Students, social media rants and ASUU strike.

Dr. Anderson Uvie-Emegbo
| credits: File copy

This is an open letter from me to all undergraduates of Nigerian public universities and their families – catalysed after reading some comments on a popular social networking site. You are not getting any younger. You would probably be graduating at an older age than your peers in Ghana, Singapore, Kenya and Taiwan.

Fact: Students in Harvard University have not stopped learning because your lecturers are on strike.

Fact: Your future employer(s) may also not understand why you lack certain fundamental skills essential for the workplace.

Fact: Those who have the ability to make your education count have long gone to sleep on the job. It’s your life: You must now make your own way and fast! Great enterprises have always been born out of great adversity. There is no excuse to watch your life fritter away. Now is the time to pause and ask yourself these hard questions:

If there were no certainty that you would get a job after leaving school, would you still go to school?

Is what you are studying at the risk of being taken over by developments in technology? If yes, what’s your response plan? Would what you are studying today still be relevant in 2-3 years after you graduate?

How do you plan to stay relevant in your career over the next 2-3 years? Do you have any vocational (hands on) skills that can earn you money right now or after you graduate even in the absence of a white-collar job?

Are jobs in your profession likely to be lost to non-specialists within your country and/or specialists outside your country? How many transferable skills do you have?

On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your organisational, business writing, verbal and non-verbal communication, marketing, selling, customer service, critical thinking, creative thinking and facilitation skills?

In Stephen R.Covey’s “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” he introduced the concept of an outer, larger Circle of Concern, and an inner, smaller Circle of Influence. In this case, your circle of concern would be what affects all students in public universities – “when would the strike end?

When would I graduate? Would my course be accredited? Would I get a good job as soon as I graduate?” You have no control over your circle of concern.

Your circle of influence involves things that you can do something about. For instance, “how can I ensure that I graduate with a good grade? How can I ensure that I develop the skills that organisations would be willing to pay a premium for?”

Some years ago while leading a transformational project for an organisation, we needed to bring on board some persons with a particular competence and attitude. We identified three of such specialists. However there was a snag.

Fresh out of “public universities”, they had no formal work experience despite undertaking similar roles as undergraduates.

They were also waiting for their call up for the mandatory national youth service.  An extensive search for post youth service candidates with similar skills failed to produce the right fit. Much to my relief, we hired these guys on a contract basis for a couple of months.

During contract negotiations, they held out for a monthly fee of N80,000 (USD 500). However, given the depth of their expertise and their proven record in developing and deploying such solutions even as undergraduates, we eventually paid each N300, 000 (USD 1,875) monthly.

This fee astonished the boys but I strongly believed that these were justifiable, given the expected returns. Barely a year later they had helped achieve a cost savings of several million US dollars. The project became a benchmark in the sector.

One of the guys had become an orphan just about the time he left secondary school. During strikes like these, he started working in cyber cafes. He taught himself how to write web programmes in an obscure part of the country.

Fast forward to the present, he is now the CEO of a private equity funded digital business turning out some groundbreaking products in Africa. Still under 32 years, he is a shining example of how to turn one’s career around by focusing on one’s circle of influence.

He did not allow adversity to dictate his future. I am privileged to have had the opportunity to work with and learn from him. This can be your story and much more.

Rant on social media if you must, quarrel about the system and lament about the rot in the Nigerian society but remember all of these falls into your circle of concern. What are you going to do right now about the things that you can do something about (your circle of influence)?

Today’s formal educational system may not get you to the Promised Land.  The question is not where you stand right now but in what direction you are headed.

It is time to build your “Circle of Influence”  – What is your plan to transform your skills and create your own opportunities – even through this period of relative inactivity? Someone once said, “When Nigerians students are pushed to the wall, they don’t fight back   – that they break down the wall and keep running.”

 They may take away your years but they cannot take away your choices. In an age of technology, there are thousands of teachers willing to teach you practically anything for free. You have no excuse to fail.

