A Proper Perspective to 2019

By: Deji Yesufu

On January 1st, 1964 the late educationist, humanist and public commentator, Mr. Tai Solarin, wrote an article which he titled “May Your Road Be Rough”. He was saying in summary in the essay that difficulty is better for the human being; that the greatest impetus to innovation, production and success is hardship. So rather than join the mass of those who were wishing everyone else “a happy New Year”, Tai Solarin prayed that the year be rough for all his readers. He wrote:

“…Life, if it is going to be abundant, must have plenty of hills and vales. It must have plenty of sunshine and rough weather. It must be rich in obfuscation and perspicacity. It must be packed with days of danger and of apprehension…”

Would anyone read what Tai wrote and disagree with him? Not many people. Yet many of us still cannot bring ourselves to praying this prayer he prayed some 55 years ago. Many people would readily praise the radical Solarin mind-set and still go on from year to year, wishing everyone a “happy New Year”. Tai’s view is even a lot more radical in our day; a time that is characterized with the prevailing Pentecostal/Charismatic mind-set that is forever speaking some positivity all the time. Hoping, as they say, you will reap the fruit of your mouth.

Having said that, I would readily confess that I cannot pray Mr. Tai’s prayer for myself or for anyone else. I would not begin 2019 wishing for myself that the road that I would thread through the year would be rough. I have witnessed rough roads in my years on earth and I am not ready to experience those things again. Yet, I believe there is wisdom in Mr. Tai’s words and thus would be suggesting in this essay a middle line between Mr. Tai’s radicalism and today’s extreme positivism. I therefore think there is a proper perspective to every year that we all should have.

First, I think every man should agree immediately that there is a blessing in every difficulty and that if we would make success or progress in whatever venture we are involved in, we must be ready to take risks; such risks that could plunge us into pain. But remembering, like they say, “no pain no gain”. So there is that proper militant mind-set to face life and whatever it might bring. This would mean that we might need to hold in contempt this tendency to wishful thinking and hoping for some great year. We should keep in mind that following a dark night comes a bright morning. Some of the greatest gains we would get out of life would come from great losses.

Second, we must understand providence. Those of us who are religious see providence as God’s abundant provision to all his creation. God has not just created human being, he is also actively involved in sustaining them. Now, if we submit to the truth that God give good things, we should also not shy away from the fact that he also brings bad things towards a good purpose. The Bible quotes Job as saying “…shall we receive good from God and not also evil…?”

This means that if God is good and provides good things to all of his creation, we must realize that God may permit evil in our lives towards a greater good. If we deny this fact, we may as well deny that God gives good things to all humans also.

Third and finally, we all enter into a New Year with the hope that the year would produce more for us than the previous year(s). If this is going to happen, we must also have to do a little more than we did in the past year(s). This would usually involve greater investments, greater risks, greater commitment to work and so on. None of these would come easy. They would all come with their measure of strain, hurt and, in the words of Tai Solarin, roughness.

Therefore the person who has ventured into a year with the hope that it would all be fun, joy and bliss, would not recognize opportunities for successes all because the path to them seem difficult. The reality also is that most people who make success of whatever endeavours they are involved with are persons who have tried their hands on many other things. So if you are one who is easily discouraged and cannot endure hurt, you are not likely to make success of life.

If anyone had told me that to produce my book Victor Banjo I was going to go through that much stress, I would have thought twice before writing the book. It took me just one month to write the original transcript. But it took my editors and I another seven months to edit the book for the final form for printing. On the final week before going to the printers, I had to read the whole transcript for as many as five times in one sitting. It was very straining. It was a learning curve for me, such that I would think twice before I embark on writing another book. I am today however the better for it because I am a proud publisher of one book.

This is a reality for every other endeavour in this life. Where there is no pain, there is no gain. A proper perspective to the New Year indeed is to be open to whatever the year would bring. We should be thankful for every blessing but even more thankful for the difficulties the year may bring. We must keep in mind that at the end of a rough road are great successes, productivity and achievement.

A Merry Christmas to all my readers and do have the heart to bear with all the difficulties that 2019 would bring your way; for in the sweat is great gain.

Deji Yesufu is the author of the book Victor Banjo. He can be reached on newdejix@gmail.com

Source: http://mouthpiece.com.ng/a-proper-perspective-to-2019/

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