Youthful
age is the most crucial age which can be termed as the foundation or building
blocks of life; these are the formative of life evolving the individual into
adulthood. Every human being is expressly unique; no two persons in the world
are unerringly comparable in their uniqueness (natural endowment). However
every human being is a store house of talents; why copy others when you can do
it better than them. In life challenges will come your way while pushing to
make it, some will call you names such as Mr. know it all, over ambitious man,
there will be failure and mockery as well.
The Oxford Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary sixth edition defined IDENTITY as “who or what somebody or something
is or the characteristics, feelings or beliefs that distinguish people from
others” while the Merriam Webster Dictionary defined IDENTITY as the
distinguishing character or personality of an individual.
The
question is what is your identity?
You
either unfold your identity or die as a copy of someone’s identity. Follow me to the book of Romans chapter
12:2 “And be not conformed to this world
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is
that good and acceptable and perfect will of God”. Your identity is that
which you can do in a peculiar and extraordinary way. Many youths have not sit
down to eavesdrop to their inner mind to be able to discover that which they can
do so exceptionally which has made many to front wall their identity and desperately
try to look like others. An effort to be like another person is an effort to
façade your identity. The moment you façade your identity, you will remain a riffraff.
Preponderance of our youths today is mimicking some popular musicians, popular
actor or actresses, authors and so on forgetting that they are storeroom of
flair.
A
British make-up artist. Jordan James adores Kim Kardashian so much that he had
spent a whooping sum of money on cosmetics surgical procedures so that he could
look like her. He undergoes over 50 surgical, including Botox (medical
injections used to treat wrinkles, lip and cheek fillers, eyebrow tattoos and
laser hair removal). Regrettably, Jordan James is still very much far from
being exactly like Kardashian. Isn’t this a rat race?
Sometimes,
we jump out of the gate with a great idea that one can polish and
run with. Everything’s going well -- until you get hit with a failure.
Failure punches you in the gut, leaving you with throbbing wounds and the
inability to do anything but moan about what might have been. But take heart --
failure isn’t
the end, unless you let it be. Failure means you’re on
the road so many others have taken to success. Don’t
believe me? Here are people who lived through failure and refuse to copy
another person’s identity before going on to
become names known around the world:
Albert
Einstein: Despite being known as a true genius in the
present day, this intellectual didn’t have a great start (to say he
was running behind is an understatement). As a kid, he didn’t begin
to speak a word until he was 4 years old. A few years later,
his elementary school teachers considered him lazy because he would ask
abstract questions that made no sense to others. He kept on anyway, eventually
formulating the theory of relativity -- something most of us still can’t understand
today.
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| Albert Einstein. |
Benjamin
Franklin: A founding father, the inventor of bifocals and
the lightning rod and elementary-school dropout -- it sounds crazy,
but this is an accurate description of Franklin. His family couldn’t afford
to finance his education after his 10th birthday, but that didn’t stop
him. He read books like crazy and took every opportunity he could to learn.
Ironically, Franklin is now found in the history books
that 10-year-old kids around the world read every day.
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| Benjamin Franklin |
Oprah Winfrey: To
many, losing a child is worse than losing a business. Oprah lived through this
hellish reality after giving birth at 14. She managed to not only overcome
this, but also being repeatedly molested by her cousin, uncle and
a family friend. Despite her tragic past, she has worked hard to become a
success and amass a net worth of $2.9 billion.
 |
| Oprah Winfrey |
A. A. Allen: He was brought
up and his feeding bottle was alcohol, he knows nothing but alcohol from
childhood. Though he never allowed the devil to mask his identity and stand to
be the best amongst all and a great teacher and speaker in the world.
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| A. A. Allen |
Benny Hinn: he suffered
tuberculosis from childhood that made people despise him. He had no friend, even in the dormitory
people don’t associate
with him, they shift his locker to another side so they won’t be affected by the deadly disease attacking him
until the day he stood to say devil enough is enough.
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| Benny Hinn |
Dear
friend join me to the scripture let us look and see stories of people who did
not mask their identity though where faced with several battles.
Joseph: Joseph was
faced with the battle of Conspiracy from his brethren following the disclosure
of his dreams to his brethren which hurled him to Pharaoh’s house where he faced the skirmish of accusation
because of his decency yet. He never obey the rules of the world. Genesis
37:1-49
Note:
challenges confirm the presence of greatness, the devil does not waste his time
to fight a nonentity and you should not use your hand to invite the devil. The
only way you can look at people’s life and
identify with is when the role they play and their endurance is Christ like.
Then let their life encourage you never to say no and never to give up insisted
of emulating a certain dress of a musician, language and character and or even
appearance.
In
summary: Pst. (Dr.) Paul Enenche wrote “The way you are thinking, talking and
acting today are all determining the harvest of tomorrow”. Do not allow anyone
to determine what you do or how you do them. This is the right time to decide
what path to follow in your life and I tell you by the time you advance to
middle age you will begin to see the difference and look back with gratitude to
God.
Remember
that all men are created equal and with a seed inside him or her which must be
nurtured, everyone is a storehouse of talent, no one will be judged by the colour
of his skin but by the content of his character.
by, Nwafor Harrison
Uchenna
President
and Founder of Betlamb Foundation, Abuja