I get asked by many people a lot of times... Why do you always like writing motivational stories and messages to inspire others.
What inspires you, and what do you get from doing that every morning anyway?
My answer has always been simple. To prevent people especially you from giving up in life when you face the least form of failure. My greatest wish is to provide hope, faith and reason for you not to give up in life.
I would like you to think of me as your symbol of Inspiration for each day.
Most people, ironically, think that people who always inspire, motivate and encourage other people don't have problems, they think they have a cozy and smooth life, that's why they are able to encourage people. But believe me, that's not true. On the contrary, those kind of people like me, are the kinds of people facing all sorts of problems, challenges and difficulties in life.
The trick here, however is, I have chosen to look at my failures, challenges and difficulties as my teacher, my learning curve to get better throughout my life. To accept and embrace them. So they can enrich me and teach me a valuable lesson.
Back in school, I failed every maths test, not just a mere failure but I failed miserably.
Think of the guy that will score 4% in an end of year maths exam.. that guy will be me.
My high school teacher will also make fun of me, Infront of my friends and the whole class:
Kwame Sarpong is writing his own formulars" He is a genuis in an opposite direction" he would say. I always prayed fervently for the earth to split open and swallow me away from every maths class because I felt ashamed of myself for being too stupid and dull in numbers.
God wasn't listening to my prayers too either.
It was like the more I prayed to him to break me away from my failures and shame, the more my shame and failures multiplied. I guess he wanted me to succumb to it and endure it.
Which made me very angry with him in my little mind.
Scoring 70 and 80% in other subjects didn't make me happy. I still wanted to do so well in mathematics to have a perfect score.
I was always sad, moody and beside myself all the time until I got to the university and met my guardian angel lecturer, Isaac Akohene Asiedu He dedicated unreasonable amounts of time for me in different ways. I had 15% in his Statistics class, he mentioned my name, I looked away because I knew very well I had failed already. He bundled the paper and brought it to me and said; see me later after class.
I went to see him in his office and he said; Kwame, Max (my French lecturer) tells me you had 100% in your French test. Before he brought it to you guys to do the test, he brought it to us to try our hands on it but we couldn't. Because it was very difficult.
Do you believe you are a genius Kwame?? He asked. I answered No. And he asked me why. I told him I'm not because I'm not good at math yet. Surprisingly he said; That's why you keep failing at math because you think you can never be good at it. It's all up in your mind. I'm going to change the way you think about this course. He started to teach me from the basics; from addition to subtraction, multiplication to division to calculate from the top of my head.
His aim was to have basic math Knowledge at the tip of my fingers first. This way, I will be able to solve the difficult equations with ease every time. I came to campus everyday at 6 am in the morning just to continue to practice with him whether I had lecturers or not. By the time, I left my third year, I scored 68 and 69% respectively in statistics all on my own.
You won't believe this, but today I help prepare students for their GMAT and GRE math and general test. I failed miserably at math but thanks to Isaac's dedication and commitment to me I am an achiever in the field of maths today.
Why do we continue to curse ourselves when we fail, instead of using our failure as a tool to inspire ourselves to achieve great things. I want to understand why??
Before I leave, I want you to read about some great people like Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Mandela, Vera Weng, Thomas Edison, Winston Churchill and many other great people who turned their failures into great fortunes for success.
And when you finish, perhaps you can share your story with me too and how you turned yours around.
Always be motivated never to give up in life. No matter what.
Kwame Sarpong | Freelance Writer:
Nyansa365
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