The best way to lighten your burden in life is to get knowledge, and I think the best way to get knowledge is to stay in the company of the wise. Like a sheep amidst its fellows and a goat in the company of its herd, everyone turns out to be a product of the company they keep. I have been privileged to keep a simple but knowledgeable company of friends right from a tender age. If you see me talking about health, computers, engineering, and other fields outside mine, trust me, one way or another, my friends enlightened me about those areas. More than these priceless contributions and highlights courtesy of my ‘lighting’ (or illuminating) company of friends, I’ll love to describe a major scenario that changed my perspective and, in a way, or the other, illuminated my future.
“Guy, do quick and pick one of these ladies; you are not getting any younger,” were Segun’s words, which came as a shocker to me. I wasn’t expecting it. “Are you sure you are not high, or have you sniffed something funny?” I had to give a sarcastic response because we were both not married at the time. Segun is a lightly built guy, one of my good old friends—a medical doctor, to be precise. Though we had fun during our university days, he is still one of the very mature friends I have. He is an analyst and can dissect, enlighten, highlight, and use any other analytic technique one can ever imagine in communicating his thoughts. As 'serious' as he is, I was a good match because I always have a hilarious response to match his serious mood, at least before listening to whatever serious things he had to say. The conversation we had earlier happened immediately after we finished at the university.
“You are not serious,” Segun chuckled, as he went on to make his point. “You can’t say that because you are not buoyant enough, you won’t get married. Every good thing you see that got well-established came to being due to someone making up their minds to take responsibility!” Although Segun was making a point about getting married, my brain lit up and re-echoed those last words, “take responsibility!” It was as if someone was beside me, telling me to take note of the words because we would discuss them later. I came to my senses and, as always, replied with sarcasm, “tell me, Segun, how many years did you spend on earth the first time you came?”
I traveled back to my state the next day and couldn't help but ruminate on what Segun said the previous day, and this made me ask myself some questions. What is being responsible all about? Even though marriage wasn’t a priority for me, how can I be responsible in other areas of my life? I started thinking of better ways to shine the light of influence on my potential and make the most of my abilities. At this level, the sunlight of knowledge and wisdom shed light on my capabilities, which improved and catapulted me into a higher realm of self-discovery. To date, I am thankful to Segun for that short but life-changing session we had.