My 2014 Journey - Sharing my Successes and Failures

Hello Lovelies, 

So i was inspired to share my ‘2014 journey’ after reading a related post from a fellow Nigerian blogger, Adaeze Obiako, the Founder and Editor of "Deserve Your Great Life". Adaeze is a writer, vision coach, copy-editor, public speaker and also an ardent contributor for Bella Naija Magazine. 

What intrigued me the most about her write-up was that she was open to the truth and told it as it was... a.k.a.. not trying to portray a perfect, spotless, 'holier than thou' image as many would. She took out time to share her successes, failures and lessons learned from the previous year, not failing to admit that growth is a gradual process which takes time to develop. I was really inspired by this, so here i am sharing my own experience with you guys.

 A lot of people might find this weird, sharing success / failure stories to the entire world. Reasons being that they are afraid of their competition copying them or that what’s working for them will stop if everyone starts doing it.

Well, is this perception wrong?

From my point of view, i would say 'IT IS'.  Sharing your successes and failures are a way of encouraging and uplifting others who are at the verge of giving up. The more you teach, share and help others, the more you learn as well. It's a give-and-take, not a one-sided affair.  And heck yeah, even if your competition starts doing EXACTLY what you do and how you do it, remember they won't execute it the way you do. The world is full of people who don’t take action. You can give someone the blueprint to success and they’ll find a reason it won’t work for them. You must have an abundance mindset and understand there’s enough out there for you and your competition. 

So, without further ado, let's get started!!!

MY SUCCESSES

• I took my writing career seriously:  I’ve earlier shared this experience in one of previous post titled, "A Dreamer's World" and i talked about how I was tired of being a mere dreamer, living in a world of illusion and finally began doing.  It took me over 5 years to come to the realization that I was just sitting on the fence, whiling away precious time. I had that urge to fill up the empty void inside of me and I'm thankful to God for the day my mind was made up to commence this awesome journey.

• Became a Contributor for BellaNaija Online Magazine: This was the platform that actually launched me out and i was super excited when my first article "Sister's Keeper" was approved and published. I was highly impressed by the writing quality and style of the contributors and the impact they made to the society, and i knew that was a good foundation for me to start. I'm honored to be part of their writing team and this has opened many doors of new discoveries.

• Royaliving was founded:  Hmm! This wasn't part of the plan for 2014. In fact, i never saw it coming but God who always sees the end from the beginning had already mapped this out divinely. I always tell people, HE remains the founder of this blog and will always be, I am just his writing pen. Let him use me as he pleases.

• Cultivated the habit of reading at least 2 motivational articles every day: This immensely grew my faith level especially when i read about real-life stories of the struggles, pain and hurt that people pass through on daily basis and how God has used their situation to make them who they are today. I can't complain but surrender totally to him. It won't be in my case that he will raise stones to worship him. Never! I'll serve him as long as i live and there's no turning back.  "The Praying Woman"  is a Christian lifestyle blog created by Dreana Weston as a means for women to encourage, inspire and uplift one another through daily prayer and conversation on real life issues. That's where i read most of these articles and honestly, I've been richly blessed. You can also find them on Facebook.

• Learned to bridle my tongue: This generally entails negative confessions, lashing out on people, making hasty conclusions, being over-judgmental etc. I believe the more we advance in age, the more we begin to experience the reality of life and the better we learn to manage situations critically. Unfortunately, this might not be the case for some people as age doesn't define maturity. I'm truly not there yet, still a work in progress but to a large extent, the holy spirit has actively played a major role in helping me curtail certain proclamations. I've learned to listen more and speak less and this has strongly given me sound judgement in making certain decisions.

• Developed a positive attitude: This was made possible because I saw the reward of having absolute faith and dependence in God. The beginning of 2014 was a very rough and tough one and I shared my experience "Click here" on how I sowed a seed of $20.00 in church. I was flat broke and that was all i had at the moment. The devil, as usual surfaced again with his antics trying to discourage me but i refused to fall prey to his devices. I went ahead, enveloped the money and dropped it in the basket. I knew i was sowing it on a fertile ground and any seed sown on a fertile ground must surely germinate good fruits. To the glory of God, that same week, i got three job offers.  

Lesson: As soon as your testimony is around the corner, that’s when the devil surfaces to rob you off your blessing. The book of John 10:10 says "The thief (devil) only comes to kill, steal and destroy but God has come to give you life, that you may have it more abundantly". Always be at alert.

