As an elder that I have been privileged to become, I have grown through learning, experience and encounter. In the past year in particular, I have grown. I have learnt new things and/or reinforced sacred truths I always knew. It’s amazing. I have learnt that:

–          Friendship is one of the most powerful gifts that life can give. A man surrounded by sincere friends is indeed blessed. Thanks to you all my friends. Your value may I never know.

–          Another of life’s gifts is a good family. It’s the cloth covering that never wears.

–          Guilt is a positive force. It is a powerful emotion. People without a sense of guilt are vicious. They perpetuate evil and convince themselves they are on course.

–          Power is an intoxicant. Weak men misbehave at the slightest taste of it.

–          The biggest blessings of life are not the big things we crave, but the little things we ignore.

–          Credibility and integrity are not cheap. They are beyond the reach of crooked men.

–          The meekness of a man during adversity is a default temperament. Power and prosperity will reveal their true character.

–          Giving is not a function of riches, but prosperity of the heart.

–          It is wise to choose integrity at all cost over making money at all cost; while you will spend the money, integrity will be your defence in the day of trial.

–          Those who fail to learn from the lessons of history are often taught the bitter lessons of history.

–          Men of greed suffer from myopia. They supplant relationship for a transient craving to fleece, even their friends. Their craving is key while brotherhood is secondary.

–          Power is to be used not wielded. When you use power, it’s a tool of effectiveness. When you wield it, it becomes a weapon of oppression.

–          Those who wield power with subtlety are the most dangerous power mongers. They blow cold, but their nostrils emit hot acid.

–          The utility of love is inexhaustible. It’s a universal language without borders.

–          Gratitude is a choice that liberates, optimism a tool of emancipation.