Greetings my esteemed friends. It’s always a pleasure sharing any little information at my disposal. I will like to say that I’m not smarter than anyone, rather I’m smart by association in addition to having a burning desire to share something that’s inside of me. You may be wondering what I have inside of me. If you care to know, I have a motivational and inspirational seed to inspire and empower humanity. It is this seed that inspires me every week to share with my esteemed tribe any topic of interest that comes to my mind. Everyone has a seed waiting to be explored. It is quite unfortunate that many of us don’t allow this seed to germinate and even when we do, we do not take the time to nurture it very well. It is this seed that I call seeds of greatness.

It is an unassailable fact that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step in the right direction.  Every great achievement in business, academic, family and government started with a single decision or choice to do the right thing. It is that single decision that gives birth to other success that may come afterwards. Seeds are the most powerful and potent force in life if properly nurtured. A single seed can metamorphose into a tree, and that tree can also metamorphose into a forest. I likened seeds to a sperm. A single sperm is capable of giving birth to a full fledge human being and from there it can multiply to form a family or generation as the case maybe. For a better society to thrive, we need to look back to the family. The family is a vital component of the society. When a child is properly trained in the family, the society lives by dictates of decency and integrity. Therefore, it will be fair to say that the family is the seed for a better society.

Each and every one of us is blessed to have a seed in us, but it’s quite unfortunate a lot us die without producing or utilizing or maximizing  this seed. These seeds are like packages which needs to be opened and explored.  These seeds are like batteries in a radio that is never played and therefore may die. We all have seeds in us. This seeds can be ideas, songs, vision, dreams, art works, skills, talents, or whatever  you may have. But many of us fail into look inwards to see how we can develop ourselves.  When you know what seed you have inside of you, you won’t be bothered by what other people say or think about you.  The Book of life says in 1 John 4:4 “He that is in you is greater than he that is in the world”. According to Myles Munroe in his book “Living with Purpose”, “It is a tragedy to know that with over five billion people on this planet today, only a minute percentage will experience a significant fraction of their potential”. To understand the true potential of a seed, if you are given a seed and asked what do you hold in your hand? You may say a seed, but an insightful mind with vision will say, I have a forest in my hand. This is because in every seed, there is a tree, and in every tree there is a fruit with seeds in them. And these seeds have trees that have fruit that have seeds in them. We all have potentials of success in us and the key to maximizing this potentials is to discover our purpose and work hard to nurture it. Once you conceive an idea, you should be able to bring it to a fruitful end. According to Napoleon Hill in his book “Think and Grow Rich” he said, whatsoever the mind can conceive, believe it can achieve it. It’s not enough to think about it, you must take the bold step to bring your thoughts, ideas and imagination into reality. It should be  noted that your potential is not determined by your size, what you look like, what people think about you, your degrees, or the school you attended, neither is it determined  by amount of money in your bank account, your family name, or any association you belong. Your potential is determined by what you have in your hands, your creativity and your ability to visualize and conceptualize a great idea, imagination, or innovation with little or nothing.

Every human being is uniquely created by God and we have inherent abilities deposited in us, for some people, it takes an outside influence to prod or help us to discover our capabilities.  “To buttress this point, let’s see the “Parable of the Talents”. “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property.  To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more.  But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them.  And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed,  so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed?  Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away”. This story illustrates that the servant who produce more money with what he was given is a shrewd businessman. Sometimes we complain of not having money, opportunities, etc forgetting that what we have internally is more than what we don’t have.

Your seed is what lives in you. Your seed is your identity, your DNA and your brand. To inspire the world you must know your seed. Your seed is your secret to the world. That is why Aristotle Onassis said,  “The secret of business is knowing something that nobody else  knows”. Therefore, to make a change in the world, you really need to know what you are good at, you need to know that thing that gives you joy just by mere thinking about it. Quick question: What is that one thing you can do which others find difficult? If you find it, that is your potential seed for success.

With the little knowledge and understanding of the legal profession, we have a latin saying Nemo dat quod non heabet (You cannot give what you don’t have). Same theory is applicable for fruits, a mango tree cannot produce orange neither can rice produce corn. Your seed is not based on Intelligence Quotient (IQ). Quotient is what people think about you, for example, your degree of intelligence can be based on some test you take. These test measure your skills, your thinking ability, and assimilative ability. It is based on this test you might be graded as an A or E student. That is the perception people have about you, but is that who you are? You may agree with me there are thousands of people in the world today who were put off and cast out as misfits, later they turned out to be some of the worlds greatest leaders. A great example is Oprah Winfrey. Your seed and potential is based on your on what you have inside of you and the belief you have about yourself. Let me share a story with you. You may have read or heard about Kelvin Doe from Sierra Leone who was born in October 26 1996. He had no formal knowledge in engineering training. He started scavenging for fragments of electronic parts that he would eventually use one day for his invention. At age 18, he invented a broadcast radio machine. He was also able to create a mixer and amplifier to run a successful radio station where he became known as DJ Focus. Another of his innovation is battery to light up homes in his neighborhood. Because of his many innovations, Kelvin Doe has had the rare opportunity of speaking at various conferences. He was a speaker at Google Conference held in Tel Avi, Israel. In 2013 he was a speaker at USAID Powering Agriculture in Washington D.C., USA. The following year he addressed over 20,000 delegates in a business software conference in Orlando, United States. It was at that conference he revealed his plan to build a shoe charging device.  It is interesting to note that this young man has had the opportunity of meeting with former US president Bill Clinton and his daughter Chelsea Clinton. He has also lectured undergraduate engineering students at Harvard College. This is a typical example of what a seed can do if you believe in your innate ability. The moral of this exposition is that Your seed is your intuitive knowledge.

In the pursuit of success, you might experience some challenges, but then your desire to succeed should always outweigh your fear for failure. It doesn’t matter how many times you fail when you are chasing your passion, dream or vision. Always remember, passion is stronger than power. When you fail, don’t give up, try and try again, the only time you should stop trying is when you succeed. You must always have the gut to pursue your dreams. Nobody will do it for you. According to Ruth Gordon “Courage is very important, like a muscle, it must be strengthened by use and the strength you need to accomplish this is perseverance”. Julie Andrews defined perseverance as “failing nineteen times and succeeding the twentieth”.

So my question to you today is, what is your seed? What voice are you listening to you? The only voice you should be listening to is your spirit because it can never deceive you. Once you have a great thought or idea that has been sown in your mind, don’t allow it to perish. Don’t even share it to the world because we have destiny killers who can either discourage you, kill your dreams or even steal your ideas and reprogram it for their own use. That is why it’s always better to share your ideas with like- minded beings.

Dreams come to us in different style and this dream can be seeds that is being planted in our mind. What you do with yours is up to you. I will conclude this article with two great quotes from Harriet Tubam and Frank Outlaw: Per Harriet Tubam “ Every great dream begins with a dreamer, always remember you have within, the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach the starts to change the world”. Per Franks Outlaw Watch your thoughts; for they become words. Watch your words; for they become actions. Watch your actions; for they become habits. Watch your habits; for they become character. Watch your character for it will become your destiny.

 Again I ask you, what seed do you have in your hands?

Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He can be reached via henrous@gmail.com