1st July, 2013
My session with our mentor during my last appointment touched on a very sensitive topic: the role of the supernatural in the affairs of men. How, for instance, would you take it if you are confronted with a statement that all the physical things you see around -the cars, the big buildings, the planes, the skyscrapers, and all the architectural masterpieces around you are nothing but illusions?
Few authors and individuals who are mature, spiritually, say that every physical object is created three times -first from the supernatural realm to the mind and, then, to the physical plane. The summary of all these is that everything your eyes can see; everything your hand can touch, everything your nose can smell and everything your body can feel is just an expression of some spiritual transactions.
Have you observed or experienced some occurrences that initially you could not explain but on reflection you begin to see the effect of the unseen hands. There was the story of a man going to see his friend somewhere on Lagos Island. While waiting to board a vehicle, according to him, he heard a voice asking him to leave that particular place. Five minutes after that a trailer swerved and rammed into all the structures on that spot. Could that be regarded as a coincidence?
Another individual was going on a visit to a friend in another part of Lagos. When he got to a particular area he heard a voice instructing him to start to buy land and landed properties that were situated very close to the road. For more than two years, he kept acquiring parcels of land in that particular area. Three years after he started his acquisition, there was a bank consolidation exercise which invariably, led to acquisition of properties in choice areas around the country. Properties in the area focused on by that individual appreciated by more than 2,000 per cent and financial fortune of our friend changed forever.
The author of Science of Getting Rich, Wallace Wattles, says that: “Everything you see on earth is made from one original substance, out of which all things proceed. New forms are constantly being made, and older ones are dissolving, but all are shapes assumed by one thing. No one is kept in poverty by shortness in the supply of riches; there is more than enough for all.”
He goes further to assert that anything you want you can have it if you think clearly about it first, pass that desire to the Higher Power; change your thought and begin to imagine that that which you asked is yours and then, begin to act in certain ways that suggest that you actually believe that it would come to pass.
During my last appointment with our Guest Mentor, I wanted to know if he believes there is an unseen hand that sometimes influences the course of human life. His response: “I believe 100% that there is an unseen hand that moulds what every human being does. I believe very strongly that everything that happens to you, whether it is good or bad, all contribute to what you would be”.
“Sometimes when some things happen to you, you may be puzzled by them but if you can develop the mindset that everything that happens to you is for your own good you would eventually see how they connect. There is an individual in the country today who ended up studying Yoruba Language in the university because the course he wanted to study was not available. It was probably a painful reality to him that time but when you see what he has done with that language in his journalism profession, you would agree with me once again that all those things are part of the process”.
“In my own case, I told you that I started to draw funny cartoons as early as when I was 8, but my knowledge of literature was very little. When I went for my Higher School Certificate (HSC) programme, I wanted to study Mathematics, Geography and Economics, but I found out that they did not have Economics. I had to look for an art subject to complement the two I had registered for and the only one that was available was English Literature. With that I had to do a lot reading and I got fascinated by big names like Shakespeare, and others.
In 1976 when I then, decided to go into publishing, I found that knowledge of literature extremely useful. And, sometimes I wonder if I had not studied English at that time, how would I have been able to write the good stories I write now. I was disappointed when I could not get to study Economics, but looking back I could see the hand of God in everything. There was an unseen hand in everything. He knew the path I would be following and what I would need to my assignment happen. Remember that God’s ways are usually higher than ours”.
I have discovered that God does not give you an assignment without all the factors of production -the human capital you would need, the finances you would require, the raw materials that would be useful to that assignment. You would then agree me when you reflect deeply that every assignment from God comes with the provisions –complete provisions. We only need to align ourselves with the assignment we have been given by God to do. When you are in that assignment, you would feel inner peace and things would begin to fall in place. It has happened to me again and again. Sometimes when I am casting stories and I am wondering who would fit into this role that I am casting, somehow someone that fits that role would just stroll in to ask for a place. It is amazing how these things happen”.
The way I get stories is also amazing. Most times when I sleep, I dream of people telling me jokes and when I wake up I would just sketch it the way I saw it in the dreams. This has happened countless times. That is why I sleep with my diary by my side. Sometimes people just come to me that they are directed by their spirits to give me a particular thing. Success means being at the right place at the right time and there are forces that make you to be at a particular place and at a particular time. Things don’t just happen. Let me give you a classic example. I started publishing in 1976 and by 1982, I wanted to do a features film. I wrote the story, it was very beautiful and a contracted a well-known artist to help me translate and produce it. He could not do it and I had to assemble a team of professionals to work with me to do it. I had to ultimately disband the team because we could not get money to do it. I told them that I would call them when I was ready. But two weeks after that, I was in a church somewhere in Badagry, a different one from the one I was attending.
Surprisingly, as we were dancing and praising God, there was a word of prophecy for me which, paraphrased, said that: “there is a young man here who just disbanded a team for a project. The project is from God but was sabotaged by wrong people. God said he should not give up for he would bring help and show him how to handle the project” Exactly four days after that experience, a renowned film maker in the country who is now dead, called me from London and said that he heard I was doing a film and that I had assembled wrong people and that I should not worry for he would help me to produce the film. He came to visit me when he arrived and within a short time he guided me from beginning to the end of the production. The film was a knockout which we took profitably in major cities in Nigeria and outside. That was definitely the hand of God.
How does one tap into this divine arrangement? “It is simply by making yourself available all the time. When you start a project that you believe the hand of God is in, don’t give up no matter what. As you stay on, you would ultimately, meet the required help that would lead you to success. If you back out of an assignment God had given to you, you are likely to face tough challenges. I have been punished by the unseen hands sometimes when I veered off the path that has been created for me. God talks to us most of the time but we don’t recognise Him most of the time”.
“I also believe that since God is creative, there is no way his part of him would not be in you. As a creative person you have the third eye. When I am attending burial ceremonies and people are crying, I see jokes everywhere. All the books you are writing, part of God is in you. When people are doing serious things, I see and hear funny versions of what they are saying. Believe me, it is impossible to accomplish great things without consciously or unconsciously tapping into the help from unseen hands”.
TAKE AWAY
• Take some time off to really discover what you are passionate about or great at doing.
• Identify who is likely to benefit from that passion if you decide to turn it into business.
• Develop a vision around that passion that would help you accomplish your life goals.
• Spend quality time everyday in quietness so that you can tap into the unseen realm.
• Document every inspiration that comes to you from such an exercise and make it part of your plan.