Olusore Abiodun is a writer and pastor, with a divine calling to raise leaders through teachings and writings that unlocks and develop potentials, personal development and growth. His first book "Before Honour" was published in 2020 and is available on Amazon. He is currently working on several books namely: defining success, redefining success, making a difference, and strategic success.
| View profile |
Pre-orders
21
Funded
Days left
18
Publishizer is a crowdfunding literary agency. If 500 pre-orders is reached, then we pitch this proposal to traditional publishers. If not reached, then it gets pitched to non-traditional publishers.
There is something different about all of us, it is the unique difference in all of us. We all can make a difference in our lifetime with that peculiar difference in all of us. You are created with a content, it is the release of this content through creativity that makes you a difference maker.
Share Post on X Threads LinkedIn Embed| Career & Success #1 in Career & Success | |
| 45,000 words | |
| 100% complete | |
| 2 publishers interested |
There is a great need in the world today,it is the understanding and the knowledge of personal identity and the individual latent potential lying dormant within. The effect of this is the creation of a world with a class difference of those who are exceptional and uniquely different and those with no impact in life. We have the difference maker and those who exist with no significance value in life.
It is my earnest desire to destroy this ignorance in men and to bridge this wide gap of class difference. To achieve the task,I have received the divine inspiration to write the book titled: making a difference. This book will take the reader through three distinctive components of life, out of which the life with a difference will emerge. These components are:
* The creation component; these are your abilities and your potentials. It is your creation identity by which you are created with a difference to make a difference.
*The creativity component: with the creativity component, the man created with a difference sees the difference and then engage his creative mind to create something different.
*The content component: while with the third component, there is the understanding that with your potential as your core content, you can never make the expected difference without the value added contents. These contents are; the critical content ( the content of understanding, knowledge, wisdom and power) as well as the most critical content, which is the character content.
I strongly believe that this is the purpose for which I am born; that people may see their individual uniqueness, and the difference we can all make in life if we discover, develop and maximally deploy the same purpose. It is my utmost desire to pursue this purpose with passion.
.
Making a difference is not for everybody, but rather it is for all who desire to make a difference and are very intentional about it. It is for those who seek to make a difference in their relative field or career, those who wants to leave a footprint and a footpath behind for others to walk in.
The publishers will be visible after the campaign has ended.
|
1106 Design, LLC
Dear Author, Service publisher Children Fiction, Christian Fiction, Commercial Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Essay, Literary Fiction, Mind & Body, Mystery, Thriller, Horror & Suspense, Mythology & Folk Tales, Poetry, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Women's Fiction, YA Fiction, Biography & Memoir, Business & Money, Career & Success, Children Non-Fiction, Christian Non-Fiction, Cookbooks, Food & Wine, Communication Skills, Corporate Culture, Current Affairs, Economics, Education, Entrepreneurship & Small Business, Health, Fitness & Dieting, History, Humor & Entertainment, Journalism, Management & Leadership, Marketing & Sales, Mindfulness & Happiness, Money & Investment, Motivation & Inspiration, Nature & Environment, Parenting, Personal Growth & Self-Improvement, Philosophy, Politics & Social Sciences, Popular Science, Productivity & Time Management, Psychology, Reference, Religion & Spirituality, Science, Sex & Relationships, Society & Culture, Sports & Outdoors, Technology & the Future, Travel, YA Non-Fiction, Science Fiction & Humour Worldwide |
|
IngramSpark Ingram is a rather large company with several different divisions and supplies books to bookstores and libraries in over 200 countries around the world. Ingram also has a print on demand digital printing company, Lightning Source. IngramSpark is the platform that combines those two services together. At IngramSpark, we work with authors and independent publishers to print their books for orders they need (no minimum order) and we have a way to list the books as available for sale to all of Ingram’s 39,000+ customers- distributors, bookstores, retail outlets, libraries, etc., so you never miss a sale. You would provide us with the print-ready digital files (one for the cover and one for the interior) and we print the books as they are sold through our distribution partner’s websites. We pay you for those sales approximately 90 days later. The compensation you earn is based on the retail price you set, minus the wholesale discount you offer our distribution partners, minus the print cost. Service publisher Children Fiction, Literary Fiction, Mind & Body, Mystery, Thriller, Horror & Suspense, Romantic Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy, YA Fiction, Biography & Memoir, Business & Money, Career & Success, Cookbooks, Food & Wine, Health, Fitness & Dieting, History, Journalism, Personal Growth & Self-Improvement, Politics & Social Sciences, Religion & Spirituality, Science, Society & Culture, Sports & Outdoors, Technology & the Future, Travel Worldwide |
CHAPTER ONE
CREATED WITH A DIFFERENCE
[Understanding your creation identity]
‘’I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made, marvelous are your works: and that my soul knows it very well.’’
[Psalm 139:14—ESV Bible translation]
You were created before you were born.
You were created with everything you need, for you to be everything God desires you to be. Do you know that you were created with a difference that you might make a difference in your lifetime?
The concept of human existence and individual creation differences with its positive impact should be a core study for sustainable growth, that the understanding of the collective benefit may create in us a desire to make a difference in our lifetime.
Creation is the period of formation which precede your formation in the womb. It is the period of time when the creator put together and put in place all that makes the man a created being in the likeness of himself; and he accomplished this task not by gathering up all the bits and pieces of human ingredients one after the other; he did it by the release of his breath into the body formed from the clay.
This work of creation is not a continuous process but a once and for all accomplishment which continues and is sustained by procreation forever.
The work of creation as detailed in genesis; gives us a clear understanding of the creation of man: ‘’so God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him, male and female created he them.’’ Genesis 1:27.
The word ‘’created he him’’ and ‘’created he them’’ expresses the creation of one man and the creation of more than one individual at the same time; for the ‘’word created he them’’ could be taken to be any number from two to multitudes beyond numbering.
But the story of creation only give the account of the creation of one man and not two, neither is it the creation of multitudes of different human race.
