COURAGE (DIARY OF AN UPCOMING FASHION DESIGNER)


Upcoming... Yes Upcoming 'cos I'm definitely on my way up. This really sounds like the best motivation I've had in the last... One day. Well I've been reading... No... Digesting... Slowly, very slowly every bit of this book, Talent Is Never Enough by John C. Maxwell. Don't all Johns just know how best to drive home a good point? ... Well my conclusion on that is rather narrow minded as it centers on John… You know, the Baptist? As a basis, so I presume I have your forgiveness. Back to the main point, studying this book has questioned my rather inherent abilities then put me up on wobbly feet to defend these possessions and severally cutting me mid - thought to provide valid proofs of their worthiness... To hold, behold, or uphold. Well well well... I have judged my own case and agreed with John C. Maxwell, that Talent is absolutely never enough! On the strength of experience and truth he has managed to beat me hands down, legs flying. You should get a copy
It's 18minutes to 1:00am by my time, my legs are cramping, my muscles are crying foul and it feels like some pounds are periodically being settled on my head. But I find this whole... Gibberish... No... Write up, very noteworthy. In the book, Professor, writer and apologist C. S Lewis wrote, "Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at its testing point." hmmm, Eddie Rickenbacker also asserted that "Courage is doing what you are afraid to do. There can be no Courage unless you are scared.” I've had to take courageous decisions in the past... Many of which tested and proved my strength. You know how David must have felt after slaying Goliath... Yes that feeling... Heroic, right? Something was different this time... I wasn't asked to slay any mighty giant. I was asked to put the scissors right through a customer's cloth! Alright, many of you don't understand. Freeze frame!... Rewind to somewhere around early May, 2017. I decided I wanted to further the fashion designing training I did very briefly during my service year. Then on 15th May, I started again. My new boss would rather start from the scratch and well I wanted to blow my trumpet that I was way past that but I realized a lot of details my previous boss left out... She's good in her own right but what do you expect from someone who is used to sowing for invisible Hausa wives.
After going over and making better some rudiments, I was stepping up again. Then today my boss asked me to sketch the style a customer chose on the material. That was a bit challenging as it was my first time sketching that particular style but it was soon over. My boss made sure I did the sketch right... then he asked me to cut it out. Pause... I have a singlehandedly sown cloth and some random work pieces randomly pieced together to my credit during my previous training but that was my cloth and some pieces!... I could afford to make mistakes. Now I'm expected to put the scissors through a customer's cloth... I imagined someone was going to shake my hands or distract me and cause me to ruin the cloth... All these were my thoughts even before I grabbed the scissors... FEAR. The fear grew the more when I remembered a crazy customer that came to the shop sometimes last week and almost beat up my boss!... For what?... well I guess the old man was just high on something potent because no agreement was breeched as regards the cloth but maybe he ran out of dim minute patience. My head also replayed my boss' regular slogan ... "Spoil a customer's cloth and head straight for Gbagi market". I instantly grew cold feet but my boss would give me no other option. So it was either I cut it or I cut it. There was no room for shying away. Then I remembered that Courage is doing what you are afraid of doing.
I was half way into cutting the several pieces I needed to, catching my breath after each cut when a guy who was also learning (he is my senior there though) said "well done teasingly but me ehn... I was quick to take it as a compliment... Only if he knew how heroic I was beginning to feel. In a couple of minutes my Goliath laid slain before me!... That particular assignment is rather a walk over for me now...And that's exactly what Courage does, it builds you. Don't ever be afraid to take that step that will positively change your life forever. People around you who have long passed that stage may give intimidating remarks or critical reviews but be quick to either take it as a compliment or note it as a point for more effort. Never give up!

 A genius, hero or victor is brought into existence only after a courageous feat. No matter your innate abilities if it has not been tested up to your breaking point it cannot be trusted... It's not durable and the elasticity of your potential is low. Many of the hard decisions we often shy away from are the truths we need to know and face if we must be free... Free to be who we were originally created to be not a sad doppelganger of someone else.
Here are a few tips that could be of help...

  •  Make a list of those things that scare you but you very well know are crucial to making a better you
  • Ask yourself what is the worst thing that can happen if you choose to pursue.
  • Prepare your mind to accept it as the sacrifice you must pay. 
  • Have your mind fixed on your destination but be ready to take note of the lessons in the journey 
  • See each task as a Goliath, which once slain cannot rise to threaten you again 
  • Be teachable... Learn, unlearn and relearn. 
  • Put Proverbs 3:5-6 always at the fore of your mind... God first! 
  • Celebrate each success but be quick to draw the curtains over it. Complacency is the greatest enemy of potentially great men. 
  • Take daily courageous decisions no matter how hard or trivial. Example; saying you are sorry to someone when you know very well it will hurt your pride but you know it's the right thing to do regardless or getting a meal done when you've actually never tried it in reality other than read about it. 

I am still a student of my own philosophies but you could join the class if you find this useful. Read books that challenge your thinking positive... my best is the Bible. Befriend yourself, be happy in your own skin. Associate with people who can add to you or multiply you... the latter is the best. Build a strong confidence and self-esteem, they will be your shelter on rainy days. Love God like your life depends on it... of course it does, without him we can do NOTHING. Always remember the words of Winston Churchill "Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen."  The creation earnestly waits. Live a courageous life and give them a SHOCK!
#Himspired_Mii
#BeHimspired

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