Dues, Accolades, Appreciation and Somethings

I may not know how hard you’ve worked, or for how long, or how much it’s cost you, but friends and family, no be only you dey that level o( you are not the only one in that level). See, like you, I’ve been through a whole lot rigorous things; paid prices I never thought I’d ever recover from only for me to reach another juncture where I needed to pay yet again. And for all these years of sacrificial ‘dues’, I had absolutely NO - THING to show for it. Well, until recently.

Imagine working 3 straight nights to research a topic for a friend’s article, only to get a weak thank - you and a bottle of coke (no cash, and absolutely no appreciation)? Imagine having to do a group project yourself just because your groupmate are not willing to and after having worked your butts off in preparations only to receive a hearty “i just hope the instructor will be pleased with this? Imagine staying up late-night to help friends resolve serious relationship matters, to earn a meagre “thanks sis"? Yeah, I did all of that!

In all my years of seemingly fruitless endeavours, I learnt a few things that I’d like to share with you:

TIME: The first thing between where you are now paying your dues and those many accolades you deserve is time. Don’t ever put yourself down for the reason that you’re not yet getting your dream kind of feedback yet – enjoy your process; OWN it! Yes, people may make fun of you like they made fun of me: "so you’re still on this steemit of a thing but theirs still nothing to show for it", "so you read 8hrs a day and you are still not the best in the class and you still continue"? – I had to deal with all of that by being convinced of my value. Be confident in the value of your service; The Seventeen-year-old David in the bible was confident of his ability to defeat a giant, even though he had never really been on a battlefield before. You don’t necessarily need to start with the ‘big ones’: he started with a lion and a bear.

CONSISTENCY: While you’re patiently ‘waiting’ for your time to rake in those accolades, don’t be found wanting in consistency. Let people have a testimony of you they can always relate with: BE KNOWN FOR SOMETHING! Find solace enjoying your own company and the sound of your own voice whether or not you can see anyone listening and do it without deferring or bitterness. Imagine the young shepherd boy cheerfully playing his harp on while in the pastures with his father’s sheep, how could he have known it would not only bring him before the king, but also be the gateway to his enthronement? (David: 1Sam 16) Be your first audience and favourite fan and don’t give in to the several tides of discouraging opinions. Develop a strategy that’s unique to you. David had a strategy, Saul had another, and even though Saul’s strategy wasn’t a bad idea, it wasn’t David’s to use or adopt. Know what works best for you and stick with it (Like Forex Traders will always tell you).

PEOPLE: These are, you know, those requisite Paparazzi for your announcement. They may not necessarily be entities that you have physical accords with, but nonetheless, they are the mass of onlookers carefully x-raying your resolve to discover either your strength or your weakness – either way, they are programmed to broadcast whatever they find you consistent with. You sure don’t want to disappoint these folks; especially that your friend, you know how much she’d love to make fun over your latest ‘adventure’. One rule of thumb is this, always give this particular ‘factor’ something to talk about and you’ll find that whether positively or negatively, you’re making the waves. Young Joseph would never have actualised that beautiful dream of his, had he isolated himself. So, get interactive, relationships are one of the greatest asset in life.

“Do you see a man diligent in all his business, he will…” – this particular quote from scriptures says it all: Diligence + Audience = Success. Be consistently diligent at what you do, and let your audience have something to always relate with as concerns you.

Conclusion: Your well-deserved accolades aren’t just going to drop off on your laps sometime soon, sit up, get into your grind regardless of however little you have to show for it at the moment. Remember: “every tree was once a little seed!”

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