Although Eve was formed from a rib taken out of Adam, and one could possibly conclude that the word ‘’them’’ is inclusive of Eve who as at creation exist in Adam as a rib, but not yet taken out of him.
Therefore if Eve exist inside Adam until the time came for her to be taken out of him, then the man Adam referred to as ‘’ as created he him’’ carries the entire human creation within him.
‘’Male and female created he them’’ categorically established from creation that the word man signifies a created being in the image and likeness of God with a distinct difference; of falling into the male or female gender.
The male is a male with all the feature of a male, likewise the female is a female with all the feature of a female, no matter how much you try to change your gender; you are forever the gender you were made to be.
Your first creation identity is your gender- gender identity.
You carry the identity of your gender from creation; the male is distinctly different from the female likewise the female from the male.
The difference you will ever make in life is first of all locked into your gender identity. None of us choose our gender, you were created as a male with all the hormones of a male in you; the same with the female gender.
It is important to understand function in creation. For instance the sun was created to function as the sun and the moon likewise was created to function as the moon. They are both distinctly different from each other.
The difference is a functional difference. From the beginning of creation the sun was created not just to function in the daytime but to rule the day, while the moon was to rule the night.
The matter of functional difference is fundamental in creation and must form the foundation of our existence as part of creation. Therefore for you to desire a change of gender and to go all out to achieve the same shows your ignorance of your uniqueness as a male or as a female.
The male gender is fashioned from creation to carry out the function of a man and to live as one, and the female gender is fashioned to carry out the function of a woman and to live as one as well.
How on earth will the sun desire to become the moon and the moon will desire to become the sun?
The moment the moon begin to rule the day and the sun begin to rule the night; there will definitely be a functional breakdown and at the end a complete loss of dominion.
Your second creative identity is your ‘’purpose identity.’’
Just as there are functional differences between the male gender and the female gender, there are as well functional differences in a particular gender. Though all male are men by gender and all female are women likewise; yet there are individual differences from creation.
Every one of us is uniquely different. Your uniqueness is linked with your purpose. It may be easy for you to identify your gender; as no one needs to tell you that you are a man, though to act, live and function as a man may need some mental orientation.
The matter of purpose identity is more complex; as so many are lost when it comes to the purpose of their being. The knowledge of the reason behind your existence is the bedrock of your destiny, and no one living out of destiny can ever make any difference in this life.
Your purpose is your function, your earthly individual function. It is what you are to do so long as there is still that breath of the creator in you.
Therefore to make a difference, understand that you are created differently, with your unique creation identity; beginning with your gender identity, then your purpose identity and finally:
‘’ your potential identity.’’
Every individual carries from creation a certain amount of potential that nobody else has. Your potential is the God given ability deposited in you right from creation.
Alongside with your purpose there definitely must be certain tools to achieve what you were formed or created to achieve. These tools are your own individual potential.
Your function will determine your ability, for the almighty God, the creator never gives ability to any one out of the scope of the purpose of his existence.
Your creation is completely unique and perfect in his entirety; there was never any flaw in your makeup as a living soul. That is why we need to begin with creation in our quest to make a difference in life.
Understand that you were created with a difference to make a difference; with your creation identity, beginning with your gender identity, your purpose identity and your potential identity you are created to live in dominion.
To live in dominion is to rule; ruling in this regard is the difference you make through your input into life. Just as the sun gives its light and the moon likewise gives its light; both are making their unique contribution to life as they release their individual potential to function in their duty post.
The daytime is sufficient for one to rule and the night time is more than sufficient for the other. Let us therefore choose to walk in our individual earthly course; that is what makes the difference.
For the earth will forever have need of the sun and the moon as long as the earth continues to exist; so then be the sun or the moon you are created to be, this is the difference that makes the difference.
The creature with a difference:
Deep thinking leads to deep understanding and deep understanding will give birth to deep gratitude.
David the king out of deep thought marveled at the wonders of creation and the uniqueness of man in creation. This made him to cry out: ‘’ what is man that you are so mindful of him?’’ Psalm 8:4.
He was considering the awesome creature called man, his unique role in creation with all the glory and honor bestowed on him from creation.
Indeed man is a creature with a difference; to live without this understanding is a great loss on divine investment, for man is the crown of the creation of the Almighty God.
David concluded that if any man fail to understand the magnitude of the honor bestowed on him as a man from creation; that such man is like the beast that perish. [psalm 49:20]
The more I meditate about creation, especially the creation of man, the more insight I receive on the subject of creation.
The uniqueness of the creation of man from every other creature begin with the objective and the agenda of the creator; it was this divine purpose that prompted the creation of man in the likeness and the image of the creator.
Every other creation and creatures may emerge by the simple command of the word of faith; ‘’let there be.’’
Man on the other hand because of his unique role is not created by the word of command, he was created first of all by a collective decision of the godhead to create man in the image and likeness of the godhead, whose habitation is not in heaven but on earth.
To achieve this, the first step was to form the body of man from the very dust of the earth, where he was to live as man.
After the formation of the human body, the next step was the release of the breath of God into the nostril of man, the effect of the breath of God in the body of man formed from the clay is living soul call man.
Through deep meditation on the wonders of this glorious wonder called man; I concluded that this creation called man; is nothing but the divinity in humanity.
Man is: ‘’God dwelling in the human body on earth.’’
The whole objective and agenda becomes clearer, the human body was formed for God to dwell on earth; that man may have dominion over all of creation and rule the world he was created to live in.
I see that there is no man born into this world that is not a carrier of the divinity; in all of us is the deposit of the breath of God; this breath in us creates the individual creation identity, starting from gender identity to purpose identity as well as the potential identity.
Such great wonder that we all from the same breath but different purpose with different potentials and abilities. And everyone with his or her individuality are make a difference in life, because we are created with a difference.
When you read the account of the deeds of men when they were of one language and of one speech and there coming together as one to build the tower of babel, with a determination to have the top or the peak of the tower in heaven.
