Recap: In our last episode, we looked at the fact that after counting on God, having a good, beneficial, and value-minded circle of relationships is second to known. We also learned that friendship regardless of the type is better lived than defined or explained. I am excited to share with you today another powerful variable that I believe will go a long way in helping you make this fragile and transient life count.  Things as they are Scattered throughout the inscriptions and pages of history, from the beginning of ancient civilization, right down to where time and space have brought us today, are the stories and exploits of men and women who rose to the apex of affluence and influence in life. Among them were people who exercised and wielded great power, displayed outstanding skills, showed rare courage and bravery and portrayed exquisite expertise and charisma in all their dealings. Throughout their lifetime, they were seen as purposeful, resilient, committed, devoted, and even die

  So in our last episode in the " Life - Make it Count" series, we talked about the first most important thing to do to make life count. We established that we have to count on God first, and if we are to count on men we are to do so only through the metrics of God and see them only through the lenses of God. One brain tattoo for me from that piece was the fact that if I count on God first, he will bless me with the right men and women that will make my life count.  Now let us forge ahead Currently, I am in more than two groom's men's WhatsApp groups. In one of the groups, there are over a hundred people, and the commitment and cooperation of the members in the group is super amazing. Less than a month to the wedding, a very significant number of people have made financial commitments. In another group, however, we are still over a hundred, with almost the same timeline, but not fewer than 7 people have made financial commitments. Two things separate these two grooms

  Our Default Setting  So I have a friend who has this significant order he looks up to a lot. He has made it in life as an international professor based in the United State and has all the right connections (if you get what I mean). My friend had this deeply ingrained mindset back then in school that once he is done with undergraduate studies, getting employed will not be an issue for him. Five years down the line, he is still pulling and pushing through life to make both ends meet. What happened to the hope he had of being helped by his significant order? Quashed. I know you can relate to this story, you might have heard similar experiences with people you look up to fail you, disappoint you, and let you down. Nigerians believe that the easiest way to get disappointed and useless in life is to look up to your uncle. (How true is this? you judge for yourself). Such is life as we see it. At the end of the day, your help and lifting may or may not come through such people that you look

  "Our lives are so brief in the light of eternity. God has given each of us a certain amount of time on this earth. And we are the ones who are responsible for what we do with our lives" ~ Anonymous Note - Please do me, yourself, and our generation a favour: To get the best out of this piece and the subsequent ones in the series, you have to be very intentional about meditating and acting on these words. These are principles from giants, and for us to make life count, we are to stand on the shoulders of giants. So lately the security of my state has been super fragile, with a handful of lives being lost in the occasional tension that resulted from the several attacks carried out by Fulani herdsmen or the so-called unknown gunmen as the government calls them just to be politically correct.  The area I stay in Jos is one of the flashpoints when such a breakdown in law/security occurs. It was a Sunday afternoon, with gunshots behind my house for almost four hours that I spent