by Demola Rewaju

You will recall that it was the same year a certain overlooked man became the President of the largest black nation on earth. Ever since that year, I have studied the trends and it has followed such an amazing pattern that has worked for me in many ways.

I’m still struggling with finding my pace between family life, making a living and keeping this blog going so thank you very much for bearing with my absence – whatever happens, I assure you I won’t shut this blog down (I’m even planning to start another one soon infact) and I will never run out of stuff to say so please, keep the faith and let’s stay watching how events unfold.

As per today’s topic, I didn’t just find Okonzua’s magic crystal ball or suddenly develop some mystical powers to see what would be but I discovered some truth I have observed for a while and I thought I should share it with you…

The phenomenon that ends a previous year and starts a new year is often an indication of how that new year would play out on a large scale for many people and this has its roots in some deep spiritual goings-on and their effects on the earth. If you are in any way spiritually inclined you will perhaps believe that everything that happens in the physical is controlled by the spiritual just as surely as the calamities that Job suffered in the Bible were occasioned by the spiritual negotiations between God and satan.

I do not consider myself of such importance just yet that stuff happens about me on such a very high plane and so I have tried to study times and seasons to see what exactly is going on and how things would swing (so that I would at least know which way to swing or if to just lay low). The critical year for me was the year Obama was inaugurated in January 2008. Someone just said ‘the year of the underdog’ and it had great effect on me. You will recall that it was the same year a certain overlooked man became the President of the largest black nation on earth. Ever since that year, I have studied the trends and it has followed such an amazing pattern that has worked for me in many ways.

Last year, we lost one of our continents leading lights Nelson Mandela and it spurred an upsurge in the sale of books about him especially his autobiography – Long Walk To Freedom. This year so far, Stanislas Wawrinka (pronounced Va-Vreeng-Ka) has won the Australian Open tennis competition in stunning fashion but I wouldn’t label it the year of the underdog just like that. I’ve picked out three lessons from him today in my other post but more importantly is how he learnt and thrived by associating with Roger Federer.

I’d mentioned in this post why it is important to read the biography of others so as to see where they made mistakes and avoid those mistakes. It was with mild surprise that I walked into the living room of one of my mentors very early on Thursday morning last week and found a biography of one of Nigeria’s most influential men. I made a mental note of it and here is the crunch of this piece:

I believe strongly in my spirit that this is the year where no lesson must be lost in any encounter you engage in. Learn from books, learn from colleagues and those who are older than you. Forget the old after learning from them but stick with those who are still in the game and stay close to them. Learn how they did it and why they did it. 2014 is a year where those who are able to harness lessons while pushing towards their own success will find it more easily in their path and like every person who tries to write history before it plays out, time will prove me right; or wrong.

See you soon but meanwhile, have a great week, no matter what!

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 Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.