Most people fail for lack of pluck and not lack of luck. There are opportunities to learn from an artisan near you. You can do some quick internship, to finally put to practice some of the things you have learnt. This is the time to brush up on your research skills.

“Life is too fleeting to wait for the next unforgiving minute.”  Someone around you needs some help, an extra hand to support the business they are running. Would you step up to the plate? You must redeem the times for the days are evil.

Strike: Education minister, ASUU in secret meeting

Supervising Minister of Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike, on Tuesday met with the Academic Staff Union of Universities in Abuja.

It could not be ascertained if the meeting which lasted barely one hour produced desirable results.

The ASUU President, Dr. Nasir Fagge and the minister refused to speak with journalists after the meeting.

Fagge did not respond to questions on the outcome of the meeting and the  next line of action of the union.

He simply told one of our correspondents that, “I am not in a position to talk.”

At the meeting were the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof. Julius Okojie; the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Prof. Isaac Adewole and a few national officers of the union.

Also, Vice-President Namadi Sambo on Tuesday met briefly with stakeholders in the nation’s education sector.

The stakeholders were led to the meeting which was held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja by Wike.

Other members of the delegation included Okojie and Adewole.

At the end of the brief session, none of the participants agreed to speak with journalists when approached.

Other members of the team who came out of the venue of the meeting a few minutes before Wike came out had claimed that the minister would address journalists.

But Wike refused to answer questions when he emerged from the Vice President’s office.

He joined other members of the team in a brief consultation at the forecourt of the Presidential Villa before he hurriedly jumped into his waiting car.

No official statement was also issued by the Vice President’s office on the meeting.

Meanwhile, the Pan-Yoruba Socio-Cultural group, the Afenifere has appealed to both the Federal  Government and the striking members of ASUU to shift grounds in the interest of the future of the students and education sector in general.

This was contained in a communique issued by the group and read to journalists by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, after the meeting of the group, on Tuesday in Akure. It expressed worries that both parties had failed to shift grounds on the industrial action which had been on since July 1.

The meeting, which was held at the residence of the Afenifere Leader, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, in Akure, also noted that the development was not healthy for the nation’s educational sector.

In a  related development, the National Association of Kwara State Students has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to take a pivotal role by personally being involved in the negotiation to resolve the strike.

In  a statement  signed by its President, Ajadi Muhideen and Public Relations Officer, Sulyman Alimi, on Tuesday in Ilorin,  NAKSS said such act by Jonathan would further show his commitment to education growth and advancement.

It hoped that the direct involvement of  Jonathan in the negotiation would enhance  the quicker resolution of the crisis.

According to the association, Nigerian students are tired of suffering inadequate provision of infrastructure as well as lack of motivation for their lecturers and insufficient funding.

It stated that there was inadequate lecture rooms in many tertiary institutions, adding that under-furnished lecture halls, poorly equipped or lack of laboratories were some of the challenges facing the nation’s institutions.

NAKSS  urged other labour unions in the country to embark on solidarity strike.

It said, “The Nigerian students are intellectuals and can see where the wrong is coming from.  We do not need anybody to sponsor us, the ills are there for all to see.

“It does not go with reason why any Nigerian student will say a demand for 26 per cent budgetary allocation or the  duly earned allowances of university lecturers being requested for is unrealistic.”

