Dear Future Layi

The times are changing, and there is no point being the man of the hour if your future is not secure. For if not a message from the future, what is the voice of reason? The new year approaches. And without any resolution qua resolution explicitly made in 2018, I am motivated to compose this letter to my future self. Thus, through letter-writing, I may track some measure of the progress, regress or deviations which I anticipate in the now. In my writing of this letter to my future self, I hope to tell project everything I am doing right, everything that will count for nothing, and the things which my future self must improve upon. I hope to discuss intimately such things as time management, staying inspired, and truth discernment. These three things all key into the strategies of time management. Because of the essential relation between us, I pray that you will listen tentatively to what I have to say. And then, you will begin to understand why I have to say it. I aim only to keep you mindful of your quest to become a Philosopher of Humanities, and Contemporary Laureate.

I have come to learn that the greatest downfall that can befall a man is not a one-time and outright failure, but a perpetual and false sense of victory. The times in which I am most certain that I have wasted my days is scarcely when I have done a lot of diligence that yielded nothing. Indeed, I foremost feel useless when I engage haplessly in something that could never get me anywhere. The three broad categories in which my demography whittles away at their time are: social media, videogames and daydreaming. Of these three, I am guilty of two: social media and daydreaming. Daydreaming is a false-meditation, social media is a false closure and videogames are a false exploit. You see, the feeling I get when I hold my phone and haplessly browse social feed until my phone battery is flat, or close to it, is a defeating one. To know that my phone has exhausted itself feeding me a reality that isn’t mine and for reasons which are unjustified is indeed debilitating. Other people with the same problem think that they are more knowledgeable than they are, they pride themselves in the knowledge of things regarding fantasy, or they pride in the achievements attained in a non-existent reality.

Sometimes, I also find myself daydreaming. I rehearse my old soccer moves from the days way back when I was a high-schooler in Nigeria. The inability to play the game now that I am in another continent only made me reminisce it more and consequently invent, rehearse, and enjoy new moves all by myself and in the comfort of my own home as though there were a soccer match tomorrow. Like I said, I do not own any videogames. Yet, between daydreaming of soccer and the ability to stream videos, I’m afraid I have spent more time watching soccer online than I have meditating on the scripture. But, the reluctance once felt at making this turnaround is presently being besieged by me but must be buried by you. Yet, I pray not just to be spiritually overcome by false senses of victory but to be my own voice of reason when I begin to pursue lesser glories on earth instead of immortal treasures in the heavens. Yes, I regret the time I wasted. But you must pick us the baton, the pace and the objectivity and cover the ground I have failed to cover. I hope you haven’t forgotten: if you do not know where you are going, then at least know where you are from. Remember: You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.

Secondly, I shall speak on time management. And I shall start with the good news. The good news is that daily time management is really a pseudonym for dynamic, intimate and pragmatic goal setting. I have begun to time myself when I begin working on certain tasks. Moreover, I keep a writing journal where the rudiments of what I am yet to write is kept prior to transposition. I have begun to identify and eliminate those devourers of time which I engage in due to dissatisfaction with my current life. Your daily schedule is actually your whole life in miniature form. You, Layi of the Future, will be unable to reap the fruit of any seed I fail to plant today. And I have taken upon my back the responsibility for all the progress my past self-squandered because I thought the change too small or meaningless to effect in the moment. In these times of moral crises, I remember when my mother said: once a depraved, always a depraved. If that is a case, then it is also true that once a champion, you are always a champion. Remember: tiny drops of water make the mighty ocean. Remember: the journey of a thousand miles begin with a single step. Remember: do not count your chicks before they have hatched.

Almost universally, a fifty-dollar bill stomped on the ground can still be picked up, straightened out and used as legal tender. Such is the relationship between hard times and yourself. But in good times we expend our essence in things which have no spiritual relevance or humanitarian value. In good times, we haplessly give our worth to things which concern no man’s salvation. In bad times we are overwhelmed by the matters of the now. The spirituality meant to cultivate a relationship with God is instead used to cater to one’s terrestrial survival instinct. In good times, we are so comfortable with our circumstance that we fail to key into the challenges of the bigger picture that The Lord has in mind. We become unfeeling to the plights of others. Times of solitude and disparity, unlike times of war and luxury, like the ones I faced were a great opportunity to get to know The Lord, and you must meet with The King of Kings reverently for you are of his nation. Oh, Layi of the future, you must cultivate a habit of perceiving yourself as The Lord, your mentor perceives you.

