Life-line

Life-line with Chi!

At some point in our lives when we can’t hold on anymore all we need might just be a life-line to keep us hanging there. This is a new segment life-line on the blog where I will be interviewing young adults and teens from around the world that have carved a niche for themselves and are blazing the trail in their little sphere of influence.

No doubt, we live in an internet sensation era and the world is gradually turning into a global village but with all of its good side there is an emerging social issue rising - this is an aspect that is seldom spoken of which is: youths are beginning to have misplacements of priorities. My guest will be talking to us all the way from Boston in the United State. She will be dissecting this topic as we move on.

So am going to be reeling out the interview I had with my guest yesterday…

It was a great time conversing with her and I will describe my time with her as reinvigorating and spirit lifting. Her in-depth knowledge of life coupled with her vivid exegesis is what makes this young lady stand out for me. I have known her for a while but I just really got to know her not too long ago and I must add she is amazingly beautiful not just on the outside but also in the heart as well. I’ll save the conversation for another day and just let you meet her for yourself…

Let’s meet her:

Name: Chiamaka Oham

Nationality: Nigerian

School: Boston University

Year: 2^nd year

Course: majors in Health science

The following conversation ensued:

I: what comes to your mind first when you think of today’s youth owing to the fact that you’ve been able to explore the culture here in Africa and the United State?

C: I think today’s youth are a bunch of great, innovative minds. We certainly deserve a lot more credit than we are given, from older generations. At the same time, we struggle with a lot of misplaced priorities. Youth seem to be a lot more focused on things that will have little or no value to them in a few years.

We are focused more on temporary and superficial pleasures such as not having the most “lit” or“popping” life, but PROVING to others that your life is popping through social media accounts like snapchat. Yes, it’s no longer about having fun at the party but about snapchatting every second of it so that all your friends will know that you had an amazing weekend! Social media is a whole story so let’s not even get into that too much. What I’m saying is just that youth are so concerned with image and not in a positive way most of the time.

I: In the United State?

C: There’s also this new liberal wave among Millennial. It’s more prevalent in the US than at home. Everyone wants to feel like they are socially aware, by forcing political correctness on everyone else. By political correctness I mean you can’t say anything that could be deemed offensive to others. So basically everyone walks on eggshells, trying to make sure they don’t for example say Merry Christmas to someone who is Jewish, rather than say “happy holidays”. Personally I think political correctness is sometimes taken out of hand.

In America, the liberal culture doesn’t even allow people to have their own personal views. I tend to keep my opinions to myself most of the time because I know someone will call me “ignorant”  if I say I don’t support Bruce Jenner’s decision to become Caitlyn Jenner...

I: Do you think young people should be assertive about their faith?

C: I certainly think there are a lot of youth living for Christ. But it’s so easy to be overshadowed by all the misplaced priorities. I also think that a lot of the youth who call themselves Christians don’t really know who a Christian is, and what it takes to be one. That’s probably why a lot of us aren’t as assertive about our faith as we should be-all because we haven’t made the transition from being Christian by birth to Christian parents, to being Christians because we understand for ourselves that Jesus died for our sins, and we’ve accepted Him as Lord of our lives For ourselves, and not for anyone else.

I: would you assent to the fact that social pressure inadvertently adds to the misplacement of priorities of today’s youth and teens?

C: Definitely. There’s a lot of pressure. Everyone wants to seem… what’s the word? Um current? Trendy?  Cool? I can’t think of the right word. Basically, if the majority of people say sex is good, everyone else agrees. If they say they support LGBT movements, everyone agrees, no one wants to stand-out especially if standing out means that the cool people won’t think you’re cool anymore.

I: you just pointed a salient issue; no doubt the youths today are tomorrow’s future. But if everybody is trying to do the same thing how will all these multi-billion dollar ideas come about? So my question to you Chi is – what solution can be proffered?

C: the only solution to misplaced priorities is Jesus. Jesus is the only one that makes people want to stand out. Because what He has called us to be is completely different from what the world is doing. There’s no way that you’ll really have Jesus in your life and still be just like everyone else.

I: you talked about transitioning from being a Christian by birth to Christian parents to having an in-depth knowledge of who Jesus is and having a relationship with him. My question- does this in any way affect the quality of life of this young people?

