Birthday Message to Self

Where wisdom lies. How we live life. What role we play in other people's life. The years ahead.

Mar 06, 2020

Path To Wisdom

I've come to like birthdays because it gives yet another poignant opportunity to number your days.

The house that mourns teaches more wisdom than the one that merry. Because we get the opportunity to number our days on birthdays, we are offered the opportunity both to merry and to get wiser (Now I understand why wisdom is expected to come with age).

Wisdom is what is needed to navigate the tumultuous world and I am grateful for increasing in wisdom yearly.

I have taken the time (not to satisfaction) to number my days on this day and it's really been amazing. I got a lot of messages but some stood out that put me in even more deep thoughts. By the nature of those messages, you would almost be able to tell that this is a message coming from the dept of the heart. Messages like that gave me a reminiscent to consider my life options and access the decisions I've made so far. It's been incredible.

While I do not optimize to never hurt anyone, for this would be a futile effort and a misadventure of optimization, none could say "you did me evil". The journey ahead is still very far and I move on in this my might.

"Teach us oh Lord to number our days that we might apply our heart to understanding," the Psalmist says.

That said, I have more to say on this my day.
It's a message to myself that I chose to share with you. 😀😀😀

Our Role In Each Other’s Movie

"Each of us is a star in the movie of our life, but how much of a role do we play in other people's movie?"

I heard those words on the 5th of March while listening to a Podcast by NPR on my way to work. It struck me as an instructive statement. "Each of us is a star in the movie of our life, but how much of a role do we play in other people's movies?"

When we contemplate life, we often do so as an adventure that sees us come out as the star of our movie and that's a very good thing. Something worth optimizing for. However, the role you play in other people's story is less contemplated. We often leave this aspect of our contemplation to chance. Doing that might signal something not alright. But remember you cannot be the star or the hero of other people's story, they are the star of their movie.

I have lived my life every day of it since I became conscious of it in a manner as I would like to continue or better yet, improve on. And one of the contemplations that have always mattered to me is the role that I play in other people's movie.

The 5th of March usually gives me the opportunity to know more about that (at scale) beyond what I imagined. I got lots of messages but a few stood out. I could tell by the wordings of those messages that indeed I've been part of this people’s movie. What marvelled me the most was that a lot of them whom I've been part of their movie, I never thought I could be. Some alluded to my articles as helping them, some to my actions and some from the conversations we had as a show of basis.

It made me realize the need for us to prioritize the contemplating of the role we play in other people's movie even if we can not be the star.

Below are some of the messages. I chose to only put their first name as part of the message.

"Happy Birthday to you, yeah. Your determination to be a person of value is obvious and has helped many of us. Really, lots of people have the zeal to be great, lots have plans, goals and aspirations, but only a few really act. You're one of those few and there's really no limit to your influence in life. Thank you for choosing to make an impact, thank you for giving to the Lord and to the world. I'm a life that was changed..."

~ Tolulope

"OK. Happy birthday to the man who first introduced me to ICAN, right at that moment, I wanted to be like him... He is already a chartered accountant mind you. So from that very day in 2016, I made up my mind to also be a chartered accountant soon or sooner, he motivated me. Even though I should have started the exam for a long time now, But Alhamdulillah, I know I will be a chartered accountant before I finish my degree. On your day today, I appreciate you for your confidence in me that I can actually do this. Any time feel like giving up because it's tiring and I remember your words and Dad's prayers, something used to give me courage and since I'm determined to be one, I know very soon I will make everybody proud..."

~ Khadijah

"My friend and brother. He is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Living together for many years have really been fun-filled and impacting All those midnight gist about career, marriage, life here and hereafter, Christendom and the Christian faith gist about Ilorin adventures, and a whole lot. Anyways, how much more can I say..."

~ Olaitan

"I'm smiling right now. I'm just happy I'm his friend now before the whole world gets to know him. I'm so happy Happy birthday David A. I love reading your status, it's either I'm learning new words or something else. You add value and you're a great man. I pray you will increase in knowledge and get wisdom and may this generation and generations after drink from you. God bless you"

~ Peace

“I am grateful for your presence in this world, your words have done some pushing and given sense when I feel like I have none. Thank you sir.”

~ Similoluwa

What I learnt from all the messages

Because of our actions, words, and perspective, some people's life has been changed. How better could the world be if we all choose to work towards being the best version of ourselves? A lot more than what we have now.
One of the questions I usually ask myself is “What if I was not who I am, what will the movie of these individuals be like?”
You should ask yourself the question as well… What if you were better than you are now, what role will you play in your brother’s movie. To answer Cain’s question, “yes, you are your brother’s keeper.”
The messages that you've read is just to drive home a point that "no matter how little, we can play a role in the other people's movie. A role they crave and that they would greatly appreciate.
We are a being of association and as a result, we can hardly make a great movie all by ourselves without involving others. My lesson then has been that people will always appreciate it when you play a valuable role in their movie. Play a role today.

The Journey Ahead

No doubt, I have come a long way on this journey of life. Navigating life under uncertain conditions. But there is more ahead and the only responsibility hinged on my neck is to strive more to be a better version of myself, for this is the way to profit the world in which I’ve found myself.

"At God's footstool to confess, a poor soul knelt and bowed his head. 'I failed!' he cried. The Master said, 'Thou didst thy best, that is success."

What if he never did his best?