Nelson Mandela, The Great

Rolihlahla Mandela was born into the Madiba clan in Mvezo, Transkei, on July 18, 1918, to Nonqaphi Nosekeni and Nkosi Mphakanyiswa Gadla Mandela, principal counsellor to the Acting King of the Thembu people, Jongintaba Dalindyebo.
His father died when he was a child and the young Rolihlahla became a ward of Jongintaba at the Great Place in Mqhekezweni. Hearing the elder’s stories of his ancestor’s valour during the wars of resistance, he dreamed also of making his own contribution to the freedom struggle of his people.
He attended primary school in Qunu where his teacher Miss Mdingane gave him the name Nelson, in accordance with the custom to give all school children “Christian” names.
He completed his Junior Certificate at Clarkebury Boarding Institute and went on to Healdtown, a Wesleyan secondary school of some repute, where he matriculated.
Nelson Mandela began his studies for a Bachelor of Arts Degree at the University College of Fort Hare but did not complete the degree there as he was expelled for joining in a student protest. He completed his BA through the University of South Africa and went back to Fort Hare for his graduation in 1943.
On his return to the Great Place at Mkhekezweni the King was furious and said if he didn’t return to Fort Hare he would arrange wives for him and his cousin Justice. They ran away to Johannesburg instead arriving there in 1941. There he worked as a mine security officer and after meeting Walter Sisulu, an estate agent, who introduced him to Lazar Sidelsky. He then did his articles through the firm of attorneys Witkin Eidelman and Sidelsky.
Meanwhile he began studying for an LLB at the University of the Witwatersrand. By his own admission he was a poor student and left the university in 1948 without graduating. He only started studying again through the University of London and also did not complete that degree.
In 1989, while in the last months of his imprisonment, he obtained an LLB through the University of South Africa. He graduated in absentia at a ceremony in Cape Town.
Nelson Mandela, while increasingly politically involved from 1942, only joined the African National Congress in 1944 when he helped formed the ANC Youth League.
In 1944 he married Walter Sisulu’s cousin Evelyn Mase, a nurse. They had two sons Madiba Thembekile ‘Thembi’ and Makgatho and two daughters both called Makaziwe, the first of whom died in infancy. They effectively separated in 1955 and divorced in 1958.
Nelson Mandela rose through the ranks of the ANCYL and through its work the ANC adopted in 1949 a more radical mass-based policy, the Programme of Action.
In 1952 he was chosen at the National Volunteer-in-Chief of the Defiance Campaign with Maulvi Cachalia as his Deputy. This campaign of civil disobedience against six unjust laws was a joint programme between the ANC and the South African Indian Congress. He and 19 others were charged under the Suppression of Communism Act for their part in the campaign and sentenced to nine months hard labour suspended for two years.
A two-year diploma in law on top of his BA allowed Nelson Mandela to practice law and in August 1952 he and Oliver Tambo established South Africa’s first black law firm, Mandela and Tambo.
At the end of 1952 he was banned for the first time. As a restricted person he was only able to secretly watch as the Freedom Charter was adopted at Kliptown on 26 June 1955.
Nelson Mandela was arrested in a countrywide police swoop of 156 activists on 5 December 1955, which led to the 1956 Treason Trial. Men and women of all races found themselves in the dock in the marathon trial that only ended when the last 28 accused, including Mr. Mandela were acquitted on 29 March 1961.
On 21 March 1960 police killed 69 unarmed people in a protest at Sharpeville against the pass laws. This led to the country’s first state of emergency on 31 March and the banning of the ANC and the Pan Africanist Congress on 8 April. Nelson Mandela and his colleagues in the Treason Trial were among the thousands detained during the state of emergency.
During the trial on 14 June 1958 Nelson Mandela married a social worker Winnie Madikizela. They had two daughters Zenani and Zindziswa. The couple divorced in 1996.