The creator of man himself knows the individual potential of each of this living entity called man because they came out of him. Imagine the potential and the ability deposited individually now coming together as one to achieve a goal.
The one who created them himself said: ‘’ nothing can stop them from achieving what they imagined to do.’’ Genesis 11: 6.
We are created to do and to achieve great exploit on earth, and the potential to do them is in all of us. This is divinity in humanity,
That is the reason why man by observing the birds flying on the sky, could imagine in his heart that it is possible to create something similar with wings like birds on the sky; which can serve humanity as air vehicles that can travel thousands of miles across the ocean to convey man from one part of the continent to another.
This is divinity in humanity. Angels were not made in the likeness of God, only man has this privilege because of his role in creation.
Creature with differences:
It is really fascinating when you observe the differences in all of us. Beginning from the difference race and color to different ways of life, opinion and perspectives in the matters of life.
Give two different individual to describe an event that they were both eye witnesses to, they are most likely going to give the same account but in different expression based on individual perception.
As a matter of creation differences, there is someone totally giving to figures and accuracy of numbers, while the other is drawn to the accuracy of words.
What makes you to be so interested and devoted to certain things that bores some other fellow?
Why do some like me, able to devote countless hours to reading; and there are those who can never sit down to read, they would rather prefer to watch the story on video and not to read it.
Some just delight in doing things with their hands, whereas the power of another may not be in their hand but in their mouth.
What is the reason behind this individual pull to certain things, and the individual differences in all of us?
Well, because we were all created by the creator with different purpose in his heart. To achieve this purpose, he puts his breath in us; and in this divine breath is the purpose of my formation and the imparted potential to achieve them.
Your impact in life comes from the understanding of your creation identity and the discharge of the same; which is different from every other person. There is really no two of your kind, you are specially made to make a difference.
Living with a difference:
If you are ever going to make a difference in life, you have to make the choice of living with a difference. I would like to give some illustration that would make living with a difference clear and understandable.
Imagine you meeting someone for the first time and after your brief encounter with the fellow, you met some other group of people which you intend to share your experience of your previous meeting with the strange fellow with.
The first thing that makes your story worth sharing is what you derive from the meeting; the effect or the impact of your meeting with the fellow will determine the story you tell afterwards.
You meet some people in life that leaves you with a very profound memory of their attitude and character which lingers on in your mind; and difficult to erase.
The truth is; both good and bad impression sticks to the mind of the recipients unless you intentionally wiped out the bad memory.
Living with a difference is the means by which we give expression of the difference we already carry in us to the people around us and the society at large.
If you are created with a difference, then you must live with a difference; because the difference in you are really meant for someone out there, whose lives is the seed and you are the water for those seed and unless you pour out the waters in you unto those seed they will wither away and die.
There is a seed in someone waiting for the water in you.
We must understand the complex structure of man and the complex structure of life. The moment we have this understanding the complex structure is dissolved and living becomes a thing of joy.
Living with a difference: The outer man and the outer life.
The man created with a difference has features which people can see and by this glaring identical features he is identified as a man.
The outer man relates in the outer life. A real man lives in a real world and a real man is created to relate with other fellow beings. Angels lives in heaven, animals lives in the forest while fishes and all other aquatic creature lives in the water; but the habitation of man in the world is the land.
The place apportion for you to live, is the place appointed for your impact. Living with a difference is the positive influence you have on people and the part of man that influences another is the outer man and the outer life.
Living with a difference: Intentional exceptional living.
I have resolved to make a difference in my lifetime. To do this I have carved out a lifestyle captioned ‘’ intentional exceptional living.’’
‘’ Intentional’’ because I am going to be deliberate about it. I don’t need any deliberation, making a difference is to me a reflex action.
‘’ Exceptional’’ because I have made up my mind to stand out of the crowd, by living out through my outer man my creation identity in the outer life. I know that as I stand in my divine duty post, doing what I am created to do; surely I will stand out.
I see that life really is not counted or measured by the extraordinary things I am able to achieve, but the ordinary things that came out of my extra ordinary living.
The misconception we have about living with a difference is to limit created to make a difference to what we do with the potential we are created with, to doing or achieving laudable and great feat and neglect the second part that has to do with giving.
Because, ‘’in this life we cannot always do great things but we can do small things with great love.’’ Mother Theresa.
Therefore what truly count in life is not the great things we achieve, but the things we achieve or accomplished in love; the motive for making a difference should not be to exalt or gratify self but out of selfless sacrifice reach out to the world in need by giving out what my fellow being lack.
He that created us with a difference also instruct us to live with a difference by saying to you and I, ‘’and of some have compassion, making a difference.’’ Jude 1:22.
According to the above scriptural passage; it is not the spectacular thing that we achieve that really count but the exceptional lifestyle born out of compassion that we have chosen to live by.
You cannot be full of compassion and see a need which you have the solution right in your possession and walk away with it. Be a compassionate give and a problem solver, this is the key that launches one to the realm of making a difference.
With all your creation identity in you, have compassion, and with all you do with the difference you are created with; please do it all with compassion. This is the beauty of life.
The greatest difference you will ever make in others is the gift or the blessing you leave behind anytime you come in contact with someone. This is the lifestyle of the man whose lives is continually guide by ‘’intentional exceptional living.’’
It is the outer man living out his God given life in the outer life all through his God ordained lifetime.
The man with a difference:
As we come to the conclusion of this chapter, which of course is the fundamental of our understanding of the life with a difference; I want to create in the very depth of your heart; the man with a difference and that man is the very person that you are.
Let me begin by laying this foundation in your heart; please at all cost be the very person that you are created to be and not another. It is the reason that you were created to be different.
The moment you become somebody else, by operating in another person territory, you are no longer different. At this point it is now the two of you operating on the same field, one of you is the original and the other is an imitation of the original.
The imitation can never beat the original in his own field. At all cost be yourself, be the original you are created to be. The security man of a company with the understanding of his position as the security personnel of the company can only make a difference at his duty post, he will forever be an impostor and an imitator if he takes up the seat of the company’s CEO and he can never make any meaningful impact.
