WHAT WILL PEOPLE SAY? Part 1

What comes to your mind when you are about to do something? Definitely, you think about how people will react to what you are about to do. You are afraid that people might react negatively to it. They might just cast you down and make you feel useless. So what happens next?, you stop that action, you hide your write up, you cancel your drawings, you hold back your words, you hold back your contribution, and in all these, you start to lose your self-confidence, you can’t boast in your ability, you become full of doubts, you feel you are not qualified enough.

Do you know the problem? You are busy thinking of what will people say. I am here to address the problem. Let me start by asking “ever since you have been so concerned about what will people say, what have you achieved? I want you to answer this question sincerely in your heart.

The worst feeling anybody can have is to feel like s/he is not up to the required standard of the people. One thing about people is that they will always have something to say. If you are good, you will have followers and if you are bad, you will also have followers as well. If your life is dependent on others opinion, then you are not the one living, but they live in you.

Always know that anything you do, there will always be reactions from people both negative and positive reactions so do what you have to do and let them talk. Apart from the fact that people will always talk, another fact about people is that their opinion is never constant.

I remembered a story: A student collected ₦40, 000 from his father for his school fees and he used ₦10, 000 to gamble. The result of the gamble will be out in a week’s time. He decided to use part of his school fees to play because he believed in the rumour that the deadline for the school fee that was supposed to be in three days’ time has been extended to 3 weeks. He thought to himself that before 3 weeks, he will be able to complete his school fee. Even if he did not win the game, his aunt, a salary earner, who always gives him a monthly allowance would have collected her salary by then.  But he was shocked and confused when the school authority confirms that the extension of school fee payment is just a rumour, the deadline for school fees still stands.

He has just one day left to pay his school fees or he will have to face an extra session. The thought of repeating that session was scary to him. He thought how will he explain his carryover to his father, how can he ask his father for extra money, knowing the condition of his family. He went to meet his friends, he asked them to borrow him money and he will refund it before 3 weeks when his aunty gives him his monthly allowance. Instead of his friends lending him the money, they started abusing him, saying, “he is so foolish. How can he use his school fees to gamble”.

They even spread the news around campus. His story came on the front page of the campus gist news. He became so dis-stabilized. He has to pay his school fees, but it seems there are no means for him. Stealing was not an option for him; he can never steal because of his upbringing and beliefs. Just a few hours to the school fees deadline, he felt that all hope is gone, he was able to raise just ₦6,000, all the money with him was ₦36, 000. He needed ₦4, 000 to go. He has nowhere to turn again to ask for money.

He was in his hostel; crying and thinking of what will people say again if he had to repeat the session because of ₦4, 000 Naira only. He was so sad. Remembering what people said about him, how they treated him so badly and called him different types of names, he thought to himself that he will rather commit suicide than face the shame/disgrace waiting for him. He just couldn’t face, nor stand what people will say. Yes, they have been talking about him, but their talk will be more intense if he could not pay his school fee.

Just when he was contemplating about committing suicide, his phone rang and it was his aunt. She told him that her salary was paid a day before, “everybody at work was surprised that our boss would pay us this early. It was almost unbelievable when he told the accountant to pay us our salary yesterday because our company won a contract and he even instructed that additional 20% should be paid”, she said.  “Actually, I should have sent you the money yesterday, but I was just too busy. Now I am on my way to the bank to send you your monthly allowance. Don’t spend it anyhow ooo simply because you got it earlier than ever before. I don’t know when next my boss is going to pay us for next month salary ooo”, she said.

He was so happy, full of life and felt like screaming. He knelt down on his knees to say thank you to God. Less than 30 minutes, he got an alert; his aunty also increased his allowance by additional ₦5, 000. He rushed to the bank to buy his school fees card. Quickly went to the café to log in to the school portal. He wants to avoid any form of mistake since he has just 3 hours to go so he decided not to use his phone as he usually does for his previous school fees payment.

He logged in to the school portal, input the pin on the card, and waited for a few seconds. His heart heavily breathed, he was afraid, he said to himself “I hope it is going” A message popped up “your payment is successful. Kindly register your semester courses. Thanks.” He was extremely happy; it was just as if a heavy load has been lifted from his chest. He ran to his hostel, laid down and thought to himself, “what if my aunt did not send me money, what would have happened”.  He checked his time, and the time for the school fee payment was gone. And he said, “thank God I am still alive”. If he hadn’t had the money, he would have committed suicide. He felt so sad, lonely and broken because people did not help him out, especially his rich friends who refused to give him just ₦10,  000 Naira but could spend more than ₦20, 000 in the club for girlfriends. Every corner he turned to, they kept pointing fingers at him, saying, “that is the foolish guy that used part of his school fees to gamble”.

