‘Become someone else that you were not in the beginning.’ – Foucault.

There is only one thing human beings never cease to pursue: evolution. What made me learn to walk, I believe, was the desire inside me. I know without doubt that as a nestling baby on the breast I desired to walk like everyone else. I began the challenge by crawling. It was a great feat indeed. However, that was not the end because no one except me was crawling. Each and every day I desired to be better, to be perfect, and to be cheered on by the smiles of my mother. All of a sudden I found myself up on my two feet and everyone gathered around me singing, wishing to see me make my first step. Everybody cheered me for two more steps and that was it. Within a few days I was running around the house. This is the substance of the human person, to become better than who they were in the previous minute of their existence.

It was never fated that Wilbur and Orville Wright should fly the first aircraft in 1903. It was never fated that Bill Gates should develop Microsoft Office. If it was not fate, then what? The human quest and thirst for evolution. The desire to be different. I want to define evolution as the inward self-drive to conquer what you already are. A person is not a finished product. A BMW car, of whatever model you might want to imagine, once released from the factory is completely complete. The car is limited to a certain extent. However, a human being is unlimited.

There are various factors which determine whether a person can be something different or not. The first factor is challenges. Only a challenge can provoke action, and an action is the only thing that can bring results. Some people (if not all) become strong through challenges.

I hate divorce, but one time I advised a certain lady to kick her man out of the house. Let us call this lady Charlotte. Charlotte had a more than generous heart, she was soft and was always cheerful. One day she decided to come to me and open up to me about her relationship. Her husband was very abusive both physically and emotionally. He was a drunkard and never cared for his family and when he received his salary he spent it on his mistress. She came to me looking for one thing, prayer. Her mother had taught her perseverance because Jesus persevered to the end. I looked at her and told her to divorce the man. I told her Jesus persevered once and for all and she does not need to persevere again. If she did persevere then for who? A drunkard? I knew she could not believe her ears yet I went on to say she had to divorce him legally with a restraining order. Believe me the day she divorced the man was the day she discovered her worth. For the first time in fifteen years the man had respect for the wife. A person needs a challenge to know what they are capable of.

The second factor is environment. Socialisation is very key in making a person. Many people think they know who they are until they are taken out of their primary environment. There are people who think they are holy and pious until they move out of their parents’ house, yet there are others who have written themselves off only to discover they are a hidden treasure. The only moment you know what you can be and what you can do is that day you move out of your social base. Hence it is good to move out of your city of birth to another city, become independent and uncover yourself from family and religion.

The third factor is decision-making. There are people whose decisions were made before they were born. Believe me, I met a Catholic priest who does not know why he is not married. His answer on why he is not married was, “It is the Church Law”. Believe you me there are more sexual scandals on the internet regarding these churches which do not marry than in any other church where marriage is allowed. I am advocating for the power of decision. Anything done under full knowledge, no matter the challenges, no matter the environment one will always come out on the other end. In this twenty-first century it does not matter whether you are married or are like that Catholic priest, your decisions determine who you really are.

Anyone can become anyone they want. After reading this article go out of your door and become something you’ve only ever dreamt of.