On life and the new popularity of ‘grace’
Interviewer: How did you get to this position?
Famous respondent: See, I won't lie to you, it's grace! May we find grace.
Amen. But...
Why has this word suddenly become very popular? The Grace I used to see everywhere before now was “The Grace” I chanted as a primary school pupil. When we read it, there was this good feeling that came with it. Especially the part of “be with us now and forever more”. It had a special effect on my psyche. Like some magical touch on my skin. But this grace everyone clings to now, leaves so many questions to be answered.
Firstly, I think it denies the younger ones - youths just learning about the rigours of life, of a good platform of great knowledge to stand upon. When the successful fail to share their stories and everything they went through, people coming behind them may find it more difficult to shine. No, don't tell us it's just grace. Tell us the backstory. Yes, grace is everywhere and it is abound and everyone needs a dose of that good luck charm to shine through. But what was that moment, the story behind the situation, the struggle, the fight, push, risks and efforts that broke and moulded at different points? Leaving it to the vagueness of grace is hideous. Why do people fail to share their stories?
Odion Ighalo, who frolics with ‘grace’ a lot has played at Julius Berger, Prime F.C(now defunct), Lyn Oslo, Cesena, Udinese, Granada, Watford, Changchun Yatai and Shanghai Shenhua before getting those six months in dreamland at Old Trafford. And now he's earning big bucks in Saudi Arabia with nearly 20 active years of playing football in his boots. Everyone sees the part to ‘grace’ but not the path to the grace he enjoys. More than a decade of painstaking hard work has gone under the radar by just limiting intensive efforts and a rare stamina of character to just grace. The successful, like Ighalo must be willing to share the depths of their stories. It's grace and what?
Millennials and Gen Zs are at stages of their lives where the understanding of the difficulties that precede success are getting clearer. The fine pictures of castles painted in the air have turned to survival just for life. It gets clearer by the day that enough stories are not being told. ‘We were scammed’ they'd say. There is grace, but there's work.
Known criminals are seen living opulent lives and praise ‘grace’ for it. The youngster down the street needs a dose of grace too and gets pricked by needles that leave sore injuries in the process. What he thought was grace was actually his soul letting go of its normalcy. Stories are hidden behind that word and as it becomes more popular, more people are landed in trouble.
There has to be the desire to share the backstory. People must understand that it took immense efforts, outrageous consistency, and will to shine through. And you wonder, did others fail to have these? No. They didn't. They had the same but what's the place of information, mentorship, genuine opportunities and guidance? Why do we keep limiting stories that can change lives to just ‘grace’?
Your father may say he received grace and is a lucky man, but ask him what he went through and what he did correctly. This is not to say there isn't the part to good fortunes in one’s endeavours. Fortune favours the brave, we hear. But why do the brave fail to tell where they showed courage? Yes, that's what makes grace become clearer. And that's what teaches us to cling to grace even better, especially when the roads become rough.