In the midst of our dark skies in Nigeria, it is heartwarming to see some stars that light up the horizon around them even if they cannot cover the entire sky. Such is Chief Oluwole Olanipekun (SAN). A former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, the trails of his career path have demonstrated beyond doubt that even when surrounded by so much rot, you can win by righteousness. Easily one of the best and most successful lawyers in this country, his humility is disarming and reflective of his spartan upbringing and Christian ethos. An understated philanthropist, he unassumingly lifts hundreds of people out of poverty in his Ikere-Ekiti hometown even though his largesse is not limited to that milieu. Several educational institutions in Nigeria have benefitted and continue to benefit from the wisdom and resources of this legal iconoclast who continues to take giant strides in the sphere of advocacy. He turned 70 recently and I feel honoured to be associated with him (we are alumni of the same secondary school!) Egbon, I congratulate and celebrate you! Iyan a tubo yun l’erun rin o!
Now to today’s discourse.
Life is governed by laws. Not the restrictive man-made statutes that indicate the boundaries of conduct in a collective but principles and rules upon which outcomes in life are based. They are literally cast in stone and one law can only be neutralized or suspended (not nullified) by another. The Law of Gravity simply says that whatever goes up will come down. This establishes a magnetic dimension to the surface of the earth that makes it hold things firm on its surface while rotating around its axis. To keep anything suspended in space for any length of time, such an object must be moving at a velocity that is faster than the pull of gravity. That activates another law, the Law of Aerodynamics. Motion in any direction requires the activation of what Isaac Newton discovered to be the Laws of Motion. These universal laws are not man-made. Man only discovered and applies the principles in order to change some of his outcomes.
Whether in business, career development, marriage, or any other sphere of life, these and many laws apply. You cannot grow significantly in any direction if you don’t understand the principles. Those who recognize and master them rule over those who don’t. Those who live ignorant of them or who despise or refuse to appropriate them live as victims and they simply serve those who have acquired mastery.
Let us take the Law of Gravity for instance. Last week, I had a conversation with a beloved protégé whose spouse had been in the real estate industry in the USA before the global economic crash of the early 2000s which also affected the real estate sector. Like most people, they lost a lot of money. Before then, there was an economic boom that saw both the stock and real estate markets literally going through the stratosphere. At that point, it was impossible to sustain that trajectory. Insider greed, executive recklessness and widespread financial irresponsibility kicked in to slow down the speed of growth worldwide.
Demand, and thus velocity, began to drop as sharp practices began to erode the credibility of economies worldwide. Before you could say “crisis”, the global economy went belly up. So did the economy of many nations and individuals. The real estate business of my protégé’s spouse nosedived. And so did her zeal for the business. The family lost a lot of money and some properties they invested in went into foreclosure. It has been several years since that happened. The economy has been on the rebound progressively since then and the real estate sector has witnessed a boom beyond anyone’s imagination.
Nevertheless, she has not been able to muster the courage to go back to the business for which she is fully licensed! She sought refuge in the “security” of paid employment and what she then thought would be part-time has now become full time. What she and many others in her circumstance failed and still fail to understand is that whatever is down only stays down until another law or some other laws are activated.
After a while, people learn their lessons, decide to clean up their acts, put their noses to the grind and skin in the game. Consequently, things start picking up again. Momentum is regained. We see Isaac Newton’s Laws of Motion also playing out. One of them states that any object in motion in any given direction will remain perpetually in motion until an external force acts on it. Conversely, any object that is static remains in its dormant state until an external force acts on it. This is the essence of latent and kinetic energy that undergirds the Law of Aerodynamics.
Economies follow a trajectory until the forces of greed, complacency, fiscal indiscipline kick in. Then the velocity is slowed down or halted resulting in a crash. But not for long. The external forces of financial discipline, personal growth, innovation and human resilience kick in, refuel demand and jerk the markets right up again! It’s a no-brainer, right? This is why every stock market has its bullish (high demand, low supply) and bearish (low demand, high supply) runs with price shifts at each run (read season)!
Other aspects of Newton’s Laws indicate that action and reaction are equal and opposite. This projects into the fact that any object in motion will encounter resistance equal to its velocity. The only way in life never to encounter resistance is to be static. Unfortunately, life doesn’t afford that luxury for too long. If you are not moving, you will be moved! It’s a matter of time. It’s the reason why ideas and innovations do become obsolete over time!
Nature abhors a vacuum. Nobody moves into the future in a backward motion.
You can apply these principles to every other facet of life. The right to enjoy the victories of the mountaintop is secured through the strength acquired in fighting the battles of the valley. Champions are made by sacrifice, not convenience. They earn their comfort by their capacity to overcome and survive the conflict. If the momentum of your life is not higher than the velocity of the resistance that you encounter, you cannot speak of soaring above the challenges of life.
Have you ever put your hand out of the window of a car in motion? Did you notice that as the car increased speed, so did the force of the wind against that hand? If the car was static, there would no opposing force. To overcome and move despite the resistance, cars are equipped with engines to generate thrust, which in turn supply and sustain momentum in a given direction regardless of the velocity of the opposing wind. While the engine is functioning right, as soon as gears are engaged, motion ensues.
The force of thrust and consequent momentum generated is determined by the capacity of the car on the road.
What is your engine capacity? Is it powerful enough to take you through the guaranteed tough times that life throws at you? Stories of victory only come after battles.
Rev up your engine. Engage gear. Ignore the wind. Focus on your destination. You will arrive safely….continued.
Remember, the sky is not your limit, God is!
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