You are who you are by the grace of the one who made you to be so, please celebrate yourself with the understanding of who you are.
Live each day of your life with the conviction and the consciousness of what you have in you as your creation identity and use it with passion.
You may not be the Henry Ford of your generations whose creation identity were evidenced by the establishment of the Henry Ford motors, the manufacturer of Ford automobiles. But you may be the Charles Goodyear of your generation.
Charles Goodyear was the American inventor who discovered vulcanization; where rubber, the material used for tires became soft and flexible when heated with sulphur at a high temperature, thereby making tires to be usable on our roads.
Anytime you drive a car, bus or lorry we will not only remember the manufacturer of the engine and the other components; the brain behind the tires which makes motion achievable can never be forgotten. Can you see how Goodyear complements Ford.
Again, maybe you are created to improve on the works or the invention of others like Thomas Edison who invested the electric bulb, Martin Luther the Christian reformer whose works on by grace alone, by faith alone and by the scripture alone set off the new era of the protestant churches or Martin King Jnr a Christian minister and activist; whose powerful speech ‘’I have a dream’’ prophetically declares the America of his dream that is void of segregation and racism.
You belong somewhere, specifically created to fill up a vacuum; find it and fill it.
You cannot understand your peculiarity and walk around looking morose and dejected as one that mourns, as one that is bereaved; rather you live with great expectation and operates your peculiarity with an unexplainable enthusiasm.
Joseph despite all his experience against his purpose, found himself in prison and right there in prison he did not lose his enthusiasm. How do I know this? Because he saw the countenance of his co-prisoners [the king’s bakers and the king’s cupbearer] and was bothered.
The compassionate spirit in him overwhelm him, all he wanted at all cost was to at least use what he has to put smiles on the other prisoner’s faces not minding his own unjust state.
There is no one who has it all. There is a missing difference somewhere somehow. Perhaps your financial status is great at the moment, but your home is in a mess. Even your financial status that has attained a kind of high altitude may actually be the beginning of another business boom by the time you discover that there is still yet more that you don’t know.
There is someone who has what it takes to clear your mess and restore sanity and harmony into that part of your life that is in disarray.
One of our primary mission on earth as human is to seek out the missing difference in others and do what you can to add it, either directly from you or otherwise, by connecting them to other sources.
The beauty of life can only be captured when we live by sharing with each other the differences we individually carry within us.
Make your presence in this world count.
Just as Actor Trey Smith, Will Smith son puts it: ‘’ If your presence doesn’t make an impact, your absence won’t make a difference.’’
Therefore, knowing that it is appointed for man to live once; if we can at least strive to make it a little better than we found it, we would have done our own part.
Make a difference by making every day of your life count.
CHAPTER TWO
BORN WITH A DIFFERENCE.
‘’I came to make a diffence’’
Louton chiles
Then she was born.
The child was born with a difference. She came into the world with a difference because she was different from other children.
To the people in the part of the world where she was born, she was not a normal human being.
Let’s have a glimpse at the introduction of the book:
‘’then she was born.’’
‘’A child is born and the joy of her parents turns to horror. The child is different according to their superstitious believe, in a way that will bring bad luck to the parent and to the entire community.’’
This is the pathetic story of a child that was born as an albino in the novel; ‘’then she was born’’ by Christiano Gentili an Italian author and a civil servant. The book was written to raise awareness of the living conditions of African albinos through the #helpAfricanAlbinos campaign.
The book captured the trauma an innocent child that was born as an albino suffers in a society dominated by superstition and ignorance of the truth regarding the individual differences we all carry within us.
The setting was in a small community in Africa, Tanzania to be precise. In this community a girl is born, the first child of a young couple whose understanding about life originates from traditions and superstitions passed down from generation to generation.
According to their superstition, albinos or zeru-zreu are regarded as a thing and not as human, and as evil omen of bad luck whose body parts are to be used to prepare magic charms.
The parents disown her and the entire village wishes to kill her because they believe she would bring bad fortune to the community. The baby’s grandmother Nkamba saves the infant from them by simply telling them to let the gods destroy the baby if she is truly evil.
The baby survives by escaping from being offered as sacrifice to the gods, and her grandmother named her Adimu; but she did not escape the torture of marginalizations.
Shunned by her friends as an outcast and a misfit in the village, the farm animals became her friends and companion. She learnt to survive against all odds in a society where albinos are regarded as taboo.
What is the real difference?
At this point we need to know exactly what the real difference is.
From the book, then she was born; Adimu was seen as different because she was born as an albino.
Did her birth makes her different from a normal child and what impart can it really have in the life of such?
What has differences in our birth to do with the individual difference we all were created with?
For anyone to make a difference in life by living a distinct and impactful life there must be a separation between the person that was created to fulfil a purpose and the person that was born to fulfil a purpose.
This is the beginning of the life with a difference. You need to understand the real difference that truly determines who you are, what you are capable of doing and what you can achieve.
You were created for a purpose; uniquely and specifically formed to meet an end, this end is the desire of the creator planted in you to be your purpose, your desire and your earthly pursuit.
You do not have a duplicate, you are the original version of yourself.
There is a journey we need to critically look into, it is the journey from the creation process to the birth process by which the man of purpose and destiny emerged into the world.
The creation of man was initiated by the decision of the godhead to create man in the likeness of the godhead. The initiative was carried out and completed. The outcome was perfect and great.
The objective to have a being in the likeness of God on earth was achieved in the created in the image of God. The human race were created to be gods on earth; this was made possible because the creator himself has deposited himself, his ability and potential in man.
By this divine potential it was possible for man to imagine the unimaginable and achieve them. His existence in the world as gods is made possible because he was created to live and operate in the creative realm.
Our discussion in this first part of this book of the likeness of the creator that we carry in us as human being is somehow limited to divine ability and potential by which we are to rule our world; the second part of the creator’s likeness, the divine nature will be discussed in part three.
