My Review of 20,000 days and counting by Robert D. Smith

There are some books you hope you read early in life and this is one of them.
The reason is quite obvious. This is one of those books which you need to help gain proper perspective before you start that new pace for life

Robert makes no pretensions about what he setting out to achieve - we need to set out to living a life full of meaning and achievement.
The value of a life well lived is not to be measured by the longevity of living but by the quality of meaning & achievement put in it.

As he puts it, "don't focus on time, but on events themselves. When you control the event, you control your life. Fill these events with people you love. Relationships will be enhanced and memories created"
Don't dally on the shores but be ready to take the leap into the plans you've always wanted.

The quotes that come with each chapter are well thought of and reflect the overarching theme for the book. It is only fitting that I close this with one of such – “Time is the one thing we possess. Our success depends upon the use of our time, and its by-product, the odd moment” Arthur Brisbaneu

Dreams for our country

Despite our differing preferences during the last Presidential Elections, we should all be united in this common desire - NIGERIA SHOULD BECOME BETTER.

Some who didnot vote for the Goodluck ticket wish for an uneventful and failed 4-year term. I really wish we could take national passion ahead of personal vindication. It is nobody's interest if the nation regresses - we are get better if the country gets better.

i know some have expressed reservation about the decision making capabilty of the president and the cohorts he surrounds himself with. Despite these reservations, we should be ready to play our part in the journey towards national rebirth.

Knowing what we know from him almost 1 year in office after taking over from Late President Yar Adua,we serve the interest of our nation by not only going about our daily work but also taking action to stir up the national conscience. We must not be silent-our voice must be heart.

And just perhaps, we might be able to bring our country to Uhuru.

At your service 2

If you've ever travelled out of the country, one of the things you'll notice is that foreign immigration officials treat you better than the immigration officials in Nigeria.

I think it all narrows down to not understanding that they provide a service. They represent the first impression you have of a country. I think the foreign immigration officials recognize that hence they try their best to make you enjoy their country.

While waiting to get my passport stamped, a foreign immigration official gave me a little guide to the country – “it's as big as.....”, “tourism represents one of our biggest income earners” etc.

I wonder if foreigners get this sort of education when they come to my country. But between you & I, we know they don't.

Service is about serving others. Even the police need to realize that their job is not to catch criminals but to serve and protect the citizens of the country. If they did, they would treat people with more courtesy.

When we truly start offering service, then we give better meaning and value to each other.

At your service 1

I’m finding it hard to get service in Nigeria. By and by, I’ve concluded we are just an exchange nation, no more, no less. Giving service seems so foreign to our nature.

Imagine this, I stay in a hotel and find that my bed was not properly, the pillows were a different story altogether. My complaints make me a difficult customer.

You want to know why - to the hotel, the transaction was a place to stay for the cash I paid. Making my stay pleasurable was not part of the deal. Why would I want to visit the hotel again? Guess they don't even want back else I would have been treated better.

But I’m finding that this is not an isolated event, the trader who sees no value in making her shop comfortable for the buyer or having a friendly face, the nurse who welcomes you with a scowl, need I say more?

Perhaps someday, we’ll get there but for now, we only trade in goods and no services attached.

The frustrations of a failed service State 2

My friend had a rather funny experience. She parked her car in front of a shop she was at. The owner of the next shop while trying to park his car gives her car a scratch. When accosted, instead of apologizing, he launches into a tirade. He claims she was parked in front of his shop. Then, he says wife drives a better car than my friend.

My friend is definitely frustrated trying to make her point. In annoyance, she leaves him and goes to nearby drycleaner to pick up her stuff.

Then the unthinkable happens. While at the drycleaners, the man comes to look for her with another male partner. His mission - He came to apologize. According to him, his shop attendant had just robbed him of the shop takings. He had no way to trace him and the authorities were of no help. My friend was the unfortunate recipient of his frustrations.

Perhaps if offenders got their due on the scales of justice, we may have a little reduction in the number of frustrated people on the streets. When your car got hit, when you were mugged, when PHCN power surge destroyed your electronics - perhaps if you got a bit of justice, maybe just maybe, you might have toned down on your frustration level.

The frustrations of a failed service State - 1

It was a painful picture. A full adult male been beaten naked in public. No, he was not caught stealing, he was driving a LAGBUS. His offense was that he had hit a car owned by a soldier near a barracks. They meted out their form of justice on him.

A bit pathetic is that the crowd gathered around urged the soldiers on. 'Yes, beat him', 'that's how they are', 'another hit a car before me and ran away'.

What we should collectively deplore, we now hail. Perhaps if our country did not fail in its service to defend justice we might not take up the tools of justice ourselves.

When the ideal becomes impossible, the obvious takes place.

Let's return to righteousness & justice, then perhaps we won't see grown-up men stripped naked on the streets.

The biker dialogue

I was on a bike (aka okada) when the chap ran a red light during mid-day Lagos traffic. I was in a talking mood so I launched into giving the biker a good education on obeying the traffic light. 'Disobeying the traffic lights could lead to an accident with cars from the opposite direction' I explained. 'Don't pray for an accident on me' retorted the biker.

It seems my education had touched a raw nerve. He did not want to hear that his actions could cause an accident because it meant he would have an accident.

How foolish we sometimes act, we make the wrong choice and don't want to be told the repercussions.

Fortunately we did not have any accident but I hope he doesn't repeat the action again. Something tells he might still run the red light again.