Every single day is a gift, but it is not very often that such a humbling thought stays front and centre of a person’s consciousness. I am tremendously blessed to be able to spend most of my days doing things that bring me the utmost pleasure and satisfaction. I am also immensely privileged to have a truly global community of friends and mentors who look out for me and help steer me in profitable paths. Above all, I have God who is my source and my sustenance and whose providence alone is the reason I exist to do the many things that I do.
The year 2014 went by like a breeze; it began and ended almost in the snap of a finger. So much happened in 2014 that I can barely enumerate, but I am deeply aware of the blessings of the year. I am exceedingly thankful for the opportunities that came my way in the year – the opportunity to work and earn a living, the opportunity to interact with inspiring persons from all over the world, the opportunity to break new grounds in travel and achievement, the opportunity to see new lands and climes, the opportunity to inspire and encourage hundreds (maybe thousands) of young and old people in multiple countries, the opportunity to connect and reconnect with family, the opportunity to live in good health and conduct my activities in perfect sanity.
Looking back on 2014, I feel a deep-seated sense of satisfaction for the amazing results recorded, yet I feel a sense of anxiousness about the next steps. I have always perceived the year 2015 to be a pivotal year for me – a year in which I will love to have many things figured out. I believe 2015 is the year in which I need to find my feet and have clarity about many things about the future. I do not feel much pressure to be any particular thing to any particular set of people, yet I know that I will love to have answers to many things. In all these, I am happy to patiently wait for inspiration and guidance before moving.
I am highly privileged to be able to make contributions to the task of developing the next generation of African leaders through my work at African Leadership Academy (ALA) in Johannesburg, South Africa, particularly through the ALA Model African Union conference which I pioneered two years ago to educate young global leaders about the intricacies of diplomacy and development on our continent. I am really excited about my upcoming work with the Global Youth Innovation Network (GYIN) headquartered in Washington, DC where I have just been appointed to the International Advisory Board. I am delighted about the progress made on Passion to Profession (P2P), an innovative career development platform which I am developing with some colleagues. I am tremendously excited about sharing ideas with the world through written articles, speeches delivered at conferences and private meetings in 2015; I am excited about meeting many new people, seeing many new lands and generating revolutionary new ideas.
With so much excitement and so much gratitude, I can’t shake the feeling that there is something incredibly mind-blowing just ahead of me. I can’t hide my joy at the realization that I don’t know all that lies ahead of me in 2015. I sense that 2015 will prove to be as pivotal a year as I believe it will be, and I look forward to heartily sharing as much detail of these developments as I possibly can as the days roll by.
I sincerely pray that this year will usher in an era of peace, prosperity and development for everyone around the world and that all peoples will learn to evolve gracefully and with as little rancour as possible. Be blessed in 2015! It will be a great year!