Days before the end of the Treason Trial Nelson Mandela travelled to Pietermaritzburg to speak at the All-in Africa Conference, which resolved he should write to Prime Minister Verwoerd requesting a non-racial national convention, and to warn that should he not agree there would be a national strike against South Africa becoming a republic. As soon as he and his colleagues were acquitted in the Treason Trial Nelson Mandela went underground and began planning a national strike for 29, 30 and 31 March. In the face of a massive mobilization of state security the strike was called off early. In June 1961 he was asked to lead the armed struggle and helped to establish Umkhonto weSizwe (Spear of the Nation).
On 11 January 1962 using the adopted name David Motsamayi, Nelson Mandela left South Africa secretly. He travelled around Africa and visited England to gain support for the armed struggle. He received military training in Morocco and Ethiopia and returned to South Africa in July 1962. He was arrested in a police roadblock outside Howick on 5 August while returning from KwaZulu-Natal where he briefed ANC President Chief Albert Luthuli about his trip.
He was charged with leaving the country illegally and inciting workers to strike. He was convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment which he began serving in Pretoria Local Prison. On 27 May 1963 he was transferred to Robben Island and returned to Pretoria on 12 June. Within a month police raided a secret hide-out in Rivonia used by ANC and Communist Party activists and several of his comrades were arrested.
In October 1963 Nelson Mandela joined nine others on trial for sabotage in what became known as the Rivonia Trial.  Facing the death penalty his words to the court at the end of his famous ‘Speech from the Dock’ on 20 April 1964 became immortalized:
“I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”
On 11 June 1964 Nelson Mandela and seven other accused Walter Sisulu, Ahmed Kathrada, Govan Mbeki, Raymond Mhlaba, Denis Goldberg, Elias Motsoaledi and Andrew Mlangeni were convicted and the next day were sentenced to life imprisonment. Denis Goldberg was sent to Pretoria Prison because he was white while the others went to Robben Island.
Nelson Mandela’s mother died in 1968 and his eldest son Thembi in 1969. He was not allowed to attend their funerals.
On 31 March 1982 Nelson Mandela was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town with Sisulu, Mhlaba and Mlangeni. Kathrada joined them in October. When he returned to the prison in November 1985 after prostate surgery Nelson Mandela was held alone. Justice Minister Kobie Coetsee had visited him in hospital. Later Nelson Mandela initiated talks about an ultimate meeting between the apartheid government and the ANC.
In 1988 he was treated for Tuberculosis and was transferred on 7 December 1988 to a house at Victor Verster Prison near Paarl. He was released from its gates on Sunday 11 February 1990, nine days after the unbanning of the ANC and the PAC and nearly four months after the release of the remaining Rivonia comrades. Throughout his imprisonment he had rejected at least three conditional offers of release.
Nelson Mandela immersed himself into official talks to end white minority rule and in 1991 was elected ANC President to replace his ailing friend Oliver Tambo. In 1993 he and President FW de Klerk jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize and on 27 April 1994 he voted for the first time in his life.
On 10 May 1994 he was inaugurated South Africa’s first democratically elected President. On his 80th birthday in 1998 he married Graça Machel, his third wife.
True to his promise Nelson Mandela stepped down in 1999 after one term as President. He continued to work with the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund he set up in 1995 and established the Nelson Mandela Foundation and The Mandela-Rhodes Foundation.
In April 2007 his grandson Mandla Mandela became head of the Mvezo Traditional Council at a ceremony at the Mvezo Great Place.
Nelson Mandela never wavered in his devotion to democracy, equality and learning. Despite terrible provocation, he never answered racism with racism. His life has been an inspiration to all who are oppressed and deprived, to all who are opposed to oppression and deprivation.

