On Friday, hubby and I saw an episode of “Britain’s got Talent”…you know, the UK talent show where winners get to take home a hundred thousand pounds, in addition to the privilege of performing at the annual Royal variety show, before the Queen and her son, Prince Charles.
Whilst I think some of the contestants are totally not IT, and only come on to the show to achieve a feat of “appearing on TV” e.g. this guy HERE, who (coincidentally) happens to be a fellow Nigerian, and (rather annoyingly) managed to secure 2 “Yeses” from the judges…the show really does turn out to be a discovery ground for several good, or sometimes even great talents/acts (too numerous to mention)…
One latest such discovery was Sue Son, a violinist, who initially came on the show as a duo called “Addicted” with her best friend…Sue was playing the violin while her bestie was on the keyboard (see their performance HERE)…the judges felt the two didn’t quite go well together, and consequently all said NO to their act…however, in an awesome act of “fate” (as some would say) the judges offered Sue a chance to return and perform as a solo act, because they felt she played well, and was a natural talent…Sue struggled with the decision, not wanting to look like she was betraying her friend, but amidst pressure mounted on her by Simon Cowell, the show’s chief judge, and the crowd chanting and urging her to accept, Sue accepted and returned to play on her own (see her solo act HERE)…and of course, she played very well (by my own standards at least) and earned a well deserved “3 Yeses” from the judges…
Now, why am I telling you all this story?
As I sat there watching events unfold after the initial duo’s performance, it occured to me that such indeed, is life…2 people compete together (together as in, on the same side) for the same thing, and 1 gets singled out…Sue could have rejected the offer, preferring instead to remain loyal to her best friend…but what if…just what if, that had been ordained as her one big chance to shine…to get discovered…to make a name for herself? What if that was her destiny in life? If roles had been reversed, what would her friend have done?
The scenario took me back a few years ago, when a close friend had attended the initial screening of an airline and was invited back for an aptitude test…she told myself and another one of our friends about the ongoing screening (which was going to end in another two hours or so) but warned that there were height restrictions which we might not scale through…as we were both petite, my friend and I immediately dismissed the idea of attending the screening. 30 minutes later, we were feeling very bored, as it was our CD day (we were youth corpers then) and we had nowhere to go…so we put on some formal clothes and headed for the hotel where the screening was being held. We were the last batch of people attended to that fateful day, and while I got invited back for an interview the following week, my friend said she wasn’t even offered a seat, but was immediately told NO!
The following week, friend 1 and I attended the aptitude test; test 1 was mathematics and only those who passed it would be allowed to take test 2 – English language…there were only 6 questions in the maths test and I knew that even a secondary school student would easily pass that test. Surprisingly though, when the names of those who were moving on to take test 2 were called out, my name and friend 1’s name were conspicously absent…we left the venue together and headed for her office, both sure we had passed, and that there was probably some partiality going on behind the scenes…about 30-45 minutes later, we both received calls asking us to return to take the English test, as we had passed the maths test.
We returned and took the English language test, and this time around, I was the only one selected for interview the following day…my friend hugged me and wished me the very best…As far as that company was concerned, it was farewell to her…I did eventually go on to get a job with the airline, and my friend got a job with British American Tobacco (BAT).
Lessons learnt;
At that time, I thoroughly empathised with my friend, and thought it was unfair that the friend who had told me about the opportunity in the first place, didn’t get to go far in the recruitment process, talk more of getting the job, but I later realised that such is life, and that God has pre-destined our individual paths differently…
When your time comes to shine, when life presents you with an opportunity or a second chance (as in Sue’s case), when God opens a door for you (probably through another person, like me)…please TAKE it, and make the best of that opportunity…
Or when it seems like you’ve just lost (or been denied) a big opportunity…when you feel like someone you consider(ed) a friend took your spot in the light…take a step back and think; maybe this isn’t for me? Maybe God has something else (probably better than this) in stock for me?…
Have you had a similar experience? Was it like Sue’s or like mine? Or maybe like 1 of the friends’? Please feel free to share with us…
May God continually lead and direct us right…Amen!
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We hear the phrase time management frequently….especially in our work lives…so, what exactly is time management?
Anoda Phase... 
10 Ideas for Creative Use of Your Time…
Posted in Personal Development, tagged 10 ideas, comment, creative use of time, productivity, Teegirl, time on April 15, 2009| 6 Comments »
This is a quick follow up to yesterday’s post on Time Management…and is a continuation of my response to the issue/question raised by Teegirl on how to spend her time more creatively, hence more productively…I have reproduced her comment in it’s original form below, highlighting the portion that informed this follow-up post;
“Very interesting. No. 4 is a new concept 4 me bt i sure hv learnt something new. 4give my genuity and lack of creativity, I hv 24hrs in a day bt spend more than 18hrs being idle. Wot advise can i gt bcos i c dat am not only being unproductive bt also wasting a very Valuable resource Time“.
The following list is only suggestive, and is not in any way exhaustive…please feel free to add to the list by way of comments, or you can email your additions to me and I will update the post accordingly…
1. Read books…on a wide variety of topics…no knowledge gained is ever a waste…
2. Write a book…as I said to Teegirl yesterday in my response to her; a page a day, a chapter at a time…or start a blog as I have done…
3. Volunteer with a charity organisation…for example, Christian Aid…or get a part-time job…
4. Join a club/group…a fitness club, a book club, a knitting group, etc…
5. Learn something new…how to sew, preparing a new dish, a musical instrument…
6. Take a course…on Management, Social work, Communication skills, or anything else that tickles you…
7. Go back to school…you are never too old to acquire a/another degree…be it your first, or a Masters, a Phd, or a Professional qualification…
8. Teach…share your knowledge on any area that you feel competent at…opportunities abound for graduates to Teach First…remember what they say about knowledge shared?
9. Turn a hobby/passion/talent, into a money-making venture…eg. start charging a fee for those lovely cakes you bake, or the hair you fix for others…
10. I leave this one to Teegirl…I’m sure you get my drift now…
Want to add to this list? I’ld love to hear from you…hit the comments button now…
Cheers
Justdoyin
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