“I believe artistes that have been able to stand the test of time are the ones who recognized and apply their P’s-Power, Patience, and Persistence.
-OLUMIDE EDWARDS ADEGBOLU
A.K.A Olu Maintain
It all started with a dream. In her words:” The dream of wearing a crown started when I was growing up. I saw Bianca Onoh(one time Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria) on Television and fell in love with her “So it was not a surprise that dream materialized when she became the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria in 2000.In June 2000, she made it to the semi final of the Miss Universe and internet scores showed that she was actually favoured over Miss Puerto Rico who later emerged winner. She would have screamed that she was discriminated against, that the judges were biased because she isn’t white or brown .She could have returned to the university disillusioned to finish her studies. But she stayed the course with her sights firmly on ruling the world some day. On 16th November 2001 at sun city South Africa , Priyanka Chopra stepped down to hand her the Miss world crown 2001.Making history as the first African to wear the crown. Her name?Agbani darego.
The race of life is often filled with barricades, obstacles and hurdles which’s goal is to stop us and hinder the giant in us from rising and enjoying the sweet pills of success.Every one knows the blows of life are inevitable , if you are hoping to become a champion in life’s boxing ring. What really counts is rising up each time you are knocked down and saying to yourself:”I may be knocked down, but I cannot be knocked out”. So many individuals, in the process of avoiding life’s perilious times resolve to do nothing, try something , or even dare the unusual. In the process, they are stuck remaining on one spot in life, ignorantly not knowing they possess the capacity to soar above the terrible winds of adversity. In the words of Roberto Goizuueta:”The moment avoiding failure becomes your motivation; you are down the part of inactivity. You stumble only if you are moving.”
Look at the butterfly, who once upon a time in its life was a caterpillar. A tiny, little wriggly, ugly, creature with about a 100 legs. An earth bound creature that cannot go very far. But at a time it goes into a cocoon and emerges from the cocoon a butterfly. And you see, a butterfly is so beautiful you don’t want to kill it, so pretty its heaven bound. It can fly as high as it wants its no longer earthbound. We become transformed from not being able to reach for the stars to being able to live our dreams , when we embrace the life changing benefits of advversity.Stephanie Okereke, One of Nigeria’s leading actress experienced a turning point in her life while traveling to the 2005 AMAA award ceremony, a car collided with the one she was in. Stephanie crawled from the ensuing flames with third –degree burns , split bones and a “Fighting spirit’. Bedridden for months, she had to undergo two surgeries, miss a casting for a Roberto-Deniro movie and her career was on hold .Stephanie stood strong inspite of the life threatening accident. She made a full recovery in time to resume training at The New Film Academy Los Angeles, and the Gene Frankel studios, New York where she was schooled in acting for film.Today, she is waxing stronger and pursuing her passion with renewed strength and vigour.
From the moment he came on as a substitute at Japan 93 scoring, ran towards the coach with the gesture saying:”I told you I could do it”. It was clear that a new star had arrived.Kanu Nwankwo went on to score four more goals. The next year he was a skipper and pivotal to the Nigerian dream team gold medal triumph at the atlannta Olympics in U.S.A.Then came the dark experience , doctors confirmed kannu had a heart problem.One that will put an end to his playing career. Interestingly and surprisingly , Kanu fought back by using resilience and courage as chief weapons.He was operated on and yes! He has bounced back from the surgeons table to his rightful place- the field of play-dazzling as ever.The detour of the heart problem led to the birth of the Kanu Heart Foundation, by which a lot of lives have been saved.
When you were a tiny little child, you made your way around the world on your hands and knees crawling. Every one around you were walking and one day, it got into your head to give that a try. So little by little, you worked on developing the skills you needed to walk. You grabbed on to something above you and pulled yourself upright. Through it all, you stumbled, fell down again and again, until you stood up all by yourself.You eventually took your first couple of steps…..all alone all by yourself and (hopefully) to the cheers and applause of your family. You became a champion. Today, you can still re-create that childhood experience and stretch it into your puzzling difficulties. If you can do it then, you can make it happen now.You can move from gale to glory and share your own success story. Go and rule your world!
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