The ToluRiye Blog

I've heard alot of people say "well, it is God's will for me" or "that's how God wants it" even when it is not God's will for them.
Simply because you met a road block ahead of you, doesn't mean what you what you were going for isn't God's will for you. Simply because you've failed a few times doesn't mean it isn't God's will for you.
You know what I think??
I think often times when we fail or meet a road block ahead, instead of resorting to "it's God's will for me", I think we should just think about what God wants. And I think God just wants us to try harder, put a little more effort and keep trying.
The thing is , we give up way too easily. We submit to our situations too easily and then we'll just sit there and be giving the "it's God's will for me" story.
Have you ever tried to figure out what His will for you actually is?
A lot of people miss out on God's will simply because they gave up. Let me put this another way: God gave you vision and you ran I to trouble, doesn't mean that that vision is not for you. It just means that you have to run extra to get to that vision.
In relation to God's will is instructions. A lot of people do not follow instructions. They feel they are well above instructions and just go about doing things the way they feel things should be done.
What is there in following instructions? What is so hard in you doing stuff as you're told to do it?
You need to understand something: God has a will for you, now for you to get to that will or rather for you to enjoy his will, He has laid out instructions which he expects you to follow and in following the instructions step by step, His will comes into fulfilment in your life. But when you don't follow his instructions, you either end up at a dead end or without his will being fulfilled.
God's will has a whole lot of packages in it, you just have to follow his instructions.

I've seen how alot of people just forget where they started or rather where they are coming from when they climb up the social ladder. It's pretty funny because it looks like they hit their head on something and lost their memory. But then it is painful to think that someone with such a background will forget their roots.
As you climb or go higher on the ladder of success, you should have your roots(that is where you came from) in mind and always be thankful for where you are now, where you were and where you are going to. You also should not change your characteristics.
How would you be successful and then you discard all those friends that were with you through thick and thin. You think that now you are on a higher level than those other people you left behind and it'll be embarrassing to be seen with you.
Look, your destiny is attached to the destiny of other people and so you ought to use your blessings to bless others and be of help to them.
We need to understand some things. We need to understand and know where our blessings come from and not get carried away in our blessings. We also need to understand that the only way to maintain that blessing(favor) is to stand rooted in where you came from.
With your blessings you will grow like a plant and climb over the walls but you have to understand that you gotta keep acting like where you came from. Your root is part of what defines you.
It is a good and beautiful thing to be rich and to finally conquer, be successful, be blessed but what do you gain when your root is lost? What is the point when you become another person entirely?

Persistency seems to a lot of people like too much work or rather such a heavy word that they don't think can actually be carried out.
Persistence is the act of persisting or perseverance, it is being resolute; continuous or repeating behavior. I love the part where it says repeating behavior.
You know what I've noticed, when people want material things, they are always persistent about it. When they are promised something, they always remind the person who promised them that stuff. They are persistent about it but you know what else I've noticed? When it is time for people to move or change position from point A to point B, they seem content, they don't persist. It looks to me like they are comfortable and content being at point A.
I need everyone to understand something and that is that "if there is anything in this life that gets you through point A to point B, it's the ability to be persistent over a long period of time".
Now, we need to understand something. Its not just about being persistent, you must be able to be persistent over a long period of time.
Moving from point A to B will take you through a lot of stuffs. You will pass through different challenges and a lot of ups and downs, not also forgetting the hurdles you have to cross too, but then your persistency through the situation no matter how long it takes is what will get you through.
Moving from point A to point B makes you a conqueror and every conqueror has complications but if you wait for the complications to leave, you can never be a conqueror.
Simply put, before you progress, and move from one position, you will go through complications and these complications is what makes you a conqueror but if you wait for this complications to leave or if you do not want to have complications then you can never be a conqueror.
I challenge you today to have a persistent spirit, the spirit of a conqueror and the will to persevere!!

The patient dog eats the fattest bone

This saying is not strange to many of us and has been said by many of us on numerous occasions.
Leo Tolstoy once said 'the most powerful warriors are patience and time'. Patience I'll say is the ability to wait or to continue doing something despite difficulties. One thing I've come to understand is that there is no patience without time. Some of us have been in a difficult situation whereby if we were not patient, things could have gone the other way round, but in the process of being 'patient', it seemed to you like it will take forever to get out of such a situation...but when the situation that looked liked forever ended, we were happy. The forever it seemed like it took back then is the *time* which works correspondingly with patience.
At one point in life, we will need to be patient. As defined above as the ability to either wait or continue doing somethings through difficulties, patience requires waiting, it requires being expectant, it requires being optimistic about what you stand to gain at the finish line. The road will definitely be rough, but don't be discouraged, don't blame yourself and don't blame others. The rough roads are what I refer to as the test of time, they are what I call the test of patience, they are what I call the test of endurance. The road could have possibly been smooth, but since nothing good comes easy, they are put there to see how much you will fair in the test of time, patience and endurance.
Have a positive mindset of 'I will get to the finish line, no matter what' before setting out, prepare your mind to face certain hurdles, believe in yourself that you can overcome the hurdles and then strategise how to overcome them.  Strive not to fail, rather strive to reach for the stars.
I leave you with the words of Harriet Tubman, who said 'Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world'.