Having accomplished the creation process in the first man; for the entire human race now exist in the first man, known as the first Adam. It is therefore necessary to continue the process of human existence by the birth process.
The creation process must be followed up by the birth process, this process is known as procreation. Birth is therefore a passage by which the created being emerged into the world where he is to fulfil purpose and to live in dominion.
This birth is a process which begin by the union of the male gender and the female gender in holy matrimony. Then the man and the woman become one; and as one they bring forth the created being in them into the world as offspring through procreation.
Procreation was established from the beginning by natural conception. The moment there is a conception, biological formation of the child begin and develop through various stages in the womb.
Right from the formative stage, the fetus in the womb is formed from the combination of the genes of both parents.
The outcome of this is the birth of a child with differences in appearance; such as height, color, speech, and certain physical features.
Some of these features are good and normal with no adverse effect on the growth and the ability of the child to live the normal life like the other children, whereas some are not.
In the process of time, through the birth process another difference no doubt develops with our formation in the womb. This difference is like a covering made up of human features over the creation features or the creation identity.
Inside the body is the man that was created with a difference to make a difference with the unique creation identity, whereas there may be physical disability.
What is the real difference; the man created with a difference or the man born with a difference?
Again what is the real difference; the body with obvious weakness and limitation or the potent power covered up by human frailty? The real difference is the man created with a difference.
The color of your skin and your physical appearance notwithstanding; you were created to make a difference. This has to do with your ability to perform the task you were created and wired to do.
Really, some limitation are already in place the moment there is an abnormal state to cope with. The effect become more profound as such people grow up segregated with the belief that they are less human and that the other kids are better than them. That they can never live a normal life.
They pass through life with the reality of the limitation of the disability of the body, without the consciousness of the boundless ability locked up in the disabled body.
This is nothing but a wall of human limitation coupled with a cage of inferiority complex; combined together, we have a prison and the man created with a difference is the prisoner.
This body even in his best state is a covering of muddy clay over the God given treasures in us.
We need to break out from every limitation associated with our birth, from the horror of society stigmatization by reason of any physical disability; and let go the real man.
Are you living with a difference or living with a defect?
Do you live your life focused on the difference you can make in life with your God given creation identity, touching lives and making a difference in the life of others or is your life focused on the defect in your body?
A difference dominated life brings alive the latent power and potential inside us, while a defect dominated life incapacitates and paralyses the light and the life of our potential.
What takes your attention will eventually dominate your life. The defects cries out for attention and the company of the people around us remind us by their attitude towards us that there is a defect; a reproach that is firmly attached to us like a cloak of darkness. At the same time your innate ability is crying out for expression.
It is possible to live a fulfil life despite your deficiency by reason of any physical defect. God has created in us the power of the will alongside with our creation identity, that we might be able to achieve our God given purpose on earth.
I want to open up your heart to the power of concentration of the will.
Apostle Paul in his letter to the Church at Philippi declares: ‘’I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.’’ Philippians 4:13.
Whatsoever the will of man focused on, will certainly dominate the life of man, and whatsoever occupies the mind eventually will find expression in our lives.
The human body was formed to communicate or express the individual difference as we relate with each other in life, thus the body is a tool which life is communicated; this life is your originality which you communicate to others.
Stephen Hawkins was one of the most well-known physicist in the world. At the age of 21 he was diagnosed with ALS [Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis], a state of physical disability which made voluntary movement an extremely difficult task.
As a result of this he was a full time power chair user. His physical challenge did not deter him from becoming one of the greatest minds that the world has seen in modern times. The late professor Hawkins had an incredible impact on the world. He was famous for his works on black holes and relativity.
He lived his life focused on the difference he was created with and not on the defects he acquired while growing up. His entire will was concentrated in communicating with his world the potentials inside him.
His movement was restrained to the wheelchair; but his will was not. Though the body was chained to a wheelchair, but by the indestructible power of will, he soared far out of the wheelchair to the boundary of the universe and beyond; leaving behind a world better than the world he was born into through his input.
I have come to realize that there is no one born of a woman who one way or the other either by birth, by choice or by relationship is free from one form of defect or another.
A defect is not restricted to physical challenges or disability; a defect is a fault or imperfection in a person or thing. It is a shortcoming or a lack that limits the expected outcome from our input into life endeavor.
This I can say that the human race though wonderfully and fearfully made, by generic defects are products of human imperfection.
The choice before all of us is living to make a difference or living with a defect. The choice to make a difference is stronger and more powerful than the choice to live with a defect.
My choice is to make a difference in life.
What about you?
CHAPTER THREE
THE DIFFERENCE YOU CAN SEE.
[Choose your self-identity]
‘’You are not here to make others understand you, you are here to understand yourself.’’ Kristen Butler.
It is a tragedy for you to spend your entire life a liability when in actual fact you are an asset to your world. The greatest ignorance is not the lack of knowledge of the world you are privileged to live in; but rather the world of unlimited opportunities and exploit at your becks and call if only you understand and know that you have within you all it takes to make it happen.
What we need is the expression of the power in us and not the oppression of the weakness and the defect attached to our natural birth. The power of creation is greater than the weakness we inherited from birth.
As stated earlier, there is no one without a natural birth defect; the only power that liberates from this generic flow is the power of the new creation through the redemption of the blood of Jesus Christ.
The simple understanding that we are created different with different grace and different purpose; coupled with the understanding that purpose cannot be swapped, neither can destinies be exchanged, will surely develop the required boldness we need to conquer every weakness and defect limiting us.
The life before you is a personal choice. Your life will follow the path you choose to follow. You dictate the pace and the tune.
A sister was handling the bible study on a particular Sunday service and during the cause of her teaching about the Christian life and holiness, in an attempt to proof that we cannot all be rich she quoted the bible passage where the Lord said: ‘’the poor you will always have with you.’’ Mark 14:7
After her teaching I had the opportunity to share my understanding on that scriptural passage; I pointed out to the congregation that it is all a matter of individual choice.
