Will power, focus, right attitude, and inner peace and strength from God have been identified as important ingredients needed to overcome threatening challenges that constitute obstacles to achieving desired life goals.
Carol Onu, an evangelist, counsellor and founder, Deaf Christians and Friends, made this point as guest speaker at the first anniversary celebration of the MOCAites Alumni, Western Hemisphere, in Lagos. MOCAites Alumni is an association of graduates of Michael Okpara College of Agriculture (now Imo State Polytechnic), Umuagwo, Imo State.
Speaking on the topic ‘Excelling/Reaching Your Goal in the Face of Life-threatening Challenges’, Onu said threatening challenges to life goals and ambitions are bound to come but what matters is how we tackle them.
“So long as we live in this fallen world, threatening challenges to life goals and ambitions must come when we dare to live a life that is above the ordinary. However, the manner in which we tackle them would either make us stronger and victors or vanquished,” she said.
“We have to keep on learning and aiming higher. This is what I do. We don’t have to leave things to chance. There are roles and actions for us to take,” she added.
Listing some of the issues that can pose as threatening challenges to achieving desired goals, she said they include health issues like losing the use of one or more sensory organs, emotional disturbances arising from worst betrayal of trust, huge financial collapse, and sudden loss through death of a soul-mate or breadwinner. She added, however, that there are always ways to excel above these challenges and achieve one’s goal in life.
On the strategies for overcoming these threatening challenges, Onu said they include family support, making necessary adjustments, maintaining a positive attitude, and never using one’s challenge as an excuse for not doing what one can do.
Others are appreciating your helpers and making every effort to help others, not allowing anyone hold you to ransom, being willing to spend your resources on your goals and, above all, never underrating a personal relationship with God.
Drawing from her personal experience, Onu, who said she suffered a severe hearing loss in her teens as freshman in college, narrated how she overcame that challenge to become a proud holder of a Masters in Public Administration (MPA) and a full member of the Institute of Public Management of Nigeria.
Earlier in his welcome address, Placid Oluigbo, president, MOCAites Alumni, Western Hemisphere, said though the association was barely a year old, having held its inaugural meeting as a body on July 30, 2016, its reach, outlook, ideas and achievements far surpass that age.
“It has not been a smooth journey to where we are today. We have encountered challenges from within and outside the fold but that is to be expected and taken as the teething stage of every infancy,” Oluigbo said.
He thanked members whose dedication, support and generous donations helped the association surmount its greatest hurdle (finance) and urged backsliding members to wake up and join the moving train, even as he hoped that soon MOCAites Alumni would be mentioned alongside the likes of the Lagos Business School Alumni.
Highpoint of the occasion was the presentation of gifts and certificates to deserving members of the association. There was also a health talk by Jebba Humphrey, assistant marketing manager, Nature Hero International, specialists in the marketing of unique healthcare, beauty and electronic products.
