Do what you do best

The human race is something that continues to fascinate me. It’s not just the fact that we were created in God’s own image but also that much as we have the same features, we are not anything alike. Even identical twins are nothing alike though their physical appearance suggests otherwise. There are people in our lives who leave us truly inspired that you can’t help but want to be like them. Take Oprah Winfrey for example, she is not only a self-made billionaire but also the greatest inspiration to both black and white women. She is also one of the most powerful women on Earth. Inspiration doesn’t get stronger than this. But you see, much as I’m certain Oprah had a few inspirations of her own while starting out on her amazing journey, she also did it without seeking to be anybody. She did what she did best and talked! Look where that got her. Now, much as we all may want to be like Oprah, not everyone can talk. Different talk shows come up every day and some of them leave you wondering whether someone had a dream the previous night about hosting a talk show and the next morning got right to it! It not only bores the daylights out of you but also makes you wonder how it got to be aired in the first place. Michael Jackson’s E! True Hollywood Story says that even when he was in diapers; everyone knew he was going to be a great performer. How’s that for destiny? He probably pulled his first moonwalk dance the second he learned to walk. My guess is Oprah or even Ellen DeGeneres were great talkers from the time they blabbered their first word. This brings me to the numerous dance groups that have come up, done their thing so well only to spoil everything by taking a shot at singing. Singing is something you are born with people, not a hobby you pick along the way. You can either sing or you can’t and no auto tune will ever change that. Yes J Lo seriously can’t sing a note but she’s J Lo and you are you. That is why we had Arts and Sciences in school because not everyone can be a doctor or whatever else Science has to offer. Mathematics is something everybody has to learn at least to a certain point but the best news is, if you have no plans of a career that requires mathematics; you don’t have to be brilliant at it. For example, if you can add, subtract, multiply and divide, no one will ask a painter what the square root of a number—with so many figures that you can’t even memorize them—is! We left that for the Scientists! Even in business things are not always the way they seem. Don’t go looking at tycoons making hordes of money and think all you have to do is get capital and you’re good to go. You have to have a mind for it and also accept that business will not always be good. People who are too afraid to take risks should not be venturing into it. What I’m saying is we all have that one thing we do so well even though we wish we were doing something totally different. Do not rush into things simply because someone told you that is where the money is. Life is about luck, though risk certainly plays a hand in it. So do what you want to do because you believe in yourself, and not to prove a point. Points are not worth proving if you’re not a risk taker. I know some people like boosting your confidence with things like, ‘you can do whatever you want to do if you put your mind to it’ but personally there are some things I just couldn’t do even if Albert Einstein was my tutor! Make mistakes: That is what we are here to do. But we are also here to learn from those mistakes. Only attempt what made the first mistake if you’re absolutely sure that is what you want to do and that there will be no regret if things go haywire again. Don’t throw away the chance of doing something you are great at, only to fall into something you are not even 1 percent sure of, unless you like a challenge of course. Take the risk if it is worth taking, but make sure it doesn’t come at the expense of those who love you the most. Trust me, not even all the money in the world will ever make up for that. rachelgaruka@yahooco.uk