3 Steps to Determining Your Dream Job

As kids, we are told life is a boundless journey and that anything is possible. Every day is an energizing experience as we explored new things, and learned new ideas. Our minds were filled with clear thoughts, and a clear direction on how we were going to take over the world. We wanted to be missionaries or artists. We wanted to write novels or make films. We wanted to study.
Fast forward 20 years later. What happened to that dream we were so passionate about?
The obvious answer is that we grew up. The security from family slowly eroded into student loans, bills and so-called reality. With that, we sacrificed our dreams—our happiness—for some vague idea of “success” or “security.” Getting a steady job with a decent salary, some benefits, and a cool title gradually replaced any passion-driven dream. Being a missionary became impractical. Being an artist seemed too risky. A novel, too daunting. School, too expensive.

If you don’t like what you’re doing right now, pinpoint exactly what you dislike in your current situation and do everything you can to fix it.

We all swore it wouldn’t happen to us. Yet for many of us, it has. We still have our passion to know God and do what He’s made us to do but, after that, it gets fuzzy.We were meant for better. In fact, you were created for something more than mere “success”. So let’s get back to the real versions of us. Let’s become who we were meant to be.
This is a simple process and—contrary to popular belief—the less emotional the better. If you don’t like what you’re doing right now, pinpoint exactly what you dislike in your current situation and do everything you can to fix it.
Too often, we are quick to jump ship, as opposed to fixing the problems with our current state. Who knows, maybe once you fix the problem(s) you will be exactly where you need to be to accomplish your dreams. The grass is only green where you water it.
However, if things seem destined to fail, it’s probably time to move on. Ask yourself if you are simply trying to make an excuse for why you’re not happier with your life, or if you’re truly trying to move toward a greater purpose. If it is the latter of the two, you are ready to take the next step.
When it comes to choosing our dream job, we usually ask ourselves, “What do I like to do? What am I good at?” Or, “What makes me happy?” Some people even make lists of what they are good and bad at, and then try to mathematically decide on what they should do.None of this is wrong. These are good and valid questions to ask so we can understand more about ourselves. On the other hand, these questions may leave us more confused than when we started. Once we travel down that rabbit hole, we tend to find there are many things we like to spend our time doing. Subsequently, we are overwhelmed with deciding which activity to pick as our craft.
There is an easy, more effective, process to find an answer.
Full disclosure: this only works when we commit to being completely honest with ourselves. No one is listening, so don’t say what you think the right answer is. Equally as important, we must get into the correct state of mind. So here we go.
First, get to a place where you’re far away from any stress. Forget about your student loans, other bills, the judgments of others and anything else that might be standing in your way for the moment. Whatever your current situation—good or bad—it doesn’t matter right now. None of that will help you get a clear answer. You don’t want your passion to just be a negative reaction to your current state.
Second, ask yourself, “What impact do I want to have on the world?” In other words, what do you want the byproduct of your results to be? Start with the end in mind, and work backwards from that. Like a road map, if you know where you’re going, you can plan how to get there. For me, the answer is to add value to people’s lives through leading by example. Yours could be anything else. That’s the point. Don’t judge any of your answers, but approach them prayerfully too.

ask yourself “If you could do anything in the world and be instantly good at it, what would you do?” The answer is your passion.

Third, ask yourself “If I could do anything in the world and be instantly good at it, what would I do?” The answer is your passion. There may be more than one result, and that’s perfectly fine. There’s no rule that says God only gives one career passion to each person. With your options, pick one and go. There is absolutely no wrong decision here. Chances are, when you pursue your first passion whole-heartedly, you’ll be able to incorporate your second passion later in life.Transitioning into the last and final step, understand that you can accomplish your dream. At first glance it will seem daunting and frankly, scary. But look at it this way: worst case scenario, you pursue your passion and dreams and fall short three years later. Where does that leave you? Miles ahead of where you were when you started. You’ve met new people, learned life lessons and expanded your comfort zone. Best of all, you tried. You didn’t just fall in line and take the safe road. You did the one thing no one else is doing, and you made it your own. That is a rare and notable accomplishment.
One final note: if money is your goal, this exercise for true passion will not be very effective. Money can be a little important as it allows you to explore certain things in this life. However, it is not very much. From this point forward, commit to viewing money as just the byproduct of your effort and attitude towards accomplishing your true passion.
The more positive your attitude, and the more effort you give to the world, the more opportunity the world has to give back. There is no better day than today.

Just Because It’s 'Christian' Doesn’t Mean You Have to Like It

At my Christian college, the question of “Is it biblical?” was somewhat of a joke: scribbled on articles posted in the student center or said in jest whenever students gathered in a dorm room to watch a movie that didn’t have a PG rating.
Rather than being insulated during my time in school, I felt my college experience introduced me to much of the world’s greatest literature—whether secular or faith-based—and I learned profoundly from the rich literary tradition of the English language. But along the way I began to notice a potentially harmful double standard cropping up in the Church. It seems we engage secular culture with mental filters while at the same time we choose to absorb Christian books, music or films with a certain laissez-faire attitude of complete and naïve trust.
Here’s the truth of the matter: Just because something has been labeled “Christian” does not mean it is biblical.
A quick look at the “Christian” sections of bookstores will remind us just how much of a fan club the Church can be: the latest John Piper book, the plethora of Tim Keller works. I’m not saying that any of these writers—or filmmakers or musicians, for that matter—are bad, or that they’ve got their theology all wrong. But I do think God calls us to think critically of everything we take in, making sure to read widely rather than narrowly.

