A STAR IN A YEAR - ft Abeiku Santana and Pastor Mensa Otabil

I know you don't like talking much about the past. something we all don't like, but  a moment is like a mirror and the past is like a picture , we can watch over and over, once painted, to bring back memories. When we forget the past, we make the same mistakes in the future.

I'm happy to see you again in this year. You are my hero. My very good self taught me story lessons from the year just-past. I don't know if you really want to hear. It's very interesting and you are featured any way. Thanks for being part of my story.

January was just a tickling on my shoulder, I saw a brighter future, I went to theatre to watch my own resolution. A smile took it place on my face and I saw the same on some faces close to me.
I never thought it was a nine day wonder celebrity party, until February arrived. 

I was with wings to fly high to find a day in a month in which a celebrity was born. On that day, I found no one to even whisper to my ears, a happy birthday. All turned black all day long. Meanwhile, I remember not long ago, I shared greetings with hundreds of people, I shook hands and ate with people I didn't even know. I met friends and family on various events. I hugged many and those who took my contact are uncountable. Some we chat deep into the night, For others, they would not let me alone a minute. I thought I have family and friends to drive with on the year until I found no one on the difficult road.

The only person I trusted so much was close to me. she was my best friend but I was her best enemy. We were close and share each others worries together. it's sad that she couldn't withstand the fierce of March, the month of independent fastening. She ignored me because she felt her time was being wasted and perhaps there are the right people to meet, and she is missing them completely. Though we were happy together but she knew i had nothing to offer and there was no hope from anywhere.  She left me and I felt the heat. I tried several times to reach her, but she played the piano and enjoyed it smooth sounds, dancing her waist on the street. For me, it was ok but maybe others were hurt of which she was brutally blamed. If she has gone back to the rains where I found her, it's cool, if she has been stolen, i pray her new owner should be a rich son.

I knew she didn't cause it, perhaps it was my irresponsibility to make home a honey or I focused too much on my relationships, personal matters, family and love stuff or maybe she was not comfortable under a leaking roof. Or perhaps she was stuck in the middle of nowhere, deciding between " RICH DAD POOR DAD" by Robert Kiyosaki, thinking the devil was no longer an ally, and her God didn't care. Whatever was the case, I had always prayed for her, just as I do for any of my pet; Kuby , Kiki and Tata. They were local dogs so they followed their friends. As for Chi-Chi, she was  from a different tribe, so she decided to stay for a while.

I didn't give up in my selfless quest. I had always shared my penny with my pet, when I saw no one by my side. Sometimes, when I had nothing, I would pray over cup of water, thinking Chi-Chi didn't understand the conditions of men, but she will prove me wrong, lick the water to finish, as if there were some kind of sweetness or bitterness in it. If this is an assignment, trust me, only cats could tell with their facial expressions, how water taste like.

Hmm, I don't want to talk much about April, May, June and  her brother July. The job disaster, school and some more topics of life. Let me put them in the fridge, some issues are too hot to drink now.
August, September, October and November were more welcomed trouble. I met the tests of time, the betrayal, persecution, financial crisis, saw some few enemies and backbiters. For some, they came to only cause more pain to my wounds.

It was only by the intervention of my God, I nearly hated the human race.
 This brought some memories to some thoughts I had in early August. I saw me and myself in a world that no one else could survive. Yes there was no one indeed to discover what I have to share with its inhabitants. I only saw a boy on a desert looking into the agony of the shadows of the sky. The birds of the moon fed on the only Baobab tree deserted on the east of my home. An extreme darkness of the night field my heart to quit the journey of my destiny. All hope was lost but a fate carried me through the ages of time and I saw the sun in it residence again.

In the middle days of September, I had a touch  on my toes to speed up the race of success but my conscience was close to my heart, that, there is time for everything. I believed in the time, and trusted it so much, but at the end of the tunnel I was deceived by my own time. Procrastination smile at my fall, and pointed the blame on me.

Indeed I  was chained but had the keys with me. I was an able being with a mortal spirit. I had no friends but of course I had a God. I fed myself, took decisions alone, faced challenges myself. In fact I was alone and had everything around me when I saw nothing at all. Discouragement put me in a test.
 The tittle of a book ' YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN' written by one Patrick Fynn Bondzi, a Ghanaian promising student writter, medical practitioner and a leader, echoed in my head anytime I wanted to give up in my faith.

          Patrick Fynn - you are on your own

Truly you can't be on your own When you still depend on others. When you recognise at the very beginning that, no one is there to support you, you go extra miles, working and pushing your head through every stage of life to support yourself. In fact, I played the fool in my own grounds and I lost the game to no one in particular. When I thought I had nobody, there was someone, myself. And another, my brain. It is only me and no one else.

