The most
difficult age for any man born in Nigeria should be between 24 and 29 years, the
pressure to be something, to be someone is so immense.
When you
look around you everyone seems to be doing something for themselves, people seem
to be living a life you only dream of. You have applied for jobs and the
results have been more disappointing than Yakubu Aiyegbeni penalty kick at the
world cup.
Sadly this
is the age when most guys lose it, the age when if not careful one is consumed by
alcohol or drugs, because the disappointments become too much and you find
alternative ways to face reality.
Worse is when
a few people you studied with have been lucky enough to land jobs, soon your circle
of friends gets thinner – mostly they don’t even cut you out but you will be
real with yourself and cut yourself off.
I mean what will you do when you are
in a WhatsApp group of friends and they are discussing about last week’s trip
in Dubai and planning another trip South Africa while you are not sure of what
your next meal would be?
Most times
you follow the conversation silently, all alone like a cross on the grave.
Soon you
realize this is no longer your kind of crowd because the more you keep around the
more the pressure to be something, takes a toll on you. You know when stories
about house parties come up and you act deaf because you don’t know where an
extra 5 guys would fit in your house.
Have you
ever sat in a group of people discussing the new iPhone on the market or how
British Airways offers poo services and you can feel your heart whisper to you "boss this is chest pain hour, can we just go and find a group that talks about
GMAT, SHLn Dragnet, jobberman or job vacancies site".
But you sit
there as these people are lost in their lifestyle conversations, you are like a
secretary taking minutes in meeting. You are totally forgotten like one of a
woman’s breasts during pre-intimacy. Once in a while one of the friends will
turn and ask if you need another drink and you wonder if you should just say No
and head home, but head home to do what?
So you
grudgingly drop in the comment “I will have just one last one“ Lie.
But after a
few years of job hunting, you are now ready to take anything even if is to
smell a rich man’s farts as long as it pays , so you end up as an office
messenger in one blue chip company in town.
To imagine
that 4-5 years of studying and getting a degree is now reduced to picking and
dropping off letters and if you are not doing that, you are being sent for cheap
lunch by the employees when they are broke and they can’t order with fast food.
This is when
conversations about where people schooled start, you go silent for it’s no longer
of any use to say you also reached University, it doesn’t matter – you have resorted
to surviving.
As it is the
norm you will have photos taken, and uploaded on Facebook, but always it’s your
face that would look the odd one out – not even the best filters can hide a
face which has suffered the city’s dust and sun but survives on boiled beans.
The worst
mistake you can do during this period is to try and date – there is nothing that
a person going through such times can offer in terms of love. How are you going
to do evening romantic walks when you are tired from walking delivering letters
in offices around town?
What are you
going to tell your lady when she says she wants to go for relaxation at the
bar, pool or love garden sites that are in town? That your financial religion doesn’t
allow it or what? This is the age when you sit back and watch as the ladies you
would want to date are dating or getting married to guys 10 years older than
you.
And you
can’t blame them – it’s only that your life seems to be progressing slower than
their goals in life. Most of the ladies you meet during this period, if you are
lucky will be patient with you till you hit 28, and if by then your life is
still in disarray like Liverpool’s and Chelsea’s performance in the EPL then my
friend be prepared for a walk out.
But then
this is the age when you learn a lot about life, and if you can hack through
this stage of life the only hard moment in your life would be when you lose
your parents – that’s if you are still lucky enough to have them.
This stage
teaches you a lot about perseverance, about appreciating the small wins you
have each day, it teaches you something about friendship, love, career growth
and personal responsibility. This is always your rise or fall moment depending
on the choices you make. How you live your life in the 30’s is determined by
how you handled your life in this phase.
I choose
thirty years of age as the Appropriate Age for Attaining Greatness under normal
circumstances, because it is the age of capacity of a person. Thirty years is
very symbolic and symbolizes adulthood, maturity and reasonability.
At this
age, I must have left home or university, got employed or being working in
partnership with someone or able to do something like being engaged or getting
married and settling down for family life and leadership position.
Thirty years
has a significance in a person in a person into building a career in politics. It
serves as a turning point in someone else life. Thirty years is a period of
settlement into middle age, when one must have experienced crises in life. It signifies
the peak of youthful age.
I truly
choose this age of thirty years, because it’s the age at which some people that
helped in shaping the face of this world started their conquest. Prominent among
them is our lord Jesus Christ, who started his earthly ministry in full force
at this very age and performed excellently in his ministry.
Other individuals
that built up their firms around thirties include – the great Alexander of Macedonia
who conquered the whole - world, and divided it into four and established his
capital in Rome.
Others are
the Biafran and Nigerian warlords, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu and Yakubu
Gowon. Adolf Hitler of Germany, Napoleon Bonaparte of France, Franklin
Roosevelt the American prosecutor of the World War II.
Even our
great legend Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe joined active politics in 1934 at the age of
thirty years. In short, thirty years is the ideal age for positive involvement
in any adventure or risk taking that might result into positive achievement or
fulfillment.
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