudas' and 'boma boys,' yet I couldn't pick up the jaguda gene. I participated in all the rough plays and even danced ulaga, but I remained a fear-fear, because in the face of trouble, or like we say, when yawa gas, I was one of the first to flee.

Years went by, and I had to leave Warri for University in Benin City. On arrival in Uniben, I identified with other Warri boys, but that was only with regards to hailings. When it came to playing tough and rough, the fear-fear boy would not be there. My liver dey cut me. My roommates in Hall 2 hostel knew me as a Warri boy, but they also knew that I was only Warri by mouth and had no liver. They knew that the jaguda Spirit Warri boys were known for had no accommodation in me.

With that knowledge, they looked down on me, taunted me, and downright disrespected me. When that happened, I would talk tough and sometimes threaten them, like a typical Warri boy would've done. But then, my words amounted to nothing because, like we say in Warri, 'threaten na water, action dey blood.'

This continued for a whole year. I kept threatening them but never backed my words with action. Until one fateful day, the bulies took their insolence to a new high. They broke into my locker and plundered my Cabin biscuit and butter. When I asked why they did that, they laughed at me and said I should do my worst. All they saw before them was the fear-fear Warri boy.

As they laughed at me, I fumed, but still my muscles remained weak. Suddenly, it seemed the spirit of jaguda and boma combined, had rushed into me. I moved towards one of them and, like someone possessed by strange spirits, gave him a blinding, brain re-setting slap. Everyone one of them was in shock. They couldn't believe that the fear-fear Warri boy truly had jaguda in him. I walked away that day fully satisfied that my 'Warri-ness' was not a fluke.

My bullies, on the other hand, learnt a hard lesson. In the face of danger, oppression, or adversity, people become what they never knew they were. Don't push people to the wall with your evil. You might get an unexpected wotowoto. On the flip side, if you don't challenge yourself, you will never realise what you can achieve. Romans 5: 3-5.

Stay hopeful. God's got our back.

Happy Sunday!

......Just the thoughts of a certain Wey Mey

I TOO KNOW (ITK)

 

I was thinking this morning..... I was in the office on Thursday morning when the new SIWES student who recently joined us was brought to my desk for introduction. As she sat down, I asked her her course of study, and she said microbiology. When I asked the courses she had taken thus far, it was like I opened a high-pressure pipe. She started by reeling out the courses and then just went on and on until I stopped her. In my mind, I thought, 'Hmm! This one na ITK.'

In my time and area of Warri where I grew up, when someone talks more than expected, that person is called know-know or I Too Know (ITK). But then, it is too early to judge this young girl and conclude she is ITK, I reprimanded myself.

Reflecting on what happened moments later, I recalled how I had observed adults and children act in my wife's podcast and concluded that what they were doing was so easy. I decided to act in one of the skits and made mouth that it should be a piece of cake. I only heard 'Camera on, Action!' and I forgot my lines. It was then I knew I was ITK. No wonder a Warri proverb says, 'I know too much, I know too much na em make SAN no fit recite National Anthem.'

A lot of times, ITKs talk themselves into trouble. I have found myself in such a situation before and quickly realised thereafter that there is a fine line between confidence and arrogance. I also discovered that ITK behaviour is actually fueled by ego.

It is wrong to look down on what someone does or underestimate the value one brings to the table. The task might seem mundane and ordinary to you, until you try it then you will truly understand the Warri proverb that says 'I know too much, I know too much na em make SAN no fit recite National Anthem.'

Respect everyone and what they do. 1st Cor 8:2 says, 'And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.'

Stay hopeful. God's got our back.

Happy Sunday!

......Just the thoughts of a certain Wey Mey

LESSONS FROM A GOOD MAN

I was thinking this morning.... Last Thursday, I met with my boss and friend who was retiring November 1, after a very successful and meritorious career. As we gisted that evening, we reflected on his journey and the paths that led him to this point. With every story, he dropped a lesson for me.

The first point that struck home for me was when he said, 'The office you occupy does not make you, you make the office.' Hmm! Most people fight and wait to get into an office, believing it will make them better persons. No. Irrespective of the office you occupy, you are who you are. A cleaner who is a good person will be good whether he becomes a manager or CEO. The wicked and bad leaders we have today did not become bad because of the office. They were wicked and bad before they got there.

I was still digesting the office and the person nugget when he dropped another that really hit me personally. He said, 'While at work, don’t take things too serious because things change. Don't overthink or get too hurt by what a colleague said or did, because time changes everything.' Ouch! That was for me. In the recent past, I felt really hurt by the actions of some colleagues that I almost changed from being who I am.

People do things on the basis of what they know per time. Their actions may not be personal and may have been driven by the circumstances at the time. Wait it out. Everything changes with time. Don't stop being good because of the missteps of someone. Just like you expect others to understand when you misstep, you also should understand when they do something that you feel was wrong.

Thanks, Andy for the departure nuggets but many more thanks for being more of a friend than a boss over the last 20 years. Like they say, life is in phases, and men are in sizes. As you move from one phase of your life to another, may your retirement be merry and blessed with good health. May you continue to be a blessing to everyone who comes around you.

Psalm 37:23 says, 'The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.' Because you are a good man, the Lord will order your steps as you retire. Take a bow.

Stay hopeful. God's got our back.

Happy Sunday!

......Just the thoughts of a certain Wey Mey