Academic work resumed fully, he was in his hostel doing his assignment when his phone rang. He looked at the number on it. It’s not a familiar number; he thought to himself, “who could this be”. He picked the call and he was told that he emerged as the winner of the game. He couldn’t believe his ears. What? You mean the winner of a car and a sum of 1,000,000 Naira. He was invited to their head office, for him to claim the price the next day.

Read: Part 2 

PRINCIPLE OF TRAFFIC LIGHT

If you understand the principle of the traffic light and apply it to your daily life, you will get to the very top.

Red light: “Stop”

Stop all the things you are doing in a wrong way/ all the wrong things you are doing now. Take a break and think about your approach to life.

Yellow light: “get ready”

Renew your mind. Adopt a positive character/ attitude.   Reflect on your life. Set a goal, and draw a plan. Reanalyse your approach to life.

Green light: “Go”

Pursue your dream. Launch your ideas. Execute your plan. Reassure and Reconfirm your approach to life.

Don’t wait! Go in pursuit of happiness. 

HAPPINESS

HOW TO CHOOSE HAPPINESS  AND STAY HAPPY
1. Care less about what people will say about you
2. Renew your mind
3. Stay positive
4. Take up the right attitude towards life
5. Improve yourself daily
6. Keep doing what you know how to do best
7. Never stop hoping for the best

Happiness is not dependent on what is happening around you, it is your state of mind. #ChooseHappiness

PEACE

Peace is strength, in the time of trouble.

Peace is comfort, in the time of war.

Peace is hope, in the time of doubt.

Peace is adoration, in the time of reproach.

It flows gently like a spring of water.

It gives boldness to the meek,

And glory to the humble in spirit.

Peace is security, in the time of fear.

Peace is calmness, in the time of hunger.

Peace is satisfaction, in the time of lack.

Peace is confidence, in the time of storm.

It spreads its feathers like a peacock.

It gives defense to the weak,

And shelter to the desolate.

Peace is direction, in the time of confusion.

Peace is love, in the time of loneliness.

Peace is silence, in the time of persecution.

Peace is wisdom, in the time of challenge.

It shines bright like the sun,

It gives brightness to the world,

And power to the people.

The Struggle, Strength and Success of Albert Einstein.

STRUGGLE:

Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879, in the city of Ulm, in the Kingdom of Württemberg in the German Empire. His parents lived in a very different world from what it is now: there was no electric light. The year Albert was born was the same year the electric bulb was invented by Thomas Edison. Albert was not a childhood prodigy. He started speaking relatively late when he was three years old. His parents made him see a doctor worrying that Albert had developmental issues.

Young Albert Einstein

As a student, young Einstein did not show remarkable results. Most of his grades were passing, and he was near the top of his class, but mainly because of math and science. In 1895, at the age of 16, Albert Einstein was determined to study electrical engineering, but he entered the Zürich Polytechnic (ETH Zurich) at the four-year mathematics and physics teaching diploma program at the age of 17. He skipped classes that he did not like and was a frequent guest in coffee houses and beer halls. To pass his exams, Albert copied class notes from Marcel Grossmann, which got him the highest grades in the group surpassing Grossmann himself. Einstein got some of his first ideas when still in college. 

Albert Einstein passed the exit exams well and obtained the degree and a teaching diploma in mathematics and physics. He wanted to continue his life story as a professor’s assistant, but none of the professors would accept him for his rebellious character. After graduating in 1900, Albert Einstein searched for a job for two years until the father of his university classmate, Marcel Grossmann, helped him get employed as an assistant examiner at the Federal Office for Intellectual Property in Bern, Switzerland. At the patent office, Einstein was responsible for evaluating patent submissions for a variety of inventions.

Albert Einstein and Mileva Einstein-Marić got married

Albert Einstein romantically became involved with Mileva Marić, who was the only female student in his group and got married to her on January 06, 1903 and gave birth to two sons. Albert Einstein and Mileva Einstein-Marić got divorced on February 14, 1919. Their separation was accompanied by fierce arguments about money and children. Albert Einstein was restricted to get married for the next two years, but he married Elsa Löwenthal just three and a half months later, on June 02, 1919. By this time, Albert earned the reputation of an eccentric non-traditional educator, and his teaching career started its decline.

STRENGTH:

When Einstein was 10 years old, he started educating himself under the guidance of his uncle Jakob Einstein, who bought the boy books for the upcoming study years. 

This way Albert managed to read them before the classes started and get good grades without active participation in classroom sessions. For instance, he taught himself Euclidean geometry by the age of 12 and differential and integral calculus by the age of 15. Einstein loved doing things his own way rather than following the teachers’ guidelines. 

“The Olympia Academy” founders (left to right): Conrad Habicht, Maurice Solovine and Albert Einstein

In 1902, together with new friends, Conrad Habicht and Maurice Solovine, Einstein had met in Bern, he organized a small discussion group “The Olympia Academy,” which regularly gathered in Einstein’s apartment to discuss physics and philosophy. The discussion group played a significant role in Einstein’s intellectual development.

