5 MOST OUTSTANDING QUALITIES I ADMIRE ABOUT MYSELF.
Today I started my journey at the Nigerian Law School, Bayelsa Campus, after over six months of anxious anticipation. During these waiting period, I learnt a lot about myself and I made new commitments to live up to the potentials I hold. At different times, I have had to second guess myself and assess the quality of my mind, questioning whether I have the mental and intellectual wherewithal to compete at the top level I desire. I began to rigorously question myself when I applied for a total of eight (8) law school scholarships and got none. I felt devastated and inadequate. I felt that I had nothing outstanding to be considered worthy of any great thing in life. My mum tried to encourage and remind me of my qualities. I clearly wasnβt seeing it, and all attempts to mollify me seemed to me as an attempt to butter me up. So eventually, I got past it and took it as an opportunity to reflect on my life. More interestingly, these events ushered in new insights about myself. So I decided to remind myself of the admirable qualities I possess with these essay, and I encourage others to join me in this challenge. Think of five outstanding things about yourself and discuss it. So enjoy mine, while I inspire you to come up with yours.
1. I love my humility
For someone who brags gallingly about myself, it sounds ironic to say that I am humble. But I am actually the humblest soul I have experienced (Lol, bragging again). I wonβt stop gasconading about my feats, neither will I stop brandishing the few laurels I have gathered. I consider myself humble because I have the open-mindedness to indiscriminately learn from anybody and anywhere. I recognize that humility is an important part of learning. While it is tempting to succumb to the belief that learning from Masters and submitting to their authority is somehow an indictment on my natural ability, I have instead come to acknowledge that my situation is a transient state of weakness. Hence, I am not afraid of tutelage, neither do I ever feel timid to approach a master, regardless of how elevated their status may be. I will not slavishly patronize my masterβs ideals, but I will never mistake criticism of him for intelligence. I believe in standing tall on the shoulder of my mentors, so that I can see further than them. With them, I believe my ideas and development flourish more organically and I can maximize my youth vitality and my creative potential.
I am humble because I acknowledge that I have corrigible lapses in my abilities, understanding, attitude, and even in my overall outlook on life. But, most admirably, I have the dauntlessness to relearn and unlearn. I am humble because I treat my competitors with utmost respect. To me, there is no underdog, everyone has the innate capability to fiercely rival with champions. I also understand that being bountifully talented isnβt the only way to get result. People can sniff out excellence from other qualities like grit, zeal and discipline. Hence I fiercely prepare like an underdog and compete ruthlessly like a champion. I have the audaciousness to take on champions. After all, I have absolutely nothing to lose. I love my outlook on the triviality of life too.
2. I love my wholesome personality
One of the cheesiest and most heartwarming comment I have ever received was from a good friend who said βGaniy, to know you is to love youβ. Upon reflection about myself, I do see the wholesomeness in my personality. I admire that I am genuinely compassionate towards the struggles and sufferings of others. I understand that personalities and background differ, and this difference hugely impact how we think, our outlook on life, and the opportunities we can access. Hence, I am freakishly accommodative and sluggish to judge or make hasty conclusions. I love that my heart is softened to accept and practice religious tenets. I admire how my conscience is subconsciously activated to check my actions and inactions. I particularly love how my conscience thwarts dark emotions like greed, envy, lust and sourness from simmering down my heart. Hence, I am always contented and genuinely happy for others. I love that I am a superb conversationalist- apart from listening intently to others, I possess a natural curiosity that never run out of topics to discuss or learn and a positive demeanor that naturally sparks positive conversations. Hence, in conversations, I reason, smile, flirt, and jibe with equal grace and ease. I admire my vivacity and the way I appear to execute everything I do with elegance and ease. I love how I brighten up every room I find myself by effortlessly making others laugh and momentarily forget their worries. I love that I know my worth and I conduct myself in a way that help other people recognize it as well. Hence, I treat people courteously and without condescension.
3. I love my Mind:
I consider my mind to be the most phenomenal cortical endowment and the greatest asset Allah has bestowed me with. I love how my mind is hardwired with bizarre imaginative ability, a staggering capacity to process complex information, an outlandish level of creativity and an excellent analytical instinct. I love how I confront ideas with insatiable curiosity seeking depth, meaning, and consequences. I love how comfortable I am with ambiguity and abstractions and how my mind processes it. I enjoy the mental calisthenics involved in the sojourn from the mindless state of cluelessness to the state of insight. I relish my transition from the lidless gaze of the absurd to understanding the principles underlying abstractions. I love to listen to great minds and tap from their wealth of wisdom, mining all kinds of rich ideas in the process. My heart gravitates toward learning opportunities, particularly those that involves hands-on work. With my mind in a good state, I am confident that I can do exploits.
4. I love my hunger for growth.
I absolutely detest the physical and mental exhaustion that accompany having lofty ambitions, but I have now accepted it and have grown to appreciate my voracious appetite for personal growth. My ambitious urge to be impeccable has constantly driven my desire to accomplish more, have more, and be more. While I understand that perfection is farfetched, I strongly desire a veteran status in whatever I do, and I understand that goals of this kind are not handed cheaply. There is nothing particularly special about being ambitious, in fact, it is free and accessible to whoever cares to dream. However for me, I experience an internal pinch and restiveness that pushes me to want to redefine the threshold of possibilities. Hence, I leverage this uncanny drive to pursue my goals ruthlessly and brazenly.
My goals are elastic and I am relentless in my pursuit for expansion. I consider each passing moment an opportunity to stretch myself to the next best thing attainable. I want todayβs achievement to eclipse that of yesterday. Whenever I am feeling cornered into complacency, I push myself to pursue new challenges. For me, the finish line of knowledge and skill acquisition is ever-expanding. I also love that I am patience to maximally absorb each learning experience from level 1β1000.
5. I love my Leadership qualities
Right from childhood I have always had an aura of authority. Perhaps this aura emanated from the circumstances surrounding my upbringing. From close relatives to random strangers, everyone seemed to perceive something special about me, even though I couldnβt identify what they see. I just know that I have an enormous responsibility being the first child and the familyβs first male grandchild. Also, my upbringing configured me for leadership- I was coached, prodded and cultivated to be a trailblazer and snowplow a pathway for my siblings and the family at large. I shoulder the responsibility to excel and be an excellent example to others. Despite my struggles and difficulties, it has become a treasured but pressured position I have come to accept. With the few leadership experience life has handed to me, I have realized that I listen with intent and without discrimination. I love to understand people for their strengths and weaknesses and help them to maximize these qualities. I see true leadership as leading by example and I push myself to be an example truly worthy of emulation in competence and in morals. I consider myself selfless and compassionate too.
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