Dear Segun,
When my last letter to you was returned, I called your mum who told me you had left that organization for a new job. It was a pleasant surprise but not entirely so; I had some concerns. This is the third job you’ve taken on within two years and without any significant promotion on any of the jobs before you left to find another one. I was also impressed because I have had folks waiting to get employed in between jobs for years. So it came as a surprise that you could easily work out from one job and into another within such a short space of time. For me that must be the ninth wonder of the world since the eight must have been recorded somewhere, maybe in Wakanda.
It tells me also that these employers see something sparkling in you, which is why they take you on despite the red flags. And you, what exactly are you looking for? The perfect job? the perfect pay? the perfect boss? I doubt if these exist outside Wakanda. I sense in you a longing for a rendezvous with history; a craving for that momentous event that will announce you to the world as a star. I sense that in your pursuit for this moment in time you are neglecting the people around you; failing in relationships.
Segun, your glorious destiny is encapsulated in the people around you. I repeat, the people around you are the capsules of your great destiny. What you achieve with them determines how far you go in your journey to claim your birthright. The philosophers call it the diamond principle, which holds that what you make happen for others, God will make happen for you. In truth, it is more than a principle; it is the divine modus operandi. It is the only way God delivers us from our self centeredness, by putting the answers we need in others, and thereby forcing us out of ourselves.
Let me borrow other words to communicate. Wealth is not what you have; it is who you are; including the sum of your relationships. You first of all become something before you see money. Money comes to you I recognition of who you are. God never made anything as a whole but as a part. He made you to gain significance by integrating yourself with another. There is a part you’ll have to play in the life of someone else that will help you become what God has designed you to be. Until you discover your part in some cause greater than you immediate needs, you cannot grow into the fullness of what God wants you to be. The destiny of every man or woman is in the hands of another man or woman. We are meant to co-exist and help each other nurture what God has put inside of us so that we can become what God wants us to be. There’s no successful man or woman who is not a product of somebody. Your life will remain the same until you come in contact with men that will flag off your destiny. Every successful output is determined by external input.
So here is what I am saying Segun, before you dismiss your present assignment to hunt for the next job opening, first open your eyes to the people and relationships around you. Never discount anybody but rather try to leave a positive mark on every one you come across, even the disagreeable, especially the disagreeable ones. Do not, I repeat, do not burn bridges as long as it depends on you. For instance, what would have become of Naaman if the Hebrew servant girl did not tell him about Elisha; what could have happened to David’s wives and children, and that of his men if they had not stopped to give attention to the wounded renegade by the way? What would have been of the famished crowd in the desert if Andrew didn’t notice the young man’s lunch provisions? Remember again, what you are looking for in Sokoto is in your Kaftan!