Live your life, write your history or let others dictate how you do.

One morning, I woke up and got my cellphone on. I got a +1.. call and when I got the call, the man  said "Good morning boy". I said "Good morning Sir, may I know you?" He said, "not necessary, though". He asked "what's that draft-like childish booklet I heard of?" I finally realized the nigger on phone. He is the one who had rejected any comment on my first book draft "Corruption, a Barrier to My Area's Development". He had told me "I don't think this can be a book or something to read".

Asking him what was wrong and probably what I could add on, he could tell me " But you know you are a first year undergraduate and the language I use might be too strange to you to understand". Let's come back to the answer to the craziest question about the "childish booklet".

I pondered a bit and thought of an answer some thirty seconds and I said "every kid who wants it can contact my agent at Wolfgang or type the keys in Amazon search engine". Can't be serious!!  He told me "did you answer me, little son?" I said more confidently "I hope my voice can reach California now". He just laughed and said "I can now hardly believe that you deceived me little. “Let me get it from the shelf and tell me if there's a next serious project.”  

Wow... I found out that there's always something to be grateful for even in the worse moments in one's career. There's someone praying second after another to get the opportunity you have at the moment you are claiming it's unworthy. There are people, who really don't mean to discourage you, but again who are not ready to encourage you from the very uncertain beginning... They know that 100 begin and 12 finish (writing) however the results may be...

 Are they to blame? No no no. These are people who covertly encourage you because you don't need to see people showing support on your deeds to give them credit to be worth it. That kind of project will not be a success not because you should not succeed to, but for you let it be someone else's responsibility. If we fail to make a project a hundred percent ours (am not against team work and support from others, but to what extent is that o be? You know some people let something undone or badly done thinking that others will make it), we will end letting others shape what the best result from the job looks like.

Truly speaking, what someone calls a success may be called a failure in my eyes because we are different! This is quite normal. But what if you assume to be truly you and make your work genuinely yours with others' company not others' dictates? "No matter how expert someone maybe in your domain, you are not to let him frame your work. He may be a guide, but not a master, a shaper... What if I had said "because he is a PhD holder in Lit working at one of the finest universities in US and he knocks down my draft, I have to give up and forget about writing"? The University of Burundi should not have gotten an undergraduate laureate for "a work of year for the visibility of the institution", "a certificate of merit".

Rolling up, i can tell you to Just do it, venture, risk and accept to fail big even bigger, don't look around because there is much of negativity and discouragement in the surroundings. There are moments when blinds are better viewers than people with good sight because that positivity, determination and drive are to be chased more from within than from out. Though success can be an outcome of a good team, but a strong legacy and greatness can be outcomes of an individually built personality even from weak, shy, crippled to strong and promising character. Until he no longer needs to be helped by someone else to achieve his dream, but enjoying helping others become who they were created to be, build history under his shelter and blessings. When you are sad because there's someone "strange" who didn't achieve the best of him for your helplessness. When you feel you have a responsibility to create a heartfelt smile on a face that spent years grieving and questioning the sense of life... When you no longer consider the responsibility to make your living well, but the one of the less privileged more meaningful and purposeful...

 Live for others

Leave a meaning for lives of others                    

Make others feel they truly live                      

Live for others but not expect others to do it for you                 

© Cédrick Irakoze, 2018