Surely the poor we will always have in the world but I am not going to be that poor person. I realized that the creator of man has given to every man the honor to choose for themselves their self-identity.
We need to understand that God has not created anyone to be poor, neither is any born to live a life abject poverty and misery; blessing or curse, poverty or riches are the effects of individual choices and actions.
The poor we will always have not because they are created or born to be poor, but because they have chosen by their action to be so.
In my study of the scripture, I discovered that Lazarus the beggar in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus; was not born to be poor nor was he destined to be a beggar; but rather that he succumb to the choice that life threw at him.
The poor beggar simply got what he settled for. His desire was to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table and that was exactly what he got.
What if his desire was to be richer than the rich man; not subjected to the life of crumbs but to the life of plenty and overflowing abundance?
What your soul desire is what your soul possesses but the soul that is already captured by poverty, mediocrity, human limitation and inborn family traits of slavery mentality can never aspire beyond this self-imprisonment.
Life is a gift from God and never an error. The circumstances of your birth may be terrible and your childhood experience horrible; but these ought not to define the person that you are and the person that you are to become.
Life is a gift from God and it is a good and perfect gift. The beauty of this life should not be marred by the flaw of human imperfection and weakness, on the other hand it should overcome it and shine through it.
I want you to see that any human defect that may arise from birth is not a creation error, for you are created good and perfect. Therefore you must be able to choose right from the beginning what you want to be identified with.
Do you want to be identified with your creation identity or with the defects attached to your birth nor with the negative circumstance around you?
Your self-identity is a personal choice and your individual responsibility; no one can choose for you who you are, neither does anyone has the power to determine the identity of another.
I remember the story of a Nigerian comedian, narrated by the very person in a church program; the program was put up to motivate Christians to make a difference and to see that we are responsible for the outcome of our lives by simply identifying ourselves with the difference in us and not with the defects attached to our lives.
This comedian was able to overcome all the limitation associated with her birth. Her mother was raped, her conception and birth were the outcome of that horrifying experience.
It is something else to be raped, and another far deeper emotional damage and torture to be raped by an unidentified personality.
She grew up with the word ‘’that bastard.’’
She was accustomed to hearing from her immediate families that nothing good can ever come out of her live. According to her, no naming ceremony was observed on her behalf like every normal child; she was given a name as she was told in a dramatic encounter in a church.
She started growing up with a name not giving to her by her parents; she had a name but she had not a father’s name to be identified with.
She was giving a surname right at the point of her being admitted into primary school. There are two personalities behind her choice of identity; herself and her grandmother who took her up and trained her.
Her grandmother was a positive voice and force which helped her to see that this defect associated with her birth is only an attachment to her life and it is not her real self.
She said, right from her childhood she was determined not to be defined by this birth defect but by her real self. When they say: ‘’nothing good will ever come out of this one,’’ her resolved and response always were that: ‘’not only would she come out to be the best, but that the fullness of this life in her shall overflow to the world around her.’’
Today, she is a celebrated entertainer, an actress, a comedian of repute and a professor. This is making a difference in life despite all odds.
The birth and the life of Nicholas James Vujicic, an Australian –American Christian evangelist and motivational speaker should be to the world a source of great inspiration.
Vujicic was born with a defect known as ‘’tetra-amelia syndrome.’’
This is a disorder characterized by the absence of arms and legs.
It is really amazing to watch the video of the amazing things the man born without arms and legs was able to do and achieve. He could drive, write, type up to 45 words per minute using the heel and toe method. He uses the computer, get a glass of water comb his hair, play tennis and even swim.
Nick vujicic is happily married with two sons and two daughters, truly life is possible without legs and without arms. Nick is reaching out to the world through the ‘’Life without Limbs Mission.’
The mission of the organization is to cross boundaries and break down barriers and to build bridges that bring people to the love and hope found in Jesus Christ.
I see in this man, the almighty God glorifying himself in the life that man will naturally write off as a thing of naught. I have come to understand that there is ability in every disability and in every weakness there is strength.
If the man born without legs and arms could achieve and make so much impact in life; I wonder what excuse you could have for living your life without making a difference in life.
What you see is what you have:
What is the fundamental difference between those who rise above their limitations and barriers either physical or mental and those who live all their lives as victim to the power of disability; it is what everyone sees that becomes their possession.
The difference you see inside of you is the difference you will exhibit, meaning what comes out of you will be determined by what you are able see resident inside of you. You pour out what you have, nothing more nothing less.
There are two things that are fundamental to living an outstanding life:
· How you see yourself.
· What you see in yourself.
How you see yourself is your self –conception, the perception and the true opinion of yourself based on your self-identity. This will determine the category of life you will exhibit; either to be an asset or a liability; nor to live by your ability or your disability.
The second part; what you see in yourself. Some see treasure loaded in the treasury of their heart while some see trash. Some see success and some see failure, likewise some see victory and others see victim.
To be candid, we all need a mind reset. We must engage in a deliberate action of what I call default setting. Just as our computers and electronic devises operates by setting the program we desire as the default, so also we need to purposely reset our life to operate completely by how we see ourselves and what we see in ourselves.
Those who sees their uniqueness by the unique difference resident inside them, who truly see the gift and the possibility waiting for the gift; who sees the outcome and the fruits that the gift can deliver to them if it is developed and well deployed, do not wait and watch, they move on with passion towards excellence.
Your impact in life is according to the proportion of your insight to the treasures in your inner man; which you uncovered, developed over- time, rightly channeled and deployed into the appropriate area of human needs.
Indeed we are all created with a difference to make a difference in this life and in the life of one another, but unfortunately only a few live out this reality in their lifetime.
Master the difference:
I believe that there is not a man born inferior, neither is there any born superior to the other; nor is there any race with a more refined and superior gene over another race. What makes the difference is the art of mastering.
The master of the game will always stand superior over the amateur player in any game. Any one given to understanding his or her peculiarity and seeking means of developing the same is on the path of excellence.
The word master means to take charge, to take control and responsibility over an affair. Your life and your destiny is your personal affair and no one is responsible for another person’s life and affair, the one who gave life to man also give unto man to take charge of his life.