Peace

¤Akangbe Oluwadamilare Aderiye¤

The pot-holes, oh my God! are like the sizes of big basins. Some are totally damaged and yet on the news you'll hear them say "the Nigerian government is working", but I don't seem to see any work, only if I have issues with my eyes which of course I do not!
Travelling is one of my hobbies and to me, you don't get the 'fun' when travelling by air so I travel more by road. But these days, the journey ain't making sense no more, it has been really uncomfortable for me. Because of what, you say?? THE ROAD. The extent at which my body aches at the end of the journey is appalling!
An encounter I had in the last 3 weeks really made me zero my mind about Nigerian roads.
In the past 3 weeks now, I travelled from the North to the South-western region of the country and back.
I travelled to Lagos by road and the story of that journey is 'bitter sweet'. Bitter in the sense that the journey was annoying and stressful and sweet in that I enjoyed my journey because I love travelling. Travelling to Lagos from Kano by road is one hell of a journey and I'm gonna break my pity story into 3 parts.

•The first part of my pity story was when we got to Edo state, Ibilo to be precise. All I noticed was that the road ahead was totally blocked, but luckily for us, the villagers there had created another road, those people are awesome and ought to be appreciated for such a beautiful work well done. The road created was sort of narrow and when it got to a point, we all had to alight from the car, trek some distance forward before hopping into the car again. Thank God for new and good tyres.
•The second part of my pity story, however was on the way from Ibilo, Edo State heading to Owo, Ondo state. This was the most annoying part of the journey. FERMA (Federal Road Maintenance Agency) agents were working with their hands, with just few crude equipments, and that aside, they also lacked the sense of organisation. On getting closer to them, a truck was dropping gravels that would be used to fill the road, and after depositing the gravels, the truck just left, not even bothering to spread the gravels and pave way for other commuters. As soon as the truck took its leave, the FERMA agents started to spread the gravels deposited with their bare hands and one of them was busy taking pictures that I was sure we would end up seeing on the news with "Federal government is working" OR "Ibilo-Owo road to be opened in a fortnight's time!". They don't seem to understand that Nigerians are not stupid. By the way, the traffic was starting to build up and they were still working with their hands.
Shortly after, the 'men in camo' passed by and instead of them to even try and control the traffic, they, being their bossy selves created a way and zoomed off.
•The last part of my pity story was when we got to a particular point, some guys stopped us and told us to pay before we could continue our journey. My mum brought out the normal #50, and they said they couldn't collect it because they were the ones getting all the resources needed to fix the road themselves and working on it, so it was either we gave them #100 or we went back. We finally paid and we continued our journey, encountered traffic jams at different point till we finally got to Lagos!
Corruption is now the order of the day in this country. The amounts allocated to the Ministry of transport are going into people's stomach and not the road.
It would be really cool if our leaders and even Mr. President himself travel by road to different parts of the country and see what Nigerians are going through. Roads such as the one along Ekiti State, the one that links Kano to Kaduna, the one linking Ibilo, Edo State to Owo, Ondo State, as well as the road along Plateau state. If the leaders travel through these paths and experience what an average Nigerian experiences every now and then, only then would they actually know what to do.

I'd like to know your experiences with Nigerian road. No matter how short your journey has been. And to my non-Nigerian readers, I would also like for you to comment about the road issues in your country.
Peace!!

¤Adeyemo Toluwanise Precious

"oh! I'm not worthy of this post given me". "I can't accept this". "I can't do it". "I don't have the skills". "This is worth more than I can handle".
Most of us always have comments about ourselves like the afore mentioned. We don't see ourselves as worth anything, yet we aren't satisfied with where we are. What we don't understand is that, how we see ourselves has a lot to do with our progress. How we see ourselves affects our progress.
When I was in Senior high School, class 3 to be precise, prefects were to be chosen. I was told by several people that I'll be the house prefect but I kept telling them that I wasn't worthy of being a house prefect. I believed I wasn't worth it and in the end, I was a block prefect. Imagine, if I had thought myself worthy of being a house prefect. Funny thing was, I always said if I was a prefect at all, I'd be the block prefect.
Look, sometimes it's not that people around us don't want us to progress, it's that we at times stop ourselves from progressing.
How? You say?
You stop yourself from progressing when you don't think worthy of yourself. When you see yourself as undeserving, please ooo, how do you expect to get something you don't deserve??
The truth is that, until you see yourself as worthy, you will always sink back. Until you see yourself as worthy of that position, you will remain where you are. Until you see yourself as worthy of that contract, you will not get it. Same with so many aspects of our lives.
Yes, you've prayed about it but it's not coming. Have you sat down to think that maybe it's not coming because you are having doubts about yourself? Have you ever thought that maybe it's because you see yourself as unworthy?
You need to have a positive view about you. You need to start believing in yourself and counting yourself worthy.
You are amazing. Yes! you can and will definitely make it.

