DISCOVER THE 'REAL' YOU.

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom” - Aristotle.

Any true body transformation starts with self discovery. The average Nigerian youth is yet to discover his/herself. Opinions are influenced by what people say, think or do. This inability to truly discover who we are, where we are going and what we want to be remembered for, is the reason behind most of the 'unreasonable' actions we see around us everyday.

I was having a discussion with a friend I met recently and he told me of how he could no longer visit a part of town where he once resided, because all his friends had relocated abroad for studies. He continued, that his dad is the reason why he didn't join them abroad. I had to ask him, why and how? To my utmost shock, he said his dad stopped him from applying as a 'repentant niger-delta militant' to go abroad. I was too stunned to say anything else (I digress).

I believe that to a certain extent the inability of youths to know what they want is the major reason for unfulfilled dreams, mediocre lives and ultimately shattered futures. The Nigerian youth allows his/her opinions about life, marriage, sex, politics, religion, etc. to be shaped by strangers who afterwards do not care whether you succeed or fail. We even attempt to deceive and lie to ourselves because of standards set by people who may have been failures themselves. Self Discovery is a sine qua non for a life of bliss. All the great men that ever walked this path knew what they wanted, with eyes fixed on the price, they moved steadily towards their dreams. Youths must have the inner eyes to see the future and realize that in the end we are all responsible for our actions, no matter who or what influenced such actions. Do big things, be creative, be daring BUT stay within the 'confines of you'.

“Sometimes you have to kind of die inside in order to rise from your own ashes and believe in yourself and love yourself to become a new person.” Attitudinal re-orientation is very necessary in the journey to self discovery. Discover the true you and stick to your positives no matter who tells you something different. Your understanding of yourself takes you into a deeper region of knowledge and wisdom, which is very vital to the attainment of success. Life is a personal responsibility. You owe it to your self to live your life 'successfully' and not act out a script written down by someone else.

“Who in the world am I? Ah,that's the greatest puzzle.” - Lewis Carrol ('Alice in Wonderland')

Enenim Ubon is on twitter @enenimubon.