“Defeat is a choice, so is victory; you can only be beaten when you decide that you can never win. As long as you have breath and life in you keep on fighting and you will come out on top! - Anonymous”
At the start of the year, I had so much expectations; some of which I achieved completely, some in parts and some not at all. But! There were also the unexpected that signified and brought to the fore the beauty and goodness of God and his enduring mercies. To a lot of us what I am about to do is “counting my blessing and reviewing my losses”.
“MY BLESSINGS”
1.It will be remise of me not to start with the greatest expectation of all i.e. been alive to see the end of 2010 and starting a new year. GLORY BE TO GOD WHO MADE THAT POSSIBLE!!
2.Good health, this year I have not been to the hospital for any kind of ailment but only to visit with my sister when she gave birth
3.I am still single but I am also happy in that God would do the best
4.My business is moving forward a step at a time
5. Made new friends, great friends so much so that if I start mentioning names I might have to write a book. I hope we enjoy many more years as friends!!
6. Got selected to participate in a Youth Entrepreneurship program bootcamp out of about 1,000 applicants. Made it to the top 30!!
7. Volunteered for a teaching project, PROJECT RAISE ONE MILLION. Taught English to WAEC students of a school in Lagos and got a certificate to show for it!!
8. My sister got married and in December gave birth
9. Was selected to be part of the SMEDAN training of trainers program organized for enterprise developers
10. Was and is part of a facilitating team teaching entrepreneurship to a group of young men
11. Attended a minimum of 10 seminars and conferences all of which have opened my mind to new and greater things
12. A year older and wiser
13. Helped a friend organize the flow of caterers on her wedding day
14. Was on radio; Unilag FM (stood in for a friend actually) to speak about “business planning”
15. Was featured in Vanguard newspaper in Patricia Omoqui’s column ALLURE
16. Started three (3) blogs and still run them
17. Volunteer for a leadership school, NGOs, and causes
18. Reconnected with old friends even some as far back as my primary school days
19. Visited another state in the federation
20. Started another income generating project a bit staggered but with good potentials
21. Discovered a new and vital service that Nigerians and Nigerian Businesses need to help them survive. All I need now is the right person that can run with it!!
22. Go to bed each night and wake up to a new and better day each day!
“MY LOSSES”
I would like to call this part moving experiences that tried my faith in God and myself and not losses.
1. Did not meet my expected number of clients for 2010 (and I know why)
2. Failed to make it to the top 20 list for the YEP trip to Miami
3. Ended the year with a broken relationship (his loss is someone else’s gain)
4. Made a bad investment decision and I have the scars and dents in my pocket to show for it!!
5. Discovered a new weakness in my business (although I am not sure if this is a weakness) which has resulted in slow growth of business
6. Was unfortunate to be introduced to 2 persons (make that three) who turned out to be untrustworthy. You know yourselves!! You cost me money and a lot of trouble
7. Worked on a proposal for a LGA project but due to bureaucracy and the choppers syndrome it did not fly
8. Was broke for a third of the year, I wonder why!!
Whichever way I look at it, I find that “MY BLESSINGS” far outweighs “MY LOSSES” for this I give all glory to God who has made me see this. But most importantly I thank God for my losses and those events that I have not listed (so many of them) for without them I can never be a better person come 2011!
“Don’t look down while passing through life for your vision and faith is not linked to the ground. Look up and ahead because your vision is from God (who is up above and inside of you) and the sky is just the beginning”
