The mark of a successful person is his or her ability to see challenges as opportunities instead of obstacles. Life shrinks and expands in proportion to your courage. It takes a Lionheart to have your own Lion share.
These are part of my life expeditions and guides for the next level of the journey of life; arising from the words of grace from my father in faith, His Eminence, Bishop David Oyedepo during the Shiloh 2021.
Based on the foregoing, I will like to recap on the issue of fear which I have written about a couple of times. Fear is a human emotion that is triggered by a perceived threat. It is a basic survival mechanism that signals our bodies to respond to danger with a fight or flight response. As such, it is an essential part of keeping us safe.
However, when people live in constant fear, whether from physical dangers in their environment or threats they perceive, they can experience negative impacts in all areas of their lives and even become incapacitated.
Usually, fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by being aware of danger: a feeling of being afraid. Fear is a weapon in the hands of the enemies, those who market fear are inadvertently working for the enemies. Fear is one of the most basic human emotions. It is programmed into the nervous system and works like an instinct, from the time we’re infants. Fear is an intensely unpleasant emotion in response to perceiving or recognizing a danger or threat.
On the other hand, courage is: standing when everyone else wants to run, speaking when everyone else is afraid to speak, acting when everyone else is paralyzed by fear, taking action in the face of danger, holding one’s character and moral uprightness when everyone else is tempted to compromise theirs.
We need to understand that everyone is afraid, at some time or other. We all experience the emotion of fear. However, courage is being able to overcome our feelings of fear and stepping out to do what we know is right.
Permit me to conclude by using the attributes of three personalities, that I have had the privilege of close relationship with; David Oyedepo, Atiku Abubakar and Omoyele Sowore.
Bishop David Oyedepo, while ministering at the Shiloh 2021, laid great emphasis on fear and how it paralyzes a person. I must say that everything the servant of God talked about concerning fear is what I have personally experienced with him several times in my privilege relationship with him. In most cases he jokingly wave off, some issues that I considered as a big threat and disturbing. An example of such, was in 2004, on arrival in Abuja, in the midst of what I considered as turbulence situation, including a very disturbing rumor about his better half, our mother in Israel allegedly passed out. When I received him at Abuja airport, the first thing he did was to call mama, and later handed over the phone to me to speak with PST (Mrs) Faith Abiola Oyedepo, who had been rumored dead. Fear was far away from the servant of God.
His Excellency Atiku Abubakar, also has tremendous capacity when it comes to fearlessness. In the dying days of the Obasanjo’s despotic era. I was personally involved. There was no amount of threat that was not deployed by either State agents or non-state agents to intimidate the then vice-president, as he then was. On a particular occasion Prince Adebiyi Adesida who later became the traditional ruler of Akure ‘Deji Akure’ of the blessed memory. He personally came to warn me, that I should never be in the same aircraft with the vice-president, that Obasanjo is angry with the outcome of the Kastina outing, and that his aircraft maybe blown up. Despite all the threat and harassment, each time I look at His Excellency Atiku Abubakar’s face from close distance, all I could see then, was a man who is not intimidated and full of Confidence. Again fear is not his companion. A man of destiny.
Lastly, my hero, Omoyele Sowore whom I refer to as the Lionheart. Fearlessness is his middle name. I met this indefatigable fighter for the first time in New York about a decade ago. Ever since, I kept admiring his nationalistic and unwavering mindset. To me, I believed that it was a tactical error on the part of his tormentors to have kept him in Abuja. What was meant to incapacitate and completely destroy him, became an albatross to his traducer. The tactical error and carelessness backfired.
The common attribute shared by the aforementioned men is their unwavering fearlessness, or if you like courage. They exhibit moral, physical and spiritual courage whenever the need arises, not caring whose toes is being stepped on. Their courage is, indeed, worthy of emulation. I dare say that they are special gift to humanity.
Apart from courage, determination is another much needed attribute. Determination is the quality that makes you continue to do something, even when faced with difficulties. To be truly successful at school or business or whatever else you are doing in life, courage and determination are indispensable attributes.
Look at the most successful people in the world. The one thing they all have in common is the burning determination to achieve success at all cost. You must be courageous. Your determination to ‘make it’ has to consume you.
I will leave you with the words of Isaiah 41 vs 10: Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
LIONHEART FOR YOUR LION SHARE.
Richard Odusanya is a Social Reform Crusader and the convener of AFRICA COVENANT RESCUE INITIATIVE ACRI
