By Calista Ejiofor
People usually say that ‘when you are angry, do not speak so you won’t say anything you would regret or would hurt the other person.
But I would rather say that “you speak up when you are angry so the other person would understand how hurt you feel about what he/she did so as to avoid a repetition”, and also to clear up your mind and do not bottle things up.
Ralph Weldon Emerson said, “for every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind”.
I will add again “control your anger, don’t let your anger control you. If you are mad, don’t say anything you will regret later. If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say it. Calm down and do whatever you have to do”.
With these in mind, here are the things I am ready to give up on my journey through success as I was directed to write by Mrs Angela Ochu-Baiye, founder of JDI.
- Friendships/ people: It’s true that we need people. I will add we don’t need everybody. I have decided to be very picky when it comes to friends. Some friends are there to be great support systems while some don’t even care about you and your visions not to talk of supporting. I choose support systems over random friendships.
- Pride/ego: For me, this is the downfall of anyone especially when one is deceiving him/herself in the name pride/ego. I have decided to be at the feet of every one without complaining (if you know what I mean)
- Anger: Anger! Anger has ruined a lot of things for me. I get angry and walk away and at the end of the day, I lose great opportunities. I have decided to hold onto been naive in that case. I don’t ever portray myself to know what the other person is saying or doing rather I am learning from it.
- My personal space: I love to be by myself most times not because I don’t love to mingle with people but because I feel everyone should understand and know when and when not to relate to me.
- My fear of getting ‘No’ as a reply: I don’t usually ask for a thing, and when I summon the courage to, I am scared of getting ‘No’ as a reply, life has taught me that there are two major replies which is ‘Yes/No’ and neither of them is a death sentence.
- Giving up on what people think of me: I always consider what people will say if I make certain decisions about my life. I have understood now that it’s my life after all and nobody is ever going to live it for me and nobody is going to be held accountable.