Have you ever been hungry? Like hungry to the extent that you thought you'd faint? Or even to the point when it seems as though you can't breath well? Trust me, I've been there.
Imagine being this hungry and imagine the satisfaction and joy you get after having a good meal. Don't let your imaginations go too wild. Stay with me.
Now let's use this hunger as a symbol for our dreams. The achievement of our dream is the satisfaction we get when we have eaten a good meal.
I can imagine what most of us look like or how we act when we are hungry and how we would do anything for a really good meal, some of us can't even settle for an appetizer, all we want is the main dish.
Having this picture in mind, I wonder why some of us don't seem to feed our dreams. I wonder why it is that when we have gotten an appetizer for our dreams, we are fine. We don't go the extra mile to find a main dish.
Sometimes, when it looks like feeding our dream is expensive, we starve it.
Look, you don't have a dream or goal because, well it's a normal thing for everybody to have a dream. Those dreams you have, are significant to you. They are part of what makes you unique. Therefore, I want you to chase your dreams no matter the cost (I didn't say kill or do bad stuffs ooo...smiles). You have to push yourself forward. You have to leave your comfort zone in achieving your dream.
Feeding your dream is all the things you'll go through, all the efforts you'll have to put into achieving your dream.
Imagine the satisfaction you get after having a healthy meal, that is the satisfaction you get when you have worked towards your dream and you have achieved it.
Be hungry for your dreams. Don't starve your dreams. Feed it.
It might cost you some things. You'll have to go the extra mile. You'll have to leave your comfort zone and you'll have to go through some other stuffs. But in the end, after you have achieved your dreams, you will have that satisfaction and you'll have joy within you.
In achieving your dreams, don't settle for less, settle for the best. You also cannot settle for the ordinary because you are more than ordinary.
Don't forget, the achievement of your dream may be the blessing and motivation for another person.

I was thinking within myself one cool afternoon about people who have at one point in their life been stigmatised, yet moved on and did not let such stigma affect their way of life as well as their relationship with people.
I am a living example of such people. Back then in high school, due to my complexion and all, my mates used to mock me and call me all sort of names. I felt pained and inferior that time, it really got to me, reduced my self-esteem and as such reduced my interaction with people. Fast forward to this moment, it just doesn't bother me a bit...and I'm very proud of being a confirm black!. As Jon Bellion said in his track - all time low...'I've been trying to fix my pride, but that shit's broken', so have I been striving not to get too proud of my complexion, but I can't stop being proud because BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL...lol!
And due to the fact that I decided to overlook the insults and mockery, plus the fact that a good friend also encouraged me not to let such insults get to me, I've been able to stand out among peers. I attended a programme one day and I contributed to the discussion in the programme, and people were looking like 'so this BLACK boy can speak English as fluent as this' and I was just laughing within myself.
To you out there who has decided to give up because of one stigma or the other...I urge you today to get on your feet and 'showcase your talent (in falz's voice...lol). Show them that you are not what they think you are. Beat their imagination with that which you're good at and show them that BEHIND EVERY SCAR LIES BEAUTY!!!
Peace!!!

"I envy you ooo". "Your life is moving on well". "Wow! You are established already". "Your own is good ooo". "I want to be like you".
These and so many other words am I told on daily basis.
I look at all these people giving them my thanks but I know they are all missing something.
They all seem to have a cloth over their eyes. Even though they can see, they are blind. They are blind to what lies beneath. They are blind to the stories behind my success. They are blind to the sadness within my smile. The most painful part is that they are blind to my scars. They are blind to the sources if my motivation.
If only they could read between the lines. Even at this young age, I have been through a lot.
When all they see is beautiful, all I see is ugly. When people see joy, I See pain. I have been through the good, the bad and the ugly. When I stand before the mirror, all I see are scars. I see a heart turned to titanium because of the pain caused it.
But at some point, I open up my heart and I am brought to the understanding that there is beauty in every scar. I understand that my scars also make me beautiful.

I have been scarred. At this young age, I already know what pain is. But because I smile, they don't see my pain.
My scars are what make me strong. My scars have brought me to the understanding of the world. My scars are part of my personality.
My scars are all over but hidden to those who can't see beyond the horizon. My scars make me.