Hey there! Welcome Back😁. I missed you so much, and I must say, last week was, “AWESOME!”. I mean, the comments, the views? Wow, I am yet to recover from the feeling. God bless you all for Tuning in. All the posts so far, have received great turnouts. I am glad y’all are enjoying this series. I am as well.
Today, I have another great one for you; unique and very relatable to some. So sit back, read and enjoy the story, of a young man who studied to be a Doctor but derives passion from basketball 🏀.
Enjoy the story of Kingsley Ubong Akpan😁
“I can say for a fact that it has not been an easy journey for me since I started my life in the university. I have struggled with myself for quite some time, trying to figure out my true purpose in life.
I pursued the field of medicine because I felt I could save the lives of people in the wards and consulting room physically and spiritually (through prayer). However, my father always wished that I’d become a medical doctor but it wasn’t really him that influenced my decision into the medical field but because I had a point to prove to people who questioned my ability with questions like, “are you sure you can handle it?”. It always kept ringing in my head, so I wanted to prove to everyone that,” I could do it”.
However, in the face of all these, I also struggled with high functioning anxiety. At first, I didn’t realize what exactly it was, but, after everything I had been through; the manner in which I related and spoke to people, the kind of friends I mingled with, the decisions I made, the number of times I had procrastinated, the number of times I didn’t feel like leaving the confines of my room or safe space, the many unfinished milestones or promises I haven’t been able to hold up to, and most especially the fact I never related very well with my family at my younger age… I finally realized it.
I come from a family of 9 from my mother with myself being the 5th born of six boys and a half elder sister who wasn’t always around. I never felt I could speak up for myself when I was younger. I felt me being one of the babies of the house, my words or opinions didn’t really matter because of that, I didn’t relate very well with my brothers and my parents, to be more specific my mother. My father wasn’t always around, he was always at work and most of my brothers were away at school so I was by myself.
I wasn’t really allowed to have friends come over and I wasn’t also allowed to visit friends as well.
I had myself and my mother and still, we would get into fights, we’d argue and sometimes I’d say things I would feel bad about later.
As a result of not feeling at home, I stopped going to the same church my parents attended at around the ages of 16 or 15. I decided to attend a church much closer to home, where I was welcomed and felt like a part of the family. I felt so much at home there, that I would never miss a day of church, Bible studies, and church practices. In fact, everyone at church was my friend, including the pastor. It was during this period I started playing basketball which has become a very important part of who I am today.
I was cleaning my elder brother’s room one day, when I came across his old basketball shoes which were still in a good state and so, I cleaned it up and went to the only basketball court in town and started playing, and ever since, I have never stopped. It became part of my weekly activity as well as going to church. In fact, If I wasn’t at church then, I’d be at the basketball court. Although I wasn’t very consistent with it, I played quite often that my parents began to take notice of my act. They didn’t agree with it at first, but that didn’t stop me.
Whilst in the university, I took a break off basketball so as to focus on school but as I did, I began to struggle with my academics and as I tried my hardest to always stay in line with my academics, I always felt it would all be in vain. At times, I’d just be in my room with the lights out but with a form of light in it, not feeling motivated to go out, as I feel like I should just stay indoors forever and not have to go out. Whenever I was faced with a challenge, I’d do everything possible to find one excuse or the other to avoid facing it upfront and because of that in my 300 level going to the final year, I was repeated.
Telling my parents about it was the scariest moment of my life because I didn’t know how to handle what they would say out of disappointment but to my greatest surprise, all I heard were words of encouragement to do it the right way and correct all my mistakes which gave me the motivation to continue. By the grace of God, I never had the thought of dropping out, I thank God for that every day because I’ve seen and met a lot of people who take that road for good and bad reasons, but, it wasn’t a road I was planning on taking as i always said to myself, “this will be the biggest hurdle and highlight of my life, I must get past for the sake of my future” and so, for that reason I refused to give up because my family did not give up on me as well.
I’ve had my ups and downs in the university as when I finally made it to final year, I was unable to graduate with my peers which also served as a big blow to me but I refused to stop there, I made up my mind that I’d finish and be done with school once and for all.
Whilst I was in school, I would say for a fact that I wasn’t very enthusiastic about church until my 200 level when my cousin invited me to RCCG Heavens Gate Parish, after a while, I volunteered to teach and look after the children in church and I’ve been doing that till now, it has been a source of happiness, relief, duty, and purpose for me ever since. I am a child of God but I’m not perfect as I’ve succumbed to sin so many times without count but God has never given up on me so I won’t give up on myself. The pastor of the church, PST. Samson Kunuyi and his family have been a very important part of my life in school even till now and they’ve always been the parents sent by God to watch over me in school, always there to encourage and prompt me when I’m going down the wrong path.
I realized my passion for basketball began to grow even stronger in my school days. Basketball became a very important part of my life, it became my source of therapy too whenever I felt anxious, depressed, sad or angry, I would go to the basketball court to calm down and relieve myself.
As the days went by, I decided to try out for the school team but I was never given the opportunity to grow in basketball or test my skills and that made me very sad. I remember on two occasions we went for tournaments and I couldn’t play a single game, that made me so upset and disconnected from the rest of the team but I didn’t give up, I started watching tutorials, practicing to get better every day and I also visited other basketball courts to practice my new skills.
I struggled with the idea of continuing with basketball and so one night at church, I made a request to God saying; “if basketball is not the right path for me then take away the passion I have for it”. As time went on, the passion grew even more and so I knew for a fact that God was on my side and so ever since I’ve trained and grew in skill and experience that I always give thanks to God whenever I look back at how far I’ve come. I spoke to my family about going into professional basketball and they didn’t oppose but requested I ensure I keep watch on my academics which I agreed on.
This year may have had many global events that have shocked the whole world but it has been a year of great accomplishments for me in basketball. I keep getting words of encouragement and advice on the way forward so I know and believe God is on my side because if He wasn’t I wouldn’t have come this far. I thank God for that every day.
I’ve come a really long way in life, I’ve made friends both good (like Sis. Sharon who works with me in the children’s department, made me understand that no matter what I am facing as long as I bring God in it everything will be okay and I am grateful for that. I also made a friend, a barber who is now a pastor, PST. Andrews Dosunmu he has been someone that has always been there to remind to always have God in mind for everything around me and to follow the will of God no matter what) and bad but I forever thank God for being a vital part of my life, I still struggle with anxiety from time to time but God has forever kept me sane and at peace, and I am grateful for that”.
What do you think of this story? Do you want to give up on your dreams? I hope his story serves as a motivation for you to keep going. Please keep going, I believe in you. Get your priorities right and be sure to plan well.
Thank you, Mr. Kingsley, for sharing your story, God grant you the stamina to achieve all He has in store for you.
Don’t forget to like, leave a comment and please share with friends. See you next week by God’s grace. Bye💓
Boye Paulina Sharon
29th June, 2020
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