We had a visitor in my house who asked me to tell him what I do. I was hesitant to have this particular discussion because my mum was there. She still doesn’t approve of what I do and I wasn’t in the mood to deal with rolling eyes and side comments. But this person was persistent. So I decided to tell him. The more I talked about it, the more excited I became. He asked me my plans for the future and I just went on and on. When I was done he said “I can see the passion in your eyes and I know you will succeed.” This man is not close to me in any way but I appreciated those words.
I wish my parents could feel the same way. My dad is indifferent (to be honest he’s just in his own world at the moment) and my mum just doesn’t like it, although I’m getting a sense of indifference from her. So how have I been able to keep the fire burning despite being under almost ‘hostile’ conditions? Well I’m sure you can guess. It’s God and faith in what He has called me to do. I’ll confess when I started out on this journey I was sceptical. I didn’t know exactly what I was doing. “What if this business fails?” “What if I don’t make it as a commercial writer?” “How long can I sustain living like this?” Those were some of the questions I asked myself over and over again.
In the last few months however, I began to believe in my dreams. Can’t really say the exact moment when my thinking changed. Maybe it was when I handled the biggest project of my life and I succeeded or when I got the greatest client a girl could ever dream of. Or maybe it was when people started looking up to me, telling me how much they believe in me. I don’t know but I believe in the vision God showed me. And you know what, that vision has expanded even further and I’m not afraid to pursue it. Like I’m ready for 2016 right now because I’m going to do great and amazing things.
So what about my family? What about the nonchalant attitude to this path I have decided to follow? I don’t know when things will change but this is what I know, very soon they’ll be proud to have me as their daughter. I have a friend who decided to follow her passion instead of yielding to her parent’s wish of working in a corporate organisation. She called me immediately and asked, “Doyin how did you do it?” Honestly that question was difficult to answer because I have not really done anything. I just decided to follow the will of God and I was prepared to face whatever consequences ( I could be quite stubborn and strong-willed you see). The thing is, I know my family and I knew that money was going to be the thing that would have been used against me. So I decided to break free from that financial dependence and it has worked. And of course, I pray and pray and declare the word of God to turn their hearts to favour me. That is exactly what I told my friend. I told her to work hard, to endure, to follow God and take hold of every opportunity that comes her way. I told her to learn to be independent from her parents if not, she may never spread her wings but I told her to love them regardless of what they say or how they behave and respect their rules as long as she is still under their roof.
I don’t know what is keeping you from flying right now. I don’t know what is stopping you from following your dreams. It may be your parents, money, peer pressure or something else. Can I tell you something? Just do it. If you wait for the approval of others, you may never fly. You may never reach your potential. I cannot begin to tell you the number of negative comments people have come to tell me to my face. But I didn’t let that stop me. Sometimes I stood in the way of my own progress because I began to doubt my capacity to do the things God showed me but I learnt to be obedient. He who has chosen me is able to equip me. If God has called you to do something, now is the time to spread your wings and pursue that thing.
Stop swimming in the ocean of excuses. Just do it. One step after the other, you will get there!
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