Releasing three books at the same time was indeed a big feat for
Victoria Praise Abraham. Penultimate weekend in Lagos, the three books
were presented to the public through a reading to show the lessons
espoused in them. Edozie Udeze reports.
Victoria Praise Abraham is best known as the author of Hope on the Go.
Apart from her numerous motivational articles which span over 12
years, she has just written three new books. During the public reading
of the three books which took place recently in Lagos, she made it
clear that writing on positive issues has come to form part of her
contribution to ensuring a sane, responsible and progressive society.
The three books are: The Tiny Big First Step,
Insightful Nuggets for Living and 100 Life's Little Lessons. At the
reading, Abraham noted that the basic components of the books were to
help people to be who they want to be. "These books are self-help
books," she pointed out. "And this is why I try to concentrate on the
issues that add value to people, to the society and to those who want
to be who they are, not only in Nigeria, but beyond. For instance,
procrastination is a destiny killer. If you procrastinate a lot,
please stop it. It is time for you to move on. Your life will pass you
by if you do not wake up now to act. It is better to handle life on
practical steps taken to be an achiever. When you procrastinate, you
leave a lot of things undone. In fact, what you ought to do today you
not leave till tomorrow. This is not good and it kills destiny," she
warned.
Titilayo Oyinsan who read from the book The Tiny Big First Step read
from two topical chapters of the book. In chapter four, entitled 20
reasons why people procrastinate, she noted that laziness is a joy
killer. "Yes, the generality of people are lazy. One way or the other
you find that at a point or the other in a man's life, we all have to
fight the habit of laziness. This, to my mind, is a monster and it
needs to be killed off. It has to be destroyed and cut out of one's
life.
"Laziness is the number one reason why most people procrastinate. Some
people are lazy about everything while others are lazy about certain
things. But if truth be told, you find out that most of us are lazy in
one way or the other. Indeed, laziness is an evil that prevents people
from fulfilling their destiny. In fact, a lazy man cannot hunt for his
food…"
Oyinsan, a broadcaster, equally dwelt on chapter eight which talks on
'ways to overcoming procrastination' and observed that if you have to
effectively overcome procrastination, you must first understand
yourself. You must understand why you do what you do most of the time.
You must understand why you procrastinate. What is the intrinsic
reason why you procrastinate? Is it just plain laziness or are there
other reasons? Therefore, you need to fight procrastination through
the instrumentality of self-management… When ideas pour like
torrential rain, you must exert strength and energy to ensure that you
spend quality time putting these ideas down…"
In the opening song rendered by Bukky Oluyale, who also read from
Insightful Nuggets for Living, she sang to enliven the event. With her
sound and melodious voice which seeped deep into the audience, she
said: "My life is in God's hands. And with God you can make it. With
Jesus, I, you, everybody can make it. No matter what stands on your
way, joy comes in the morning. Therefore, there is a friend in Jesus
who will wipe away your tears. I know I can make it myself." While she
sang, the audience cheered and chorused along showing that the ideas
we have in us can be made manifest if we ask God to make it blossom.
In each person, is a talent and this talent can be made known if we
try and then seek the face of God to show the way.
In 100 Life's Little Lessons, the central theme borders on the
determination to succeed in life. "I had to go self-publishing because
I did not want to continue to wait," the author noted. "I couldn't
have waited for ever for my books to be published. It is part of the
procrastination we are talking about here today. But in doing so,
focus on God and then providence will help you."
In his speech, Ikechi Odigbo, an advertising magnet disclosed that if
there is one writer who is qualified to write on procrastination,
Abraham is that person. "Yes, she knows better. This has happened to
her before. This is why she is the author to handle this topic. She
has stories over the years on the issues of life relating to
procrastination. She has faith but she also knows that faith without
work does not work. This is why she has come to learn how to set goals
for herself and then overcome procrastination.
"Since Abraham began writing with depth and profundity, this is no
longer a big challenge to her.. But the lesson to be learnt from this
is that we all should not procrastinate. I know I am one of the
victims of this habit as a creative person. But honestly, we need to
conquer it. This was why Monroe the writer, said that the graveyard is
the biggest repository of unfulfilled dream. A lot of people went to
their grave without even tapping into 10% of their talents. This is
not good enough and so we have to wake up the dreams in us and work to
perfect them."
Odigbo, the Chief Executive Officer of DDB Advertising Agency made it
clear that everything we to achieve greatness are inside our beings.
"We should devote our time to our energy. We should avoid
discouragement and focus on the good life. We should therefore have
the conviction that we have set out to do well. We have to relate with
people of the same dream to see how we can harmonize and move forward.
And so when it comes, let us take it as it is. Avoid idea killers in
order to avoid procrastination. It also takes prayers, for God guides
our intellect and directs us on what to do. It is God who says who we
are and not people."
The reading was done to highlight the contributions of Abraham to
intellectual development in the society. An educationist and a
graduate of the University of Lagos, Abraham has taken to writing as a
way of life and her own way of building a sound society.
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