I MET MYSELF
by Amao Peculiar
I strolled down Ligali Ayorinde Street on Victoria Island and I gaped in awe at the magnificent buildings there. I walked past the Eko Hotel and Suites property and my eyes nearly popped out of my sockets. The beauty of the hotel and how expensive it looked from the outside made me wish to be inside there.
I crossed the two-lane road to get to the front of the hotel’s main gate. Surprisingly, the hotel’s security paid me no attention as I walked past them and into the hotel’s lobby. I scanned the reception and saw a medium-sized placard displaying events that would hold in various sections of the hotel today. There was a mention of a Writers’ Award Gala on the placard. That particular event piqued my interest and I strolled in the direction of the Eko Convention Centre where the gala would hold.
I entered the convention centre with minimal stress from anyone. Again, the security officials paid me no attention. They didn’t even ask for my invitation card or nada. I found that weird but I enjoyed the bliss of strolling through the doors like a VVIP. I found myself a seat towards the middle of the centre where I could easily see the stage and also bolt from the event if anything happened. Several of my favourite authors and other renowned writers, including Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka walked in! I was grinning from ear to ear.
This event was the opportunity of a lifetime! I was seeing people whose works I had read, in flesh and blood. I decided there and then that I would enjoy every moment of this gala. The gala started on a high note and an hour later, it was time to award the best author in Africa. The compere read the profile of the awardee and honestly, that person sounded like she was living my dream life. Apparently, she owns standard bookstores across the country and a flourishing clothing line in the African Region. To crown it all, she writes brilliant novels. I was already smiling broadly and preparing my hands to clap violently when the person walked on stage.
A six-foot-tall brown-skinned belle draped in an expensive Ankara dress that highlighted her feminine curves strutted to the stage arm in arm with a handsome young man. Lo and behold fellas! She looked like me! Or should I say she was me? Because when the compere introduced her, she was bearing my name.
“Earth to!” Ayo shouted at me and I blinked like four times before seeing her. She had sat beside me at the back of the class where we were taking a break from Monday’s classes. I had not even seen her sit. I had just been staring into oblivion. “What were you thinking about?” she asked me. I replied, “I met my future self.”
Acting for the future:
Pray for revelation, think about your passion, and research your competencies, interests, and weaknesses. Then develop a life vision that’d improve lives and make you a success.
Culled from:
Joel 2:28 – And in the last days, I would pour out my Spirit on all flesh, your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams.