2019 was welcomed with a good spirit and a living hope however in this past 3 months I have failed and likewise I have succeeded. I will love to share with you some of my stories in this past 90 days.

Late last year, I wrote an exam to further my training. The exam wasn’t bad. I was optimistic and all hopes were high that I will be shortlisted to resume for the training. Like a child waiting for Christmas to wear his/her new clothes so I waited for the list. I put calls through to be sure I wasn’t out of the loop of information for the list. Days went by and then weeks yet there was no list.

Sometimes in February, I came back from work tired. I decided to take a shower, eat and catch a sleep. I have my food on the table and I was about to eat when I checked my phone, lo and behold, here is the long-awaited list of the successful candidates for the training. My heart skipped! I scanned through the list- nothing was close to my name. I checked again thinking that probably I didn’t check well. I was not happy as I discovered that I wasn’t shortlisted. Of course, I have prayed concerning this- not once or twice as it takes priority when I pray. Oh yes! I met with some persons whom I thought will be of assistance to me. Though I have put resources into this endeavour, I didn’t get my desired goal.

Don’t forget that I got the news while I was preparing to eat. It was as though I should no longer eat. I felt like going to bed with an empty stomach in protest. I am human and truth be told I was not happy but I said to myself ‘life continues…this is not the end of life…there will be another opportunity…I believe all things work together for my good.’ Guess what? I ate my food and went to bed. For some days, the thought kept popping up in my mind but I made a decision not to allow it to spoil my day and my interaction with people around me. I decided what to do with this circumstance and not allow it to decide what to do for me.

That wasn’t all as I also applied for the Tolu Elumelu foundation and likewise wasn’t shortlisted. These past three months have been eventful for me. I got myself into a lot of things. I had targets which I met and those I could not meet which spilled into the new month.

Of course, I also had success stories in these past months. I was able to save lives- patients with severe anaemia from postpartum haemorrhage; patients with uterine rupture; children with severe anaemia in shock etc. I am glad I am able to turn those at the door of death back to life. I also got to handle the knife for surgeries without supervision which were successful.

I got my business registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission. I got to handle online seminars and digital publishing training. I also got my virtual school launched.

In this past 90 days, a lot had happened.

Of course, you have your own story which you can drop as a comment below if you want. I love to hear your story too

In all, we should learn to be strong. We should also learn to forget the past either success or failure and be focused on the future. You cannot undo the past but you can take advantage of it irrespective of if it is good or bad. You have the power to decide what you allow your past do to you.

It is not too early to do some assessment about how you are doing this year and then make the necessary adjustment.

Toyin Obafemi,

Harnessing quality thoughts for a better life and impact.