Well,  I never thought my conscience was a bad adviser until I saw the end of November when I had achieve nothing at all. Of course I cannot achieve anything when I haven't started anything.

So early December, I started to think deep into my year activities to rank my performance. I saw that most of my precious time was just wasted on nothing, yet I still thought friends had my downfall. In the beginning of the year I  started something so nice and at the end of December I had nothing to boast of. I thought of something nice. Maybe I should do something silly, switch off my cell phone for the whole of the Christmas season, so i did and it worked for me. I was free from WhatsApp and IMO calls and so I  had enough time to access myself on what I did through out the year. 

It was amazing, I used most of my time on social media. Following celebrities and stars. They were all over Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and brabrabra. They write anything, and I was there to see, they post their happy lifestyle and I use my last cedi to bundle and watch. They sneeze and I like. Whatever the media said about them, I google to read. The fun of it is that, they know their fans and family, so they reply them and like their comments. I was just like a spectator on people's social lives. I didn't know of being a citizen but not spectator. I pray that the change Ghanaians have had would bring change to my life as well. Otherwise there should be a law to prosecute celebrities who abuse their fans on social media. Like, me I would sue Pastor Mensah Otabil and Abeiku Santana.

In fact these two great men are the most 

influential people in my life.They inspire and motivate me in every move of my life. Each and everyday, they have something special to say. One way or the other they have something in common. just that, one is a Theologian and the other a radio broadcast journalist.

Pastor Mensa Otabil is a teacher of the gospel, an investor of education, a philanthropist, motivational speaker, entrepreneur, career developer and more to talk of. Abeiku Aggrey Santana is a social scientists, journalist, tourist ambassador, motivational speaker entrepreneur with a political vision. For me they are more than what they are.Their impact were so great on my life. When I thought I had lost everything, they were right beside my hearing.

The more reason why Abeiku Aggrey Santana is a role model is his inspiring stories of his personal life. The road to success, from grass to grace, the journey to becoming who he is or anyhow you may put it. He never hesitate to share his story to others. He always strive hard to achieve a target, learning to inspire and aiming for the best. He never gave up in life, but he never thought he will be a star. The destiny of a man can never be seen until you dare to see. God is the more reason for the life of a man, and He directs the ways of men.

 
                  Gilbert Aggrey Abeiku Santana

"David became a great warrior and LEADER of a nation at an early age. His training ground was his job as a shepherd in the open fields. When bears and lions sought to take his sheep, he personally fought them. This was his early preparation for future battles. When he met Goliath, he was well prepared for the battle and he won. Your challenges are preparing you for a glorious testimony."
This were the words from the man behind my faith, Pastor Mensah Otabil. And this will be a pillar on which I will stand to take bold decisions in any step I make this year. May the lord be with me.

                         Pastor Mensa Otabil

There was something I wanted to do more silly. Like, picking up my cell phone, scrolling through my contacts. Get some odd and old contacts, and do some nice deletion one after the other. Yeah!. After all, none has ever called me, which means they don't care about me or perhaps they don't have me in their contact. When I was worried about them, they were happy scatting on my roof.
After carefully looking through my contacts, I found not a single number to delete. It was then I realised how important friends and family are.Though some do not make any impact in our lives, but one way or the other, they are the more reason why we live to share our beautiful problems and stories.

"The path ahead of you is strewn with obstacles. People will oppose you. There will be financial setbacks, time pressures, illnesses and misfortunes. Some of the biggest obstacles will be from within you: self-doubt, insecurity, procrastination, and worry. You must give yourself permission to succeed. When we persevere through adversity, we win the approval of our Lord Jesus Christ."
- pastor Mensa Otabil -

His words touched on my own story. There is more to achieve than what is lost. Though there's no time for any lazy man but there is time for the hope of man. I encouraged myself and changed my mind. But I did something. I switched off my phone on the last day of the year, and on the second day of the new year when I finally on it. There I was, 2023 messages from 3 WhatsApp groups, 506 messages from 25 chats, Facebook, Twitter, imo and Instagram messages were uncountable.

Some messages where like this, " happy new year, great son of Africa", " I'm happy to see you again",  "Are you alive" "we miss you, let's chat"
And someone made my dream adorable, sending me an invitation to occasion with a note " YOU ARE A STAR IN A YEAR"

As you can see, I'm already a star in a year and everyone else is my hero. Thanks so much.

GLORY BE TO GOD.
The end. You can share with friends.
Written by Frimpong Gilbert