by AKANDE Abosede Esther
I have known HAYBEE as we do call him for the twenty years of my life. He is this mad man in my street who will run to the passerby and say “Don’t give up, tomorrow can be better”. Argie and I will always go to make fun of him. Anytime we do that, he will chase us and say ” kids, don’t make fun of me, my tomorrow can be better “.
The next day, we will go to him and say ” HAYBEE, this is tomorrow, is your tomorrow now better? “. He will chase us and repeat the phrase “kids, don’t make fun of me, my tomorrow can be better”.
After our secondary school education, I gained admission into
The University of Ibadan while Argie couldn’t further. Argie’s mum gave birth to two children, Argie and KAYCEE who was in the UK. A year before my admission, KAYCEE died in a plane crash while coming for his wedding. Argie’s mother on hearing the incidence went into partial stroke. I wasn’t surprised that Argie couldn’t further her education, the poor Argie who lost her father while she was twelve has been the one taking care of herself and her sick mother. In tears, I left for school for I knew I was going to miss Argie. Argie has been my only friend ever since I was six months old and I have never been away from her until when I gained admission.
After spending the first semester in school, I returned home for the semester’s break. I noticed HAYBEE was no longer on the spot he used to be. Mum explained the reason behind HAYBEE disappearance to me. A lady was said to have fallen in love with HAYBEE. She got HAYBEE treated and she got married to him. I left for Argie’s home to see Argie getting ready for school. She told me she gained admission into a private university (Adeleke University,Ede. Osun state). The surprised me asked how it happened. She told me her brother paid for her tuition. I was more shocked ” her dead brother or who? “. Argie who noticed how confused I was told me it was KAYCEE who paid for it. She explained further that KAYCEE did not die in the plane crash and that he just got out of coma some months ago and he is back to the family. The rest is a story.
Why am I telling you this story? I want us to know that no matter how worse your yesterday (past) and today (present) may be you can still have a better tomorrow (future). Just like HAYBEE who had been mad for more than twenty years and my friend who had lost the hope of ever stepping into the four wall of a school ever again. I know they are both funny and absurd stories but they are what they are. A rich lady fall in love with a man, she cleaned him up and married him.
That is so unreasonable but it is what it is. KAYCEE who was said to have died in a plane crash a year ago came back alive really sounds foolish and unreal. He didn’t die in the plane crash and no one knew? How can he be in coma for more than six months? How did he gets access to his money after the incidence? I will not be going into them but I have answers to them for these were the same questions I asked. The story sounds far from reality but it is what it is.
Am I telling you this story because I love telling stories. No, it’s because I want us to believe that if we do not give up, we can have a better tomorrow. Ben Carson will not become the best and famous neurosurgeon if he’d given up when he failed in his first operation. He performed the first successful separation of conjoined twins who were attached at the back of the head. Obafemi Awolowo served as house boy under many masters, he sold firewood and sheaves of dried elephant grass just to sustain himself but he later became successful. Most of important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all (Dale Carnegie).
Just like our popular saying winners never quit and quitters never win (Vince Lombardi). Abraham Lincoln, Isaac Newton, wole Soyinka, Nelson Mandela and many others wouldn’t have become successful if they had given up before or while trying. Successful men and women keep moving. They make mistakes but they don’t quit ( Conrad Hilton).
There is no limit on high you can go except the limit you place on yourself. As you are working towards having a better tomorrow here are my thoughts:
- Make enough mistakes but don’t give up. Keep moving, don’t worry if you fall, you will come back. Don’t be afraid of failure for success attracts failure, if you don’t fail, who will fail? In fact, the real meaning of the word FAIL is “First Attempt in Learning “. Keep struggling. You struggling is an evidence that you have not been captured. You must make mistakes to stand out. Do not think of today’s failure but the success that comes tomorrow (Hellen Keller).
- Don’t blame others for your predicament. Never blame anyone for your ordeal. You were born into a poor family where you could hardly afford a meal per day. Don’t blame your parents, take it as a step to work for a brighter future. Someone has contributed to your failure in one way or the other. Don’t take it as an avenue to start apportioning blames. Look ahead. If you blame you will be lame. If Joseph had blamed his brothers or potiphar’s wife, he might not have become successful. For he will keep reflecting on the fact that they have wronged him and thereby losing focus on his future.
- On a daily basis, you must do something that is leading you to your tomorrow. You must spend every penny that enters your pocket to the plan you have. It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop (Confucius). Be focused on things you are good at. Do all the things you are good at. At times, beware of jumping at new things. ” Not all that glitters is gold”.
- Be committed. If you want to get to the top faster than others study while others are sleeping, work while others are loafing, prepare while others are playing and dream while others are wishing. Shakespeare won’t be famous even after his death if he was not devoted to commitment. The more you work the bigger you become. No amount of prayer will make you successful unless you work.
- Always be prepared. Opportunity they say comes but once. Be wise. A wise person is somebody who sees a new opportunity and creates a business to exploit it. A student who is not always prepared fails when an impromptu examination comes. You may be the only person who believes in you, but it’s enough. It takes one star to pierce a universe of darkness. Never give up.( Richelle E. Goodrich).
- Be patient. A farmer who is not patient enough to allow his fruit to ripe before harvest is bound to regret by the time he sees other who have waited for their fruits to be ripe before they harvest. A farmer who plant a seed today cannot be expecting the seed to start produce fruit the same day. It is going to be in a process. Wait patiently on your dream. Success is progressive, it is step by step. It can be achieved bit by bit not suddenly or once. Remember, “Rome is not built in a day”.
I must drop my pen less I become a talkative. All I’m saying is never give up on the fight until you win the belt (Israelmore Ayivor). What then is the belt? “A better tomorrow”, “Success”. Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to success is always to try just one more time (Thomas Edison). I know you have tried and failed but there is no harm in trying just one more time. If you fail again, you can also try just one time for your tomorrow can be better. Just like the HAYBEE, you tell yourself you can do it by speaking positive things to your life with the things you want to do. The mad HAYBEE always speak positive into his life until he succeeded. You just have to think big. Think of finding yourself in a bigger and better place in next years to come.