The Winner In You: Battle field of the mind

"Instead of fighting for or against something that doesn't matter anyway, simply live the reality of it, learning and growing." Ralph Marston

A long time ago, I was sent to my village in the South Eastern part of Nigeria to learn my language, culture and complete my secondary school education. As I reflect now about my encounter with my people, I thank my father for that important initiative because it has played a major role in changing my mindset.

Contrary to what you may think, my experiences actually gave me a deeper reflection as to why people do the things they do? For instance, I was opportuned to meet a particular character. He was from my kindred which meant he was an 'Uncle' of mine (its an African thing). His name was Uncle Onyewuchi. Now this man had an in-depth knowledge of the culture and history of my village. He was very brilliant and I looked forward to every rare moment to catch up village history.

Now there was a twist to his personality, the thing was that Uncle Onyewuchi was a drunk. He was only sober for at least 30minutes a day, and that was usually when he woke up and had to walk briskly to the local pub to get high on whatever mixture could do the trick. This man did magic with drinks. And he was the only personality that had the right alcoholic formula to knock you out in 10minutes flat.

You see, this man had the potential to being the greatest historian the world had ever seen. In fact, he had a Bsc in History and instead he chose to live a lifestyle of debt and drunkenness. his lifestyle worried his immediate family so much that they got him a wife, paid her dowry on his behalf and locked him in so he could procreate. As funny as this may sound, he died 6months later. His kidney failed him, his lineage ended and his wife returned.

I chose to share the story of Uncle Onyewuchi because, I have been opportuned to meet very stubborn people who come to me for counseling. They are head strong in their ways and thoughts. These people go round in routes that are obviously not producing results. And I would do anything humanly possible to help re direct their thinking because until this is done, they will be doomed to a life of pain and suffering.

You see, the greatest battles of a man's life is won and lost in his mind. There is a place for education, there is a place for adapting into the real world and there is a place for applying all that you have learnt into your work environment. However, you need to know where you are going as you journey through life. This is where you need a guide. now, your guides may come in the form of your Pastor, Imam, Parent, relative or even an 'Uncle Onyewuchi". Your guide is your teacher, trainer, role model or even the lesson itself.

Please don't think of me as harsh, but if I never had a dream of a future, I definitely knew how I did not want to end up. I see wisdom everywhere, its on the street, in the market place, in the office, everywhere. Have you ever wondered how come the man laboring with heavy weights of loads under the sun (all day) earns meager income as compared to the man in the office monitoring market trends, convinces a group of investors and makes the next billion under three hours. Now tell me what you think?

You need to make up your mind as to what you need in life and how you want to end up. When you make up your mind, choose your guide carefully because your guide will either make or mar you.

So here is my advise to you. Stay focused. Look around you and see. So often we look without seeing. What do you want to make out of life? President Jimmy Carter in a BBC talk show said his next achievement "is to wipe out guinea worm from the face of the planet". Can you believe that? Wow! Now that is a man with conviction. Be like that, be motivated for a greater goal in life.