Fola Daniel Adelesi: My Silent Thought

All the articles or the books you have been reading from me are obviously my silent thoughts. However, there is one of those several thoughts that stands out all the time. I can’t stop thinking about this and it just will not stop coming back. It hits hard when it comes, and it is really not one of those thoughts that I can shake away easily. Once in a while, this thought makes me ask myself questions and it really motivates the things I sometimes do.

What is this thought that can make me stop everything I am doing for a few minutes and really get me thinking? That thought always comes in form of a question and it is ‘Who will miss you when you are gone?’ To put it in a clearer way, it is also another way of asking: how many people will feel like their world will come to an end if anything happens to you? Who are those who will feel like dying if you ever die?

Now I don’t want to scare you. I don’t want you to die yet if you are young and I am also still very young so I am not going to die any time soon by God’s grace. Having cleared that, knowing how religious we can be, it is also very important to fast forward into the future once in a while and just try to imagine what will happen when we are gone.

For me as an inspirational writer and speaker, my best motivation is not in the inspiring things I write and say to you. It is in the inspiring things I do to you. That is why I always ask myself questions about how many people I have impacted in this life and how many will miss me so much when I am gone.

If we think like this most times, there will be a lot of difference in our personal lives and then the community that we live in. It means that we will not only think about ourselves but about other people. Let me open my window of wild thoughts to you. Sometimes when I walk into or drive through bad streets, I just suddenly feel like I should have enough money to help them level the street, dig proper drains and pour asphalt on the entire street then put street lights for them. When I see people without jobs, it makes me imagine owning a company with several vacancies and I can employ all of them. I am not happy when I see those who genuinely have a purpose and skill and they appear to be frustrated because of lack of capital.

Someone who is reading this right now probably has a wrist watch which is more than the capital someone else needs to start a business. Don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with buying a wrist watch that you like regardless of the price. It is your choice and it is your money. But I will also be happy to see that you are helping someone out there and creating a lasting impact in their lives. How can I wear shoes that are twice the capital that someone needs to start a business? How can I go for a weekend shopping and in less than three hours I have already spent an amount that will probably help someone start a company.

I can’t stand such thoughts and that’s what I always think about. As at the time of writing this, I have found some young talented people who can do a lot better if only they had laptops to work with. I have since been looking for a way to help them and trying to get others to help provide laptops for young folks whose dreams are being delayed just because of a laptop.

Do you ever think about things like this? Do you ever ask yourself who will ever miss you? Has it ever struck you that life is never about you alone? It’s easy for me to keep talking to you about how you can make money and help you stay motivated but I will really not be doing much good to you if you don’t hear about your impact on the lives of others.

I think that this is not one of those several other things you should read, think about it for a while and let it fade away with time. I will be glad if you pick up a pen and notebook (notice I didn’t say paper so that you don’t throw it away easily) to write your action plan.

Simply write practical things you want to do in order to impact the lives of other people around you. You can’t limit this to your family because you already have an obligation towards them. It’s even greater when it is towards those you know little about and are people who can’t pay you back.

Please let this ring in your hearts from today and all the days of your life. ‘Who will miss you when you are gone?’

Photo Credit: ahsmiles.co

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Fola Daniel Adelesi is a professional public speaker who also trains other speakers, an author, business consultant and highly skilled master of ceremony with excellent poise and diction. He was on the Debaters TV reality show season 1, presented ‘You Can’ on Radio Continental in 2011, did motivational segments on Galaxy TV from Dec 2008 to August 2009 and has authored 3 books including Writing Business Proposal