WHO IS THIS BULLY?

One day, while on the bus heading to work, one guy was sitting beside me. For the trip, the passengers were to make payments thrice. So, at three specific points of the journey, payments were to be made. At point one, I brought my money out and gave to the conductor. As he was handing my change over to me, the guy sitting beside me stretched his hand and collected my money. I was about protesting when I saw his monstrous face, out of fear, I kept quiet. So, he took my change with ease, as if I was born to pay his wages. When the bus got to point two of the journey where the passengers were to make another payment, this guy once again, stretched his hand and collected my change. His audacity and arrogance shocked me; fear took the better part of me. I was shivering like a jelly fish. I couldn’t get off the vehicle because I didn’t want to be late to work. I was panicking and was in a state of misdemeanour. I kept wondering what would happen when we’re to make the third payment. At pay-point three, I once again gave the conductor my fare, and this bully, one more time, collected my change. At this point, the lion in me rose up. I went wild like a beast in the jungle. I held his neck and gave him a knock-out punch (Mike Tyson wouldn’t have done better). I then dipped my hand into his pocket and collected all the money inside, including those that weren’t mine. I said to him, ‘Do you think you can keep stealing from me? This should be the last time you ever dare take what is mine’When I finished making that statement, I woke up from sleep! It was a dream!!

I sat beside my bed and pondered for a long time. I looked at the meaning and implication of the dream. I thought about lost opportunities and privileges. I was angry with my circumstance. I was infuriated with the status quo. Though glad that I took back what I’d lost, I was still angry that life tried robbing me by short changing me. As I sat there, buried in deep thoughts, a question popped out of my heart. ‘Who is this bully?’ I heard. Like most people, my spontaneous answer was, ‘It’s the devil’. After my response, came the second question. ‘If the devil is innocent, who would this bully be?’ ‘Of course, my enemies’ was my next answer. The voice again asked, ‘If your enemies are innocent, who would this thief be?’ At this point, I knew that if the devil and my ‘enemies’ are not responsible, the only person that it could be, is me!

Everyone was born to fulfil an assignment on earth. Everyone was born to excel. Everyone was called to make a difference on earth. But will everyone fulfil his assignment? Will everyone excel? Will everyone make a difference? The painful answer is NO! Why? The thief in man prevents man from reaching his expected destination. The bully in man prevents man from fulfilling his assignment. This thief or bully is called excuses. For many years, I knew convincingly that I was called to be a writer. I made excuses for decades why I can’t and shouldn’t. I would say to myself, ‘Who knows me? Who would buy the books of an unknown man? I don’t have the influence. I’m not eloquent. I have speech impediment’ I kept making excuses until my excuses began to rob me of my future and destiny. As a result, life became more frustrating and bitter. Until I began walking in my calling, I continuously felt a void in my heart that nothing could fill. The first day I made a decision to follow my purpose in life; I felt an unusual peace within. In spite of the storms I’ve faced afterwards, that peace never disappeared. It is the peace that has steered me through the storm.

 Your excuse is your thief. The future you’re waiting for is just a minute from now. You kept saying, ‘I will’, but you never did. A few years ago, you made a declaration to pursue that vision. Some years after, your life is still in unfulfilled declaration. A lot of people will go into the grave full of declarations that were never achieved. A lot of people will make excuses until it squeezes their futures, visions, dreams, purposes, and destinies out of them. One more excuse takes your reward from you. One more excuse takes your inner satisfaction away. The only way to make it is to take a step. All the conditions don’t need to be perfect before you pursue the vision. If you’re waiting for a perfect situation, you will only find it when you get to heaven. The world was not created perfect; it was created good. The good was left for you to perfect. You can only make it perfect when you get out of your slumbering bed and push that dream like a pregnant woman in the labour room. You can’t birth it by snoring. Some people are sleep walking with complete mental consciousness, but keep blaming others when they walk into the railway track with a speedy train coming in front of them. It is catastrophic to abandon your reason for creation to chase perishables. If it is not your calling, it will perish; if it is, posterity will back it.

Do you really want to know who the bully is? YOUR EXCUSES!