• Slow to anger: This indeed was one of the surprising successes of last year. Several temptations knocked at my door, in school and more especially at my workplace. Some colleagues of mine who were against me working in the same environment with them said a lot of despicable things about me and for the first time ever, i thought of resigning. They felt i wasn't qualified and didn't meet up to their standards. Every other day, i got phone calls from my boss laying several complaints about things i did and things i didn't do and guess what? Before the end of each phone call, she would give me a word of encouragement. I mean biblical encouragement. Hmm!! I didn't know if to count myself lucky or blessed. As humans, our first reaction would be to address this situation upfront to these colleagues or start acting strangely towards them but to my amazement, all through that season, God gave a quiet, calm and gentle spirit. Did i grieve over this at some point? Yes i did but i always took the matter to the Lord  in prayer and reminded him of his word in Psalm 55:22 that  if "we cast our burdens upon him, he will sustain us, he shall never suffer the righteous nor be moved"

The following day, I'll go to work smiling, not failing greet them and ask if they needed help with anything. I'm sure they were stunned. I was fighting back spiritually and physically. It was indeed a phase God wanted me to pass through and i knew it was for a reason. The book of Isaiah 54:15 says "Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for my sake". Right now, I get called upon sometimes to coach and train new employees. This was someone who wasn't seen as fit- enough. Never underestimate the power of prayers. It does work!

• Successfully completed my Professional Certification in Project Management: 

Woo-hoo!!!

I felt like a million bucks on this day with both parents visiting from my home country, Nigeria. They have been 100% supportive of my career decisions. This program was highly competitive, challenging but at the same time exciting. I had the pleasure of working in teams with smart students from different walks of life across the globe. All i can say is thank you Lord for making me achieve this great milestone. A journey of a thousand miles begin with a step. He alone made it possible. 

• Began Volunteering for PMI: The Project Management Institute is one of the world's largest not-for-profit membership associations for the project management profession. I'm getting hands-on experience in this field and loving every bit of it. Best decision ever.

MY FAILURES

• Work-outs: This has always been a no-no. I actually registered in a gym center and everything seemed to start off right. I have this close friend who is a work-out freak and because i had her energy around me, I was motivated and consistent. As soon as she relocated to another province, I went back to my old lazy self. I honestly hope to pick up again.  

• Spoken word: I had a goal of releasing two audio records for my poems but kept dragging my feet on this and made baby steps towards achieving this goal. I still look forward to accomplishing this task within the year. 

• Prayer life/Studying the Bible Everyday:  I consider this a failure because there were days when i wouldn't even pray or study the bible and sometimes i wondered how it would be if God just took a break from me. I imagined what it would be if he decided to have my time only when it was convenient for him. That would be disastrous.  Sometimes, it's good to take a pause and look at the glass cup from a different angle. Who actually needs who the most? Does God need me more than i need him? Obviously, i need him much more than he does.

While reading Adaeze's experience regarding this same issue, she asked herself these questions: Did i miss a day without drinking water? Nope! Did i miss my meals any day last year? Nope! So how on earth could i afford to miss a day of spiritual feeding and communion with God and His Word? This struck me as i knew i was also guilty of this fact. No day passes by without me being on social media (be it facebook or instagram or youtube), yet out of 24 generous hours, I couldn't even spare 30 minutes of my time to study the Word. This is upsetting. Most times, we just take God for granted and hope he understands. We make excuses that he's a merciful father, forgetting he is also a consuming fire. No matter how safe and secure we think we are, unless the Lord watches over a city, the watchman stays awake in vain. Lord, i yearn for more of your WORD this 2015 like never before. Your WORD is a 'rhema' and a light unto my path.

 

10 BIGGEST LESSONS I LEARNED IN 2014:

• The grass is always greener where it's being watered. If you don't water your life with Christ in it, you will wither.
• Dwelling in your comfort zone will never distinguish you for excellence. Get up and start cracking bones. You've been breastfed enough.
• Procrastination is a thief of time. Never let it steal yours.
• We are a replica of our words. What we confess is what we possess.
• Anger resides in the bosom of a fool.... Ecc7:9. We let ourselves become fools if we give room for anger to dwell in our hearts.
• The devil tries to attack when he sees we have a glorious future, he instills fear in us cos that's his greatest weapon of warfare. Be ignorant to his devices and exercise strong faith in God. Faith is the opposite of fear.
• Some people will like you while some won't. Get used to it!That's a sign of progress.
• Don't expect everybody to understand and believe in your vision more than yourself. Your destiny is never the same with anyone. Always remain focused in what you are called to do. 
• Our direction becomes more profitable when we ask God for wisdom. He has given unto us the power to ask. A closed mouth is a closed destiny.
• Always let go and let God. You can't handle everything yourself. Stop the fuzz! Everything cannot work the way you always want it. Give God the upper hand. He knows the end from the beginning.

In everything, i remain eternally grateful that i experienced it all... the highs and lows, pain and happiness, disappointments and thrills. I was not the same person who started the year. I'm now stronger, wiser, tougher and above all, i now love God more.

Do have a Fabulous and Productive 2015 Loves!!!

I hope you found this piece helpful.

I'll see y'all in my next post. Until then, stay and remain blessed.

Yours truly,

Ada...