Life Gives You What You Ask of Life

In January 2013, I was at a petrol station (gas station as the Americans will say) to refill the fuel tank of my car. As the petrol attendant was refilling the tank of my car, I heard a voice. The voice was so distinct and mellifluous that I could not ignore it. “Could you please give me N50?” (Fifty naira is a Nigerian currency) I looked towards the left and right to ascertain the direction where the voice emanated from. I asked the petrol attendant if she had said anything. She answered in the negative. At that point, I carefully searched for the owner of the voice. After some time, the voice repeated what it initially said “Could you please give me N50?” This time I knew where it came from. It was the voice of a demented woman that sat very close to the entrance of the petrol station. I was shocked, to say the least, because of the impeccable Queen’s English spoken by the mad woman!

Meanwhile before the mad woman asked me for a token of N50, one of the petrol attendants had asked me for a tip. I asked the petrol attendant to tell me how much she wanted. Her response: “Give me anything”. I juxtaposed the response of the petrol attendant with that of the mad woman. And I began to wonder how an insane person could be specific about her demand, while a sane person was asking for anything. While I gave the mad woman what she asked for, I used my discretion to offer to the petrol attendant what I thought she deserved. I wanted to give her more, but since she asked for anything I gave her what I considered to be anything!

What am I driving at? Life will only give you what you ask of life. If you ask for nothing you will get nothing in return. If you demand for little, little will be your lot. And if you bargain for what is big you will surely get what you have bargained for. Life is not fair and it will never be fair. Everything we need to survive in this world is available in abundance. The challenge is that we think scarcity and so we get scarcity. Those who think abundance get abundance in return. I am sure if the mad woman had asked me for more than N50, I could have given it to her. She knew what she wanted and she went for it. While the supposedly sane petrol attendant did not know what she wanted from me. She wanted anything and she got anything.

Many of us are like the petrol attendant; we do not know what we want from life. When you don’t know what you want from life then life offers you anything – good, bad or ugly. It is like a case of someone who does not know where he is going to; any way will do for such a person. He who does not know his worth will be paid anything. Do you know your worth? How much are you worth? What value have you placed on yourself? Life gives out whatever you demand of it. Ask for what you are worth and you will get it. There is enough for everyone. It is not humility that makes you place less value on yourself; it is limited thinking. Place higher value on yourself, work at justifying this higher value and life will handsomely reward you. Remember, life only gives you what you ask of life. See you at the top!

 

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By Isaac Oluyi

Isaac Oluyi, change agent, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship educator and motivational speaker, is the Chief Executive Officer of Sourcerite Farms, an integrated farm that is environment-friendly. He is an advocate of entrepreneurial leadership, a leadership that proffers solutions to societal problems without waiting for government. He can be reached on 08060702979 or via isaacoluyi@gmail.com

1 comment

  1. Awesome piece Isaac. Hope many will come to terms with the realities addressed above. Weldone bro!

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