The beginning of a well ordered life is the life well mastered. The master knows what to do and seek to know more that he may do better; the desire for mastery is to make maximal and optimal use of the opportunities presented to us in life.
As the saying: ‘’success is when opportunity meets preparation,’’ and as such every opportunity without preparation is doomed to fail right from the onset.
But every one of us has peculiar role to play, we are individually molded from creation to fit into a part; this is the part and the role you have to master and continue to master and as you master it you become better and better.
The more better you are, the more impact you make; and the more impact you make the greater the difference you make with your peculiar difference.
The life that is completely devoted to learning, training and service will follow these three distinct steps of mastering: Discovering, Developing and Deploying.
Steps to mastering the difference-
Discover yourself- Master yourself by discovering yourself.
(Familiarize yourself with yourself)
It is time for you to get acquainted with yourself; you really need to know who you are.
Moses’s mother could see beyond the circumstances surrounding Moses’s birth. She saw that the child was not an ordinary child, that he was a special kind of child; one with a difference from every other child.
In actual fact; I believe that there is no one that is ordinary, what keeps a fellow ordinary is the lack of insight by revelation to your creation identity. This is what will separate you from the ordinary life to the life of impact you were created to make.
Moses’s mother recognized the difference, though she could not really point out exactly what it is. It was this discovery that prompted her to go contrary to the king’s edit or decree and hid the child for three months and afterward conceived and execute the idea of preserving the child’s life.
Discovering begin from birth, from the point when the baby itself is not conscious of life and purpose. This is a major parental role.
As parents we are to partner with the creator not just to procreate by bringing forth offspring but as guardian towards the fulfilment of the child’s purpose in creation.
We can only do this if we are able to see beyond the ordinary into the peculiarity lying dormant and waiting for discovery in them.
Moses on the contrary when he was called to embark on the purpose that God had actually prepared him for, began to give excuses of his inability to deliver. One of his key excuse was that he is not eloquent, that he is slow of speech and of a slow tongue. [Exodus 4: 10].
Moses was seeing the defect and not the difference in him that separate everyone from the common life. Only those who sees it can have it.
From the passage we can conclude that Moses had a speech defect and can be classified a stammerer. Of course Moses did not consider the fact that the one who made the mouth and every part of the body is all he will ever need to succeed in the mission, likewise that the inherent power of creation in him is greater and more potent than any defect either by birth or any other means.
What you need is to really get to know yourself.
Your strength and your weakness: What are those things that you can classified as your strength as well as those things you can classified as your weakness. While in school we all have particular subject we are good at as well as subjects we are either below average or out rightly poor.
Our performances right from the elementary to the higher school, to college and to the university will always reveal yourself to yourself. From the onset you need to know your major, that you may separate your major from your minor.
Excellence is not the mastery of all trade; it is the mastery of one thing you have discovered to be your major.
Your aspirations, your motivation and your ambition: Just as you as you are able to separate your strength from your weakness, in order for you to make your strength your major; the same way you need to identify your aspiration, motivation and your ambition.
Behind every move there is a motive. Some intentions are so covered up that you yourself may not know.
What is the motive behind your action?
Fame, fortune, personal recognition, self-exaltation and many more are the forces driving many in life. Some have chosen their particular profession or field just to proof to somebody else that he is brighter and better. Making a difference is not a show-off of who is better but rather an exchange of benefits between two or more people.
When aspirations aligned with strength, and motive is genuine and pure out of compassion towards one another, you are on your way to the peak. Fame and fortune follow who do not seek them and stick to them, while those who seek them may find them but are not able to keep them.
Your attractions and your preferences: As you get to know yourself by getting acquainted with yourself, you need to know what and who you are naturally attracted to, as well as your personal preferences.
It is natural that people of the same sort or with the same tastes and interests will be found together, because birds of the same feather flock together.
When you do not see anything wrong in keeping company with people whose aspirations and desire is to ever remain the same way they are, with no drive, no particular purpose of existence; then you are just exactly like them. A change therefore is necessary.
Pay attention to your positive attraction. What is it that you are willing to do without being coerced to do it? Our delight is not in everything that we do; our delight is always attached to the things we are attracted to.
Your attraction is your preference and your preference is your taste, likewise your taste is your passion and your passion the impact and the difference your world is waiting for.
Develop: Master your gifts by developing your gift.
[Familiarize yourself with your gift.]
The second step towards mastering your difference is to master your gift.
There is just one thing to do with your gift, use it.
To develop your gift, use it; likewise to master your gift, use it.
There is no other way around mastery than the continuous exercise of the mind and the will focused on a particular area or field.
The only reason you are better in what you do and will still grow to be better is your tireless dedication and devotion to that one thing in life that you have discovered to be your major.
Development is a gradual thing. It means to grow and nurture a thing until it matures. I took the very first step towards writing as a calling, twenty seven years ago and I got my first book published just three years ago.
After the encounter with the Holy Spirit sometimes in the month of June 1997 during a church program at living faith’s first headquarter in Lagos, under the ministration of Bishop David Oyedepo; I started receiving ideas in my spirit for books.
Immediately, I started developing these ideas; and by 1998 one of the book was ready for publication. If I had published any book then, I can assure you that what I would have released to the public for consumption would have been an unripe product.
It is just like plucking up unripe oranges and mangoes from the tree and taking them to the market to sell. Between 1997, when I took the first step towards writing and year 2021 when my first book (Before honour) was published; the creative gift of writing was going through different stages of development.
From that moment there was never a long period of abstinence from writing. There was something to write, ideas keeps pouring in, and I keep gathering relevant information relating to every subject I am working on.
My library is full of jotters, ongoing manuscripts, idea formation and various write ups since 1997 till date; even the particular manuscript of that first idea is still in my archives. I know now that not all writings are meant for publication, some of these writings are necessary practice through the exercise of the creative mind. I call it the writing practice or writing exercise.
