"My passion was football but I was not lucky enough to play"

Thank God it's Monday happy people! I hope you love Mondays as much as I do. My apologies for the long silence, I have been all over the place these past days. My post for today is inspired by a young man I met who told me that he believes some people are meant to actualize their dreams while others are meant to watch. If you think this way, I hope that after you read this, you have a second thought. Anyway, have a wonderful day and enjoy the rest of your week happy people.

When I was 13 years old I wanted to be a mechanical engineer. 


I was so fascinated by cars that I wanted to know how they became cars. I had a childhood friend/mentor who was much older and experienced than I was. He was studying engineering at the time and that made him my best friend and confidant. I couldn't stop asking him all the questions I had about cars and engineering at any given time that we were together. His intelligence also made me have a crush on him (yeah I was 13 *wink*). Anyway, as I grew older that dream went with the wind because of the war between Mathematics and I. Today I wonder what would have been different if Mathematics gave me a chance (that I will never know).

The motivation behind my interest in mechanical engineering was based on the stories I was told as a child about Nigeria not having ‘made in Nigerian’ cars. I was also told that even if Nigerians went abroad to learn how to make cars, the white people do not allow them return home to build the cars. I wanted to affect change somehow and be able to touch people’s lives, which has always been a dream of mine. So I would say my dream wasn't actually being a mechanical engineer but affecting change in the world and in people’s lives. Just in case you were thinking that I gave up on that dream because I ended up as a writer, you are wrong. I chose a different way to do that which is through writing. Through writing, I have been able to inspire if not the entire world but just one reader and that is a dream come true for me.

Why am I boring some of you with this story? You might ask. It is because of the young man I met at the airport today on my way out of Lagos. We had an interesting conversation that reminded me of myself and others who don’t end up where they wanted to or would love to. He told me about his passion for soccer and also told me he played grassroots football but never made it to the big league. Sounds familiar? Don’t we all have dreams? We all do and somehow things don’t turn out the way they should just like in my own case where Mathematics denied me of actualizing my engineering dream. If you have any Mathematics that is holding you back from living your dreams, maybe you should look deeper within you and see what else you are good at.

My suggestion to the young man was that he should find something soccer related and enjoy doing it the same way he enjoyed being a player. I told him to try being a sports analyst, a coach, a sports writer and so on. Your passion might not necessarily be sports but if there is anything that is holding you back from living your dream, and you actually are unable to control the situation, you really need to improvise. There is no need being miserable for the rest of your life and resigning yourself to fate just because you believe that some people are meant to be miserable while others are not; some people were born to achieve their dreams while others were born to watch others achieve their dreams. That is so false! What makes you think that you are not among those that should achieve their dreams. Life’s challenges are for those who are willing to fight till they die so keep fighting.

Remain happy and spread happiness around. Xoxo.

Photo credit: www.mildredtalabi.com