One of the major challenges the average pastor or business person has is mentoring his/her own children. I said in one of my posts that, most times, we don’t spend time with our children as pastors and successful business families.
My son, Ese, has been spending time with me in the farming business. From the poultry to our crops, he has been a great source of encouragement. I have hardly spent so much time with any of my children in recent times, excepting when I was travelling with my daughter and granddaughter to my speaking engagements.
Ese has a way of asking me questions and I try to answer them either by performance or through lectures.
After recording the video on Staying Power, we had a break and he threw this question at me. “What is the difference between an exciting work and an exhausting work?” I later added exasperating work?
My answers
When you are involved in what you are passionate about, you enjoy your work, and you don’t get easily exhausted or exasperated.
I enjoy farming and the atmosphere in the farm. The environment is very peaceful and beautiful
When you have a great vision ahead of you that you are very excited about, you don’t get exasperated with the challenges you face.
Despite the imperfections now, and the equipment we are using, I see a great future. I see tractors, farm houses, beautiful hostels, lecture theatres, and conference halls. I see visitors coming from different countries and backgrounds coming to Petra Institute, Effurun-Otor.
For many years, these dreams are the last things I think about on my bed. I wake up with them.
In one of my offices in my school, I have a piece of rock on my desk with Petra Institute inscribed on it facing me. I picked that rock from the land. When I’m discussing with any person seated across the table, I see my dream before I see him/her.
Therefore, anything I do there bubbles from inside my spirit man.
A sense of creating history
When it started raining yesterday (as described in the last post), Ese went to the car as usual, but I continued working.
When I got to a point, I remembered the grandfather of the present day leader of Dubai sharing his dream with him as a young man. Today, he is the current Leader of that dream. When he came back, I told him I was looking forward to when he would be telling my grandchildren how we laboured to build the beautiful Petra Institute, Effurun-Otor.
The consciousness of limited time
I am already 61 years old. I don’t usually have large sums of money at once. I don’t have any brother or sister, but I have this big dream, so I must put in enough work to maximize the time I have left. After the age of 60 years, time flies very fast.
Archbishop Benson Idahosa was speaking about how President George Bush Snr. was working on his computer throughout their long flight. The president told him that there was no time to waste.
Ironically, someone called me while Ese was in the car because of the rain. He said he was calling on me because someone just informed him that I was dead. I told him that I was alive and well, and that my time has not come yet. I still have a lot to do.
But I asked myself, what if it was true? There are still too many loose ends; too many things undone. My children are still very young and inexperienced.
When you work with the right tools and you have the right skills
We took a wheelbarrow to the farm. This helped us to carry poultry manure and our tools more easily. We went with two spades; this made it easier for us to clear the space we wanted to clear more easily.
Make the working environment very interesting, conducive, and worker-friendly.
There is an Indian bamboo groove that we used as our base camp. We also came with a stool, food, and cold water. We also had cooked maize we harvested from our farm; so, it was like a picnic for me. You can see my muddy shoes in the picture.
When you are expecting a reward
I am expecting a bumper harvest in about 3 months’ time. You can see the size of the watermelon fruits in the pictures; it’s quite exciting for me. Especially at these very difficult times for me, financially, I can’t afford to be a financial burden to any person. There is an existential crisis situation right now, health wise and financially.
When you work with highly motivated people
When you work with highly motivated people, their motivation can be very infectious. There are people I’m currently working with, my wife, my wife’s personal assistant, my cousin’s wife, and a very hard working man. There is also the man who digs the ridges that puts us under pressure to clear more spaces for him to dig. These are people who make you fill guilty if you are not working.
Work with exciting people. If you work with toxic and difficult people, you will get easily exhausted or exasperated. I enjoy the presence of my wife. Working with Ese gives me a sense of security. I enjoy his presence.
Learn to take breaks, even naps
If you take breaks in-between your work schedule or even take a nap, you become more refreshed after the nap or break. I usually set a target to achieve and a reward I will give to myself at the attainment of that objective.
When you are able to do some crazy and childhood fantasies
I’m a very unusual fellow, and I’m not a normal everyday person. I enjoy freedom and crazy behaviour sometimes.
Taking a rest in that wheelbarrow, with my muddy shoes and my jeans trousers, might be a childhood fantasy in my mind that I just realised and relished. I drove home wearing that singlet.
That’s my life; I don’t really care. It might shock very religious folks or very decent and civilised clergymen.
I can imagine those who listen to me on radio being told, “That’s Dr. Apoki Charles driving past.”
Who cares?
That’s why I dare to walk alone. I am savouring my stay in a suburban area. I’m enjoying my stay in Nigeria.
I hope Ese, got my point.
And I hope you, reading this post, got the message.
Please share it with others.
Remember to patronize our online store online for my messages and books. That’s a great way to keep this blog going.
Thanks for the article. Much thanks again. Cool!.