Today, I read a WhatsApp status update about a friend telling her story. This story highlighted the way a particular change she feared and believed would go bad, ended up being just what she needed at the time.
Just like Joseph told his brothers, "you meant it for evil but God meant it for good."
My Bestie just concluded six years of studying as an undergraduate in one of the Nigerian Universities in the month of August.
I remember a time we met up and agreed that I would have to be the better friend and do more of the calling and checking in as the Law school routine could be very demanding.
We talked about the wardrobe and gadget upgrades that needed to be in place to better reflect that phase of her life.
Suffice it to say, we were really looking forward to her leaving for the Nigerian Law school.
On another occasion when we had an all girls outing, she received a notification addressing every one in her class that the process for registering names for the Law school would be on a, ‘first come, first served’ basis. So everyone was expected to be an early bird to make the list.
Might I add that the Law School only admits 150 students yearly from the University of Uyo. But the number of qualified candidates from the school was over 300. Let's not include the spill overs from previous years.
When my Bestie told me she would be leaving home as early as 4am on the day for name registration, I could understand her reasons.
True to her words, she did leave home that early and got to school to join the battle for a spot on the queue. She got in line to wait her turn but at the end of the day, after all the struggle and hustle, it turns out that she was number 153 on the list. Remember, the available slot was for the first 150 students.
That wasn’t good news, so we decided to fight the best way we could. We prayed seriously and made pronouncements as children of God. Almost everyday, our WhatsApp space was filled with messages which looked more like this, "don't forget to declare that Glory must go to the Law school this October ". Lol
We her friends were quite committed to it and our faith was firm. She prayed and believed too.
At the end of the day, the names of the successful candidates was published and yes! you can imagine, her name wasn't there.
So when this happened, It came as a shock. ‘Glory Ibanga will not be going to the Law school this year.’ It made headlines. May I add that this lady is the immediate past Principal Partner of a chambers in her faculty, one of the brightest students of her faculty, a lady who has represented her faculty in diverse competitions and won. This is no ordinary lady and so when this happened, it seemed surreal and took a while to process.
I remember when she told me she didn't make the cut, I was worried and I thought she must be feeling terrible. I just couldn't think of the right words to say at the time or the right thing to do.
I remember calling her after sometime had passed and she told me. "Bestie, when it happened, I didn't give up. I prayed and I spoke with people who I thought could help. I didn't take it in stride, I fought "
Imagine hearing all that and yet the verdict was still the same. Heart breaking and discouraging.
After she said this, I thought she was going to end her tale with some sad speech but instead, she went ahead to tell me that she’ll be going ahead to serve her fatherland as a member of the National Youth service Corp(NYSC) One was allowed to serve first before going to the law school.
She wasn’t just veering off the plan but was enthusiastic about it. I remember she rambled on how she believed the conventional court room practice was not for her and she had a good feeling about going for service, as it would finally afford her the opportunity to take or see the law beyond the present limitations of litigation. She desired a career that was vibrant and active yet afforded her a chance to make real impact.
The more she talked, the more excited she became and this excitement was contagious. It was as though I could finally see the light at the end of the dark tunnel.
It's just so amazing how we have this plan for our lives, you know, we expect things to go a certain way and we don't even entertain the thought that something could possibly happen that would take us off the course of our lives. Yet whether we are ready for it or not, something big happens that throws us off completely and forces us to forge a different path other than the one we had earlier imagined.I'm one of the many or few people who fear change, it always feel like this big space trying to swallow me up. But this has taught me that change is not so scary after all.
It reminds me of a lesson I learnt from a seminar hosted by the organizers of the careermasterclass. I learnt that we may lack powers to change the system in a pre-existing organisation. Sometimes, some things are really just beyond our control. So, why bother controlling it?
Why not exert your influence in your little corner - controlling what you can and not bothering about that which you cannot.
I mean, God didn't try to destroy the world again after He had done so with the flood. However He sent his son Jesus who came like a second Adam to reconcile the world back to Him.
He didn't try to control the whole system, though not that He couldn't. But from what was available, He created a system totally new and way better than the previous one.
I want you to know that though change is scary, though we want so badly for things to go a certain way, we want our lives to go exactly in the way we planned it to. We must prepare for the fact that sometimes it won't. Sometimes a bigger force hits us that takes us to a whole different path and when that happens, the goal is not to fight the change. Can you really subdue an avalanche or a tornado? Why not ride the wave out and let it take you where it wants to?
It might just be the best thing to have happened to you.
My Best friend is currently having the best of time in the NYSC orientation camp. Recently, she delivered a speech on the theme, ‘service’ to about two thousand Corp members and received a thunderous applause for it. Her status is full of updates of the highlight of her day and in every bit of it, I hear the joy and laughter of not resisting this path, even when it wasn't the original plan.
Give yourself a break trying to control it and let the wave surprisingly bring you to the place it wants to. There is a bigger force at play here and just maybe if you give into Him, you never know where He might take you.
Ride The Wave!