The magic ingredient of life

A childhood fantasy

I grew up in the rural regions of south eastern Nigeria…a little village called Odumara.
That was a long time ago.

I remember one morning…I was just 5 years old then and I was going somewhere to get firewood or something and I saw this white man, or ‘onye ocha’ as we called them. He was, I think, one of the engineers constructing a major road that passed through the village. He was probably taking a sight seeing stroll through the village path. He called out to me, “Hey! Little boy!” When I reached him, he rubbed his hand on my head and started asking me lots of questions. I really couldn’t understand much of what he was saying then because, as I said, I was still a mere village boy then. One thing I remembered I understood and never forgot at that time was that that man was an engineer. At that point I wanted to just grow up instantly, enter the university and study to be an engineer! So somehow, engineering became the ultimate career, the ultimate course and, I grew up wanting to be an engineer.

Well, when the time came for me to get into the university, several forces came into play. My dad and my uncles insisted that I study to become a medical doctor. Actually when I bought the university entrance application form, my father filled it by himself just to ensure that I got into the medical faculty! One of my uncles promised to build a hospital for me when I graduated. They wanted me to be the first medical doctor in my clan. However, deep down within me, I didn’t want to be a medical doctor. I wanted to be an engineer. It was a childhood fantasy.

Career Confusion

At this time, I had gotten ‘born-again’ . I was very zealous for the gospel. So I was moving around the town preaching the gospel under the power of God. My pastor was thrilled with my results. He called me one day and said to me, “You need to go to a bible school and study to be a pastor.”

So I now had three career paths laid out before me: I wanted to study to be an engineer; my dad wanted me to study to be a medical doctor; and now my pastor wanted me to study to be a pastor!
Amidst it all, my father who had become aware of my dilemma decided that we go to another pastor for counsel. This other pastor was more educated than my pastor and we felt he would be able to offer us better advice. He listened to us carefully and at the end he said, “I think you should study Mass Communication.” Well, needless to say that I got out of that counseling session more confused!

My choice?

Anyway, my father’s wish finally prevailed at that time. I got admission into the University of Nigeria to study medicine. However, thanks to one of his friends, my dad got talked out of his insistence that I study medicine. He allowed me to pursue the career of ‘my choice’ – engineering. So I eventually entered the university a year later. I was excited. I had arrived. I was ready to roll.

Well, I never graduated.
I dropped out of that course in my third year to become an evangelist.
I eventually started a Church which I’m still pastoring.

During the week of my thirtieth birthday, I decided to take out time to reflect on my life, review my goals, my dreams, and my priorities. One question I asked myself during that week was, “What are your regrets so far?” I thought over that question for hours. I examined it from many dimensions because I wanted it to be as accurate as possible.
Well, I was shocked at what I discovered. My number one regret was that I should have followed the advice of the second pastor who advised me to study mass communication! That was because over the years that had passed, I had discovered myself and realized that neither medicine, nor engineering had anything to do with my divine design and divine assignment. I was grateful to God then that I had dropped out of school!

I’ve found my place in life

You know, if I had continued along any of the previous tracks, medicine or engineering, I would have lived a very frustrating life. Yes, I could have made a decent pay check, but then, life is not all about money. The magic ingredient of life and which I believe adds to longevity is adding value to other peoples lives by doing what you are passionate about.
I’m so glad today that I’ve found my place in life, that I’m at the core of my expertise, at the centre of my calling.
I’m now communicating God’s presence, wisdom, and favor to masses. I do that now through various means like this blog, my website, my radio broadcast, my weekly live audience talk shows, my books, magazines, audio teachings , and lots more. I’m so happy and excited about my work because I get to reach tens of thousands daily through these media.
Yet I still get scared when I think of what might have happened to me if I had let that childhood fantasy, or parental pressure force me into a path of vocation for which I lacked the passion and ability.

Introspection

What is your place in life?
Have you discovered your true vocation?
Could it be that right now some childhood fantasy is keeping you from functioning at the centre of your calling?
Is anything keeping you from your life’s true vocation?