That as we engage the creative mind in writing; it gets sharper, brighter and better. I remember clearly many years ago my attempt to write ever before I had the clear understanding and conviction that communicating the mind of God through writing was part of my creation identity.
Right from the early part of my secondary days, my creative mind would be inspired through reading novels after which I begin to develop the story in own little understanding.
After this I would cut papers into book sizes, write the story inside them, arrange them in order and then gum them together. The only thing I couldn’t do was the cover design; this aspect one of my brother takes up. Obviously my portion in life is to write and publish books, and not to engage in artwork and design.
Indirectly I was actually engaged in destiny actualization by the development of my gift of writing. It is a compulsory step towards making a difference in your chosen career or endeavor.
Mastery is a journey from playing amateur to playing professional.
When a child begin learning to write the starting point is always with the alphabet. The first attempt of every one of us as a starter in writing our first alphabet is nothing but jargons.
The next attempt we make after the prior attempt is an improvement on the previous, though it may not be visible at the moment. Every insignificant change will soon become a major change and improvement if we persist.
Soon the jargons will become letters and the letters sentences; then the sentences will become expressions, and the expression a complete story.
The art of mastery requires discipline and dedication. It is to devote your time and passion to that one thing that you have discovered to be your major. At the same time your patient and perseverance is a major demand as you have to be able to bear the pressure, the pain of development and the pain of initial rejection.
The one who will make a difference must definitely experience rejection in one way or the other. In one of Rob Kosberg’s post: Helping experts become bestselling author; there is a piece of write up worth sharing.
‘’ John Maxwell first book failed. And he didn’t write another one for 6 years. Today he has 70 titles and over 20 million copies sold.
…don’t stop writing. Your first attempt may be like Johns. Good things he kept going. What about you?’’
Deploy: Master your world by releasing your gift.
[familiarize yourself with your world]
As I engage my mind on the subject matter of making a difference in life; the following words keeps pressing in my heart, and they are the word: relevance, useful and impactful.
The more relevance you are the more useful you are. And the more useful you are the more impact you will make in life. It is your personal business to make yourself relevance and my personal business to make myself relevance.
The greater the mastery over our individual lives and over our personal gifts the more relevance we will be to our world. It is from discovering to developing and from developing to deploying.
What we discover we must develop and what we develop we must surely deploy. To deploy is to release the gift.
Surely we all are created with a difference that we might make a difference in our lifetime, this difference which I can see must become what all eyes can see.
Though I carry in me a peculiar difference that is different from every other person, it must be revealed to the world in need for it to be profitable to me and to my maker.
To do this I must become master of the game; knowing what to play, how to play, where to play and when to play. It is good enough knowing that I have the gift of writing, but even as a writer I must take time to understand my peculiarity.
So what do I write? stories, novels, motivational books?
My supply to the world must be what the world demands from me, to give to the world anything outside of this is irrelevance. I must operate within the confine of my major difference. There is no one who is created to be a copy of another unless you make yourself one.
The world is waiting for what the maker puts in me and that is exactly what I will discharge. As I commit myself to this divine task upon my life, so do I make myself relevance.
The point we need to consider now, is that achieving relevance in an unfamiliar territory is an impossible task. Therefore, we need to get acquainted with our territory.
The process of mastering the difference must be completed with the familiarization of your domain. You have the gift, you keep improving yourself every day, what for? Is it not that you might channel it to the appropriate quarter.
The keys to open certain doors are in your possession. Every door may look the same but they have different keys and different lock. You may spend your entire lifetime trying to open the door whose lock did not match your key.
Some even try to break in or force themselves into the room that was never meant for them. Your gift is your key, but you need to locate the particular door leading to your own room in that great house.
It is not a matter of trial by error, it is by knowing the right door. This is your first step of familiarization tour. The moment you enter into your arena or your domain, you continue your familiarization tour by getting yourself acquainted through the use of your gift.
This is trickiest part of it all; it is your very beginning and people will wash down all of what you have put in your best to achieve. Never mind, keep doing it, keep playing it.
TD Jakes in his book titled Destiny; gave the example of the beginning of Elvis Presley’s career as a singer and actor. His manager candidly advised him to drop off the idea.
He said to him: ‘’ you ain’t going nowhere son. You ought to go back to driving a truck.’’
Thank God Presley knew what he alone has discovered. The opinion of the one who does not know what you have seen does not matter. There are two major factors to your relevance in life, your maker who made you to be who you are and yourself.
Today, Elvis Presley record had sold over I billion worldwide, has over 150 different albums certified gold, platinum and multi-platinum. He was inducted into five halls of fame and was known in the entertainment world as the king of rock and roll.
In conclusion as you get familiar with your territory, playing your role to the best of your ability while at the same time improving on the same ability; be sensitive to opportunity.
Opportunity abounds but we need to see them and we need to make judicious use of it. We should be guided with the principle that: ‘’success is when preparation and opportunity meet.’’
Every opportunity to release what we have inside us must be met with adequate preparation. The outcome of every play is determined by the time given to rehearsal.
Do not show yourself to the public without having gone through series of rehearsal. See yourself doing it before you do it. Do it several times in the closet before you do it in the public.
When I was in the school of ministry; we were to give like 15-20 minutes message as part of our assessment. For a message as brief as 15-20 minutes, I spent almost two weeks meditating and rehearsing over and over in my mind.
Walking or lying down on the bed, I was occupied with it. The topic I chose to speak on was: ‘’let there be light.’’ Under the allocated time the Holy Spirit was able to present through me to my fellow student, ‘’the mystery, the manifestation and the miracle of light.’’ The atmosphere was charged, the timekeeper forgot to rang the bell at the expiration of my allocated time.
After the message, the response from the people in the class and those who came to meet me afterwards was enough for me to know that preparation and opportunity has truly met and a merger of the two has been formed.
Every second of the day counts. Keep discovering, keep developing, and keep deploying. The world is in deep need of what you have. You are relevant, make yourself relevant.
The author hasn't added any updates, yet.