And now, a word regarding mindfulness. As a writer, I do not speak from pen, to the page to the eye. I speak from my soul to your soul. Or in this case from my now into your present. When I read, I read as a reader and not as an orthodox student or even a prude critic. I’m old-school. I read to shape my ideas. No wonder then that I arm myself with only bookmarks, a pen, and a journal when I do read. Thusly, I read to recognize the truths about my existence and not to whittle away my time. Reading is how I weed the Eden of my soul so that you, my future self will have more to succor on the day of harvest. Whenever I read, and get inspiration, I can recognize more often than not in what vein the application of that inspiration is. However, if I do relate with the message and cannot recognize its place in the journals I keep, I will count on you, more and more each day, to edify the knowledge by real life application. Yet, as I write from my reading, I go off on tangents, I reserve artefacts along the path to enlightenment. I trudge on steadfastly through the steepening sands of time. And I read the patterns of the stars to recognize my own journey. I will count on you to redeem my steadfast diligence with earnest execution. For I know; my best days are not behind you.

Even if my books never sell a single copy, know that you are my masterpiece. I am but a rope from which the crown of the principles Layi of Old may ascend and be enthroned in an Older Layi or fall and become a beast of burden. I will not underestimate you, and you must not forsake my truths. I trust that you will know more than you say, think more than you speak, and you will notice more than you realize. You will live by choice and not by chance. You will be motivated and not manipulated. You will make changes and not excuses. You shall have self-esteem and not self-pity. You will listen to your inner-voice not anybody’s resentful opinions. And till we meet, I will continue to do the things that others won’t so that you will continue to do the things others can’t. For I know that behind every immovable and complicated wall in the spiritual realm, is a strategy that is accessible and minimalist.

I will meet an imperial gentleman in your wake. And on my journey to meet you, I shall never tell about my conquests, private matters, or dealings. Our private business is nobody else’s. I will not clash in public with enemies or exes. Or worse, with out-of-fashion styles or attire. I will cease to react to rudeness today. Thus, you would have mastered pretending you do not recognize it, and moving on like it never happened, because it never should have. I will always be on target with witty remark, interesting facts, and conversational starters that bring out the best in everyone. I have begun taking steps to be a gentleman who asks non-invasive questions to keep a conversation going and keep attention focused on others. For if I begin being this person today, then you will make the masses feel like a vastly interesting and perfectly blessed people, whether it is true or not. I have begun a journey to attain sovereignty from these vices just so you will live on in a bliss I never knew.

Lastly, there is truth discernment. Truth is the diet of champions, while discernment is the muscle of the mind. Employing discernment without first basing your efforts on truth is like body-building without the right diet in place: you will most likely come up short. When I think of truth, I am reminded of the stone tablets obtained by Moses on which the ten commandments were written, and the six of them which apply to man. For, the latter six can and must be applied to truth.

· Honor your teachers and mentors: Without the help of a guiding hand one cannot not reach the apex knowledge about higher purpose. Thus, honor the efforts of educators.

· You shall not murder truth: The Lord, who is the Word, demands that Jew and Gentile alike present the account of unbridled truth legitimately, and not to misrepresent facts.

· You shall not adulterate truth: When testifying to a judge, the truth has earnest witnesses and also earnest manipulators, establish transparent analysis not conceited politics.

· You shall not steal testimonies: Taking pride in your word, entails not just speaking the entirety of truth but also stating plainly and honestly the source of words which you cited.

· You shall not speak false testimonies against others: Salvation for the accused as well as the witness depends on the honest and humble communication of each wrongdoings to mankind.

· You shall not covet: God gives agency to all men to live their truth; the beauty of another’s orations, poetry, and insight, is not to be envied by man but to be uplifted through evangelism

There are those so well prepared to live a lie that they are undermined foremost by that which is perfectly obvious. Yet, I shall not be found exaggerating my rightness, or disguising my wrongness, instead I shall be the voice of the silenced. I shall never connive from the truth what will serve my agenda or what will usurp the Lord’s will on earth. The Good Lord, anoints the mouth of honest men, and he has promised me that I shall arrive at your today with a full harvest. And as you live by the dictates of truth, God will draw nearer to you. And your acumen will increase in all respects.

More than an ominous warning to you, my future self, this is the renewal of my conscience in written form. It is just as important to write down the goals of what you will cease to do as it is important to write down the goals which you need to accomplish. I have cleansed my soul and am preparing myself for a testimony in the new year. I write that I may, in times of uncertainty look back and know what vows I have made regarding my own future. Thus, I will be inspired by my earnest progress and not cowed by fickle obstacles. I write this letter to you, my future self, because I am the sole person that the Layi of the future will be able to hold accountable. As the years of my youth gather behind me, I learnt to live like I was dying. Yes Lord! You bear the scars of the crucifixion of Layi Contrary. You remember the magisterial revelations which converted Layi Walahi. You persisted through the conceptualization of Layi 2.0. And you recall the degradation of Layi Be-Mine. And humanity shall await the coming of Layi the Ultimate. For you know: today is the first day of the rest of my life…

Chronologically Yours, Layi Ajayi.