Prophecy 2025. Viewers' Discretion is Advised—final thought.
I started reading as part of nurture, but over time, what was nurture became nature. My mother was not lettered in the Western sense of education, but she was an intellectual force. My mum is one of the reasons why I have 'reservations' about those guys who sell books or current affairs booklets on public buses in Nigeria; she bought endless books for me from them. Those guys' advertising strategies require academic attention. At the risk of exaggeration, my mum probably knew half of them who plied Oshodi- Iyana ipaja, Ikeja to Alimosho between 1996 and 1998.
Along these lines, because I wanted my life to be a certain way, I found learning from people who have gone in the direction I envision for myself useful. Added to my nurture and nature, the faith community I attended physically at the time constantly emphasized the importance of learning by quoting from the experience of Daniel, who understood his realities through books(Daniel 9:2).
I recall my final year undergraduate roommate, who is also a knowledge junkie like me; we bought books one time until we did not have money to eat, and then we decided to add sugar to water and drink so that the worm inside us stopped biting. In retrospect, that was not an excellent strategy to tackle hunger.
So, I love learning as much as possible (please don't send me anything to read; I like to choose what I read). But I got to the point where my life was like the popular 'what I ordered vs. what I got.' Life wasn't how I pictured it, and it still isn't. Over a decade ago, I wrote a letter titled 'Yesterday I Cried' to my BFF, expressing my frustrations about the gulf between what I read in books and my lived reality.
From the vantage point of self-awareness, critical reflection, time, and experience, I learned that there is no manual or one-size-fits-all for life; if it exists, none of us has it. It was then that I turned to the power of discretion. Knowing that individual and group unique experiences exist outside of an author's purview, people elsewhere will write that you should consider a book as an advisory. SJR, in her latest book, Power Moves, captured my thoughts," people (and I add books, prophecies, movies) can inspire you, but they are not a template for your life."
The reasons why self-help ideas are difficult or impossible to implement in some contexts are legion, coupled with the constraints of some environments. Also, It has to be said that most recent self-help books reduce complex matters to oversimplified formulations like "vision and television" rhymes and rhetoric that produce no result. Mr. Richard's character and his GNCC company in Layi Wasabi's skit lend credence to how words are strung together to make a meaningful whole, yet the gulf sometimes widens between what we read and hear and our realities. He mirrors the predominant notion about motivational speakers, stretching the nerve of truth by peppering their account with stories that neglect nuances and individual conditions germane to executing any idea. Mr. Richard exemplifies how self-help can be used in a way that robs it of its original subtlety. To my mind, truth is the same, but its application might fluctuate wildly.
On International Women's Day 2025, I hope to share a list of books and biographies that have helped me in my personal and professional journey. Please read them with discretion.
I once was at the gym getting my ‘Kate Henshaw’ on while listening to music with my headphones on Amazon Prime. A few minutes into my exercise, Kent Ejujobi's 'Ebenezeri wa re o' came on. I took that as a cue . I raised my middle finger, carried my water bottle, and headed for my house. There is no better discretion than knowing your strengths, limits, and possibilities.