God calls us to think critically of everything we take in, making sure to read widely rather than narrowly.

By nature, we as humans can’t be expected to produce utterly orthodox work every time we put pen to paper, every time we press record and start speaking. I think of Church pillars such as Luther and Calvin and Barth and shudder when things they’ve done come to light. Luther with his anti-Catholic and anti-Jewish writings, Calvin with his persecution of purported heretics, Barth who housed his wife and mistress under the same roof. Don’t get me wrong here. I’m not judging these men at all because, just like any Christian, I have made my own share of mistakes. I simply ask that we temper the way we consider Christian figures—from the Church Fathers to the rock band Third Day—that we realize their faults and need for a God who guides and corrects weakness.If we absorb Christian art and culture without calling it to a standard, we run the risk of having our theology messed up in very subtle yet devastating ways. We run the risk of absorbing ideas we never intended to. And often the ideas we think are safest can be the most harmful.
Perhaps we come to see God in a harsher light than who He is. Or we are urged to see God entirely as a friend in place of His identity as author and judge of the world. Articles and books might convince us that church growth is a simple step-by-step process. We might be urged to see the secular and Christian worlds as polar opposites, rather than realizing there is an in-between.Our faith is not meant to be condensed and explained in a single book’s thesis. Christianity is and always has been a mosaic that stretches as far as the eye can see. Each of us can only see a few square inches of it, but with the help of Scripture and those around us, we come to comprehend a bigger picture while recognizing there is still so much more we don’t know.
I am convinced that all writing and all work that we as humans produce has bias. The next time you read an article online or listen to a song, make sure you realize that the person is arguing something. God gave us brains with both logic and emotion by which we can feel our way through the arguments of the world. I’ve found that the best so-called “Christian” books are the ones I struggle with—the type of books I want to throw across the room while at the same time keep reading.

Christianity is and always has been a mosaic that stretches as far as the eye can see.

A recent collection of essays by the poet Christian Wiman, My Bright Abyss, is a perfect example of a writer I respect but with whom I don’t always agree. Wiman grapples with suffering and doubt and finds the diagnosis of cancer as a stepping stone for belief in God. But his articulations of who God is and his concepts of time and eternity are not beliefs I thoroughly share.And there are many more: from C.S. Lewis, the patron saint of modern Protestantism, to Saint Augustine to Thomas Merton—all of whom journey towards God while making missteps. But that is a part of being human. Our journey to God is exactly that: one in which we constantly understand new ways and relearn old ways of perceiving Him.
So let me challenge you to genuinely and wholeheartedly ask the question “Is it biblical?” as you go through your daily life and take in everything the culture around us has to offer. Perhaps you will find that a secular band might have a greater and deeper understanding than a Christian band you hear on the radio. You might find that a film by Terrence Malick can do wonders for your understanding of suffering in place of a book with big words like “theodicy” and “kenosis.”
But always look at things critically, making sure to ask the right questions and to guide the development of your heart and mind with the help of God.

20 Things to Know Before You're 30

September 18 marked a big milestone in my life.
3-0.
I can finally say goodbye to my twenties. I’m happy to say it’s been a good run. But if I’m completely honest, I feel a sense of grief coupled with excitement. I am sad for the years that have passed. They’ve gone by so fast. And I haven’t been able to slow them down.
But more, I’m filled with excitement. It has been an adventure, to be sure, and I’ve had the privilege of watching God at work in my life in so many ways. I’m excited to see what the next years hold.

There are many things I know at 30 that I didn’t know at 20.

