Beating Odds

You do not need a whip, bamboo stick, or even your fist to beat this one. You need something stronger than that.

I am not asking you to be little David with the sling marching up to Goliath the giant who was fully clad in his war armour. Neither am I saying you should be Esther and go against the law at the risk of your life. No, I am not asking you to become wonder woman or a superhero of any kind, far from it.

I am only asking you to work on strengthening the one thing that we all have in common with these people. Your mind.

Taking time to build your mind; learning to know things for yourself through research and not just swallowing what you have heard (like a drop of the bulk of information that has not even been verified) , what we Nigerians call “them say”.

I see the mind as a beautiful library housing different books we have all picked up during the course of our lifetime. Everything you have been told, seen, endured, loved, hated, achieved is all in that library. As we grow, words, grief, truth, lies, desires, depression will walk into that library and throw some books out of the shelf.

You need to guard your mind diligently and consistently. The walls cannot stop all the threats from walking into the library. It can hold the weak ones back, yes, but some others will force their way in. They look through your book collection to see which one to throw out to make room for themselves.

Many books will be replaced, I believe it is necessary. Change they say, is the only constant thing. Ideologies and goals will change. What I believe is important is that you do not allow the good books to be thrown out or even the books you consider bad that actually taught you a good lesson.

At all times, you must guard it. Once it is broken, nothing else in you will function right. Always be sure that what you are guarding is the truth.

This is to anyone who has been told to give up a good goal for ridiculous reasons like gender, race, family background, tribe, you name it.

Even when the numbers do not tally, you can still beat the odds because what matters the most in that sentence is you. When you weigh the cost and believe you can, then you most likely will. You just need to take the first step.

Many will come into that beautiful library with scrabble, monopoly, ludo and other games. They will play mind games with you, a different game for every meeting. Some others will come in with stories, true tales and pipe dreams. Life brought some of these people your way and some others, you sought after and invited on your own.

Through all the mind games and stories of ages past, remember to pick apart truth from lies. Girl do not forget that you are allowed to have a dream. Put down your goals and grow with it. Boy do not accept that you should not simply because someone could not. If the baton is worthy and the race is true, I say run with it!

What is in your hand? use it.

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

2 Timothy 1:7

We are all familiar with the question, “have you lost you mind?” People tend to ask this when they feel you have done or you are about to do something they consider out of character for you or your kind in general. I am asking this same question for a different reason; to know if you are still in charge of the library God gave to you.

Have you allowed bandits to rub you off your confidence? Are your books hopelessly scattered on the floor? Have you cowered in fear while dust gathers in a once beautiful place? Have you walked out on yourself and left your guard duty to someone else?

Tell me, through the ups and downs you have gone through. Though the success and failures you have frequently faced. Through those dawn and dusk when you loved and lost. Did you loose your mind? Or are you still in charge?