C: Yeah. I think there’s a general misunderstanding of the word Christian. TBH (to be honest) even I didn’t understand it until recently. I even think I just recently became a Christian sometime last year, because the way I was living before certainly wasn’t Christ-like.  People think that just because they believe in God they are Christians or because their parents took them to church as a child. That’s wrong. And that’s why they are not assertive

I: what’s your opinion on the position of parents in this?

C: I don’t think at this age it’s the parents’ fault anymore, because they’ve done their part. (If they raise you with Christian values that is it.) After that it’s up to you. You either live your life the way God wants you to, or you don’t. The youth who have made the transition from “birthright Christianity” to having a real relationship with God are the youth I see who yearn for more and more of God. They are the ones who stand out; it’s easy to tell them apart from others. Yes, their quality of life is certainly better because they are the ones working in tandem with God’s plan for them.

The youth who call themselves Christians because they went to church are the ones who give Christians a bad image. It’s actually something that drives me crazy, lol. Sometimes I feel like shouting ‘no you’re not a Christian’ because if you were, you wouldn’t be acting like this all the time. NOT saying Christians are perfect all the time but you know what I mean … I’m not judging; because I used to be that way. Thinking I could live as I wanted because God knows I really love Him and I really don’t want to sin but I can’t help it. Yes, you can help it.

I: what final word of encouragement do you have for those impoverished teens and youths in Africa and across the world who have big dreams but due to paucity of resources it seems as though their dreams can never come to life?

C: keep walking with God and trusting Him. Tell Him what you want. A common misconception that holds people back is the belief that maybe it didn’t work out because that wasn’t God’s plan for me. That’s true sometimes. But there are some things that God has said are ours in the bible. There’s no way that it’s not God’s plan for you to be successful. Jesus died so that we might live life and live it more abundantly. If  it’s for the United Nation (UN) that you want to work for in the future, keep declaring it every day. 

‘Always make out the best in every situation you find yourself in, just because someone is in Harvard today doesn’t guarantee his success tomorrow; it all depends on how he uses the opportunity’ – Chiamaka.

                                                    

I will just like to add to what my lovely friend has just said; if you are a teen reading this or a parent, uncle or aunty, you need to understand that life is more than what it is-it is a race and I believe you did not come across this article by mistake God wants to say something to you (there is a hundred and one thing you could have been doing right now but you stayed here.) that’s my big God,  friend, life doesn’t start and end with how many instagram or facebook likes you get it adds absolutely nothing to you.

We often time push so hard to get noticed that we miss our mark - this is a misplacement of priority. I want to be a better Ben Carson of my generation; you can be the next Bill Gates, Carl Benz, and Steve Jobs, who will pull giant strides in our time. Now, I will like to ask my young folks; will spending long hours on facebook and just engaging in incessant and frivolous conversation add any value to you three years from now?? Absolutely not I have chosen not to waste my time on frivolous exercises-you should too.

Identify those things that will add no value to your life TODAY and YEARS down the line and just watch steadily as you begin your success journey. Mind you; I’m not saying social networking is a taboo for people who want to be successful (I come in once in a while) but there’s gotta be a bench mark. Social networking is not the only thing youths are channeling their time and energy into today they are tones of other things but let’s just stick to it today because it’s a common bait.

Let me talk to my lovely parents or soon-to-be parents, uncles and aunties; while growing up I used to hear many adults say ‘I wish I knew what I know now back then’-this isn’t because they’ve failed in life but they had a lot of priority misplacement they wished they could go back and correct. This subject is a very sensitive one that once it’s gotten right everything falls in place. I just want to urge the parents and adults here to always pray for the younger people around them-your prayers go a long way in shaping our lives, please don’t stop speaking Jesus over us.

A million thanks again to you Chiamaka for your time God bless you! (We should definitely do this again) lol.

‘In God’s realm, supernatural becomes our natural’- Itofa.

To YOU a big thanks for reading. I urge you to tag this post to as many young adults and teens you know – you never can tell whose life this will be changing.

Kindly hit the comment box and let me know what impact this has had on you.

-Itofa