I’ve had the chance to reflect on the past 10 years of my life, and I realized there are many things I know at 30 that I didn’t know at 20.1. Time is limited, so invest it in things that matter. I remember the days of wasting my time away on meaningless things. Now that I’m older, I see that my time is valuable and limited.
2. Say no to one-way friendships. Not only is it important to use your time wisely, it’s crucial to spend it with people that care. So much of our time is wasted on superficial friendships and obligations. Invest in people who are worth investing in.
3. It doesn’t matter what people think of you, and you can’t please everyone. Often, your twenties are defined by living a roller coaster life, allowing the choices and decisions of others affect you rather than taking control of your own life. It’s sad to say that so many years are spent defining yourself by others, instead of for the sake of who God has called you to be.
4. Life is more expensive than you think it is. This life lesson isn’t fun. But it’s amazing how much $100 seems to a 20-year-old, and how little it seems to a 30-year-old. As you get older, you learn to really see the value of money and how to spend and use it wisely.
5. Being healthy matters. You realize you’re no longer invincible when the aches and pains begin to slowly creep into your life. And it only gets worse—or so I hear. Learn to appreciate your health, and to be more proactive about taking it seriously.
6. Joy can come from unexpected places. So many things that may have never seemed fun in my younger years have taken on a whole new meaning. As life gets more complicated, you learn to take more joy in the simple things.
7. You should value your parents. You will make the same mistakes as they did. The older you get, the more you realize your own flaws, and it helps you have grace for the flaws of others. We’ve all gotten to that moment where we realize that in so many ways we are just like our parents.
8. You’re not stuck. By God’s grace, you get to choose how you will live. You don’t have to repeat patterns, and you’re not paralyzed to a certain mold. 9. Your decisions affect more people than just yourself. There’s a ripple effect, and it gets clearer with each passing year. When you’re young and single, this can sometimes be hard to see, but as you grow up, you cease to be on center stage and you see that life is all about the big picture, and you are a small but important piece in it.
10. Your words have a lot of power, so be careful what you say. From writing a blog post to saying a kind word, from a thoughtless comment to a negative remark, I’ve seen first hand how powerful words can be. They can build up and they can destroy. You learn to be more careful with how you use the words you have been given. They have the power to change lives.
11. Forgiveness is worth the hard work. More than ever, you see how much an unforgiving spirit impacts your life in a negative way, and how letting go has so much more to do with you than with others.
12. Success in life means so much more than what you thought it would. My definition of success has drastically changed for the better. My friendships, family and faith have taken on a whole new meaning within the definition of success. God has changed my heart over the years, and with it, what I define as my treasures.
13. Worry doesn’t really change your future. I wish I could have learned this way sooner, and wish I could prevent relapses. But by God’s grace, I want to continue to walk with more faith than fear.
14. There’s so much more to your identity than you ever imagined. Physical appearance is a small fraction of who you are. Hopefully this is something you learned early on, because as you learn to accept your body and your appearance you find there is so much freedom in that. And along those lines, gray hairs aren’t so bad after all. They’re actually kind of cute, once you get used to them. Well, we’ll see how we feel about that by 40.
15. You’ve made a lot of mistakes, and you will make many more. But you learn to forgive yourself and move on.
16. Life doesn’t always turn out how you expect. But it still turns out just right. I know so many things have not happened on my time frame nor in the way I expected them to. But looking back, God’s time frame was so much better than mine. I’m learning to trust that He is good and that He really knows best.

Life doesn’t always turn out how you expect. But it still turns out just right.

17. Those doors closed for a reason. I look back at the failures and disappointments in my life now, and I am so thankful for those closed doors and broken roads. God knew then what Iknow now. And I’m so glad He did.18. God is bigger than you could have ever imagined. And I’m so thankful He is.
19. Wisdom is really a gift from God. And something that you have to ask for now just as much as ever.
20. There is still so much to learn. I have learned so much about myself over the past few years, and I’ve learned that there’s so much more to be learned. Like the old saying goes, the more you know, the more you know you don’t know.
Here’s to the next decade!  May it be blessed for you and me both.
Source: Relevant Magazine