Einstein was a visionary, thinking ahead of the time and most of the achievements made in this period became widely appreciated only 15 years later. Liberty and equality were essential values for Einstein. He was a big supporter of socialism and the idea of a global democratic government. He was also recognized as an advocate for African Americans civil rights movements and was even a supporter of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Princeton.

Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile – Albert Einstein

SUCCESS:

The year of 1905 is called the “miracle year” of Albert Einstein. The reason for this was that he wrote four papers printed in a scientific journal Annalen der Physik that contributed significantly to the groundwork of modern physics and completely changed the view on space, time, mass, and energy. Those papers were on the photoelectric effect, Brownian motion, special theory of relativity, and mass-energy equivalence.

Albert Einstein rides the streets in a motorcade in New York City with citizens welcoming his first visit to New York City in 1921.

Having given a lecture on electrodynamics and the relativity principle at the University of Zurich in February 1909, Alfred Kleiner recommended Einstein to the faculty for a recently created professorship in theoretical physics. Therefore, Einstein became an associate professor in 1909. The new title altered Einstein´s image completely. He changed his neat patent office appearance for baggy short trousers and indifferent hairstyle. His lectures bore quite a similar style. They were quite informal: students could interrupt the professor anytime and often spent time together at different cafes and even joined him at his home.

Albert Einstein moved to Prague to work as a full professor at German Charles-Ferdinand University and obtained the Austrian citizenship to do so in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It is interesting to know that, at first, his application for the position was not approved by the Ministry of Education in Vienna and Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary. The job was given to Gustav Jaumann (1863–1924), who turned down the offer when found that Albert Einstein was the first choice for it. The position allowed Einstein to travel a lot through Europe. Also, while working at German Charles-Ferdinand University, Albert Einstein wrote 11 scientific papers, 5 of which was on the quantum theory of solids and radiation mathematics.

He held the position of a professor at the Humboldt University of Berlin and the head of Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics (1914–1932). He also became a member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences, and in 1916 Einstein was assigned as president of the German Physical Society (1916–1918).

Einstein spent 1911 – 1913 working on the general theory of relativity, which calculated that the Sun’s gravity bends light from another star (now known as Gravitational lens effect). By November 1915, Einstein finalized his general theory of relativity and in the spring of 1919, an English astronomer, physicist, and mathematician Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington went to Africa to prove the theory during the solar eclipse of May 29, 1919. In November 1919, when he received the proofs, Einstein became an overnight success. This theory of gravitation has now received an extensive usage in astrophysics and explained the essence of black holes, the parts of space with such a strong gravity attraction that even light gets attracted to it.

Albert Einstein was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize “for his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect.”

Judge Phillip Forman handing U.S. citizenship certificate to Albert Einstein

In 1940, Einstein became the official citizen of the USA. He was inspired by America´s power of individual in government and the respect for the freedom of speech. This encouraged the creativity, the trait he has always treasured. Albert Einstein was one of the founders and Board of Governors of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, established on July 24, 1918.

Albert died at the age of 76.

Albert Einstein died at the age of 76 in Princeton Hospital. During his last years, when his health was worsening, he still worked on theories. Albert Einstein left behind hundreds of both scientific and non-scientific works; the total archive released comprised more than 30,000 unique documents. In 1916, Einstein made the discovery that has been proven by science 100 years later. He predicted gravitational waves that transfer energy in the form of gravitational radiation.

Thomas Stoltz Harvey, a doctor at the Princeton Hospital, performed the autopsy and preserved Einstein’s brain without the permission of his family for the neuroscience of the future to discover the reason for his intelligence.

Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them – Albert Einstein

SUMMARY:

That is the story of a child who can’t speak until he was three years old. A rebellious teenager always skipping classes and was a frequent guest in coffee houses and beer halls. A jobless man for two years.

He was creative and a man with self-confidence. He became a genius not overnight, but by early self-discovery, critical reasoning and started gaining knowledge when he was 10 year-old by educating himself under the guidance of his uncle. Einstein understood the fact that when you are different from others, people tend not to understand you, hence they oppose you, yet He was never afraid to stand alone and loved doing things his own way rather than following others. He cared less about what people will say, He was determined, focused, hardworking, and never gave up. Einstein was a visionary, thinking ahead of the time and believed in impacting lives. Though His road was tough and rough, He never hesitates to pass through it and become a success; Einstein did not lose his gaze on his dream, he pursued his dream to the very end and achieved it. 

Albert Einstein Quote

He turned himself into a World Citizen, a Jewish physicist surviving Nazi Germany, the fighter for the world peace. He was the underestimated professor, the Nobel Prize Winner, a “mad” scientist and the man, whose input can be traced all the way to current high-tech explorations. Now the name Einstein is often used as a synonym to “genius,”

Reference: “Albert Einstein Biography: Success Story of Physicist and Scientist.” Astrum People, (2017). Web. 10 Mar 2017.