Adebimpe Alafe: Purpose, Perspective & Positivity

I can’t have a bad day.

In my final year, my lecturer would always embarrass me in class because my brain was too slow to process anything numbers-related. More recently, I was extremely stained and my hostel matron in NYSC camp refused to give me the keys to go and change. There was also a time I sat in a doctor’s examination room, only to hear the dreaded “Sorry, but there’s nothing I can do for you.” (But you’re a doctor! Why can’t you fix me?!)

All of these things and much more have happened to me, but I still can’t have a bad day. This is because of the three Ps I live my life by, which are a result of my faith.

Purpose. Positivity. Perspective.

I believe everything in life has a purpose. Sometimes, awful situations become great opportunities and pain opens the door to blessings. Other times, we have to search for purpose in awful situations. Although it’s hard and tiresome, I find these times to be self-fulfilling because I am rejecting the idea that a situation will get the best of me. Instead, I accept that I will get the best of the situation.

I also believe in the power of positivity. I’m sure many people have either witnessed or participated in a ‘complain war’, usually in a school or work setting. Those times where a conversation will go like this:

“I was up so late studying for my test today, I got like three hours of sleep.”

“I didn’t even go to sleep because I had to study for a test and finish a paper.”

“Well, I haven’t slept in two years.”

Or

“My friend, I just dey suffer, I never chop for 4 days”

“Ah, my guy, you no suffer reach me, this country sef”

It’s not that I don’t complain, but I just feel much better by focusing on the positive.

Finally, these ideas of purpose and positivity give me perspective. In times where I feel like everything’s going against me and I’m backed into a corner, I push myself to shift perspectives about my situation. I think of it as a lens; if I put on a bad lens and only see things through it, I’ll have a bad day.

Alternatively, I can look at life through a positive and purposeful lens and all of a sudden, I see things differently. I see all the great things that can come out of my struggle or the great feeling I’m going to get once I jump over all the hurdles, or even just the story of inspiration I will be to someone else once I overcome my transgressions. Perspective is seeing the silver lining in even the greyest of clouds.

The bottom line? I can have as bad a day as anyone, but it still won’t be a bad day to me. That’s because I’ve just refused to have one and I’ve decided to look at the bigger picture. I don’t follow these three Ps to delude myself into thinking my world is filled with sunshine, cupcakes, and rainbows. I understand the reality of the world. These three Ps aren’t just to a way to cope – they are my way to continue.