Neglected Dreams

by Opeyemi Fadipe

On Sunday, 14th January 2007 after church service, my husband persuaded me to branch off with him at the vendor’s place on our way home. While we were selecting which of the dailies had the most catching headline, I stumbled on a magazine on the shelf and paused to see the content.

Three years back I had nursed the dream of publishing a magazine that will discuss food and health related issues. I had ruminated on this idea for about two months and decided that I wanted to do this and I could do it. As soon as I finished my Youth Service I started getting myself ready for this huge project. I gathered so many materials, read so many books, spent nights reading, writing or browsing the Internet. I involved a doctor friend who was quite interested in writing on the health related issues and we started working together. In few months, a draft of my maiden edition was ready and I went further to get a graphic artist, a printer, a lawyer to help me with the copyright registration and some specialists to edit the draft. To be honest I had all the support I wanted especially from my parents.

One afternoon, I returned from an outing to meet a letter of employment from one of the banks I applied to during my Youth Service programme. I got so excited and the first thing that came to my mind was “Yeah, now I’ll be able to fund this project from my purse” but hardly did I know that the thought was an illusion. Immediately I resumed work I became so engrossed and distracted that I forgot my magazine draft in the leather box I carried with me to my new location. After several months I met a guy who marketed for a publishing firm at the time and he was willing to join forces with me to make my neglected dream a reality but sooner than I thought I got a better job in another city and off I went with my draft still in my leather box. And then marriage came. Off course you could be sure honeymoon is sweet enough to make a new bride forget even her maiden name. My dream became not only neglected but also forgotten. But right there the magazine in my hand at the vendor’s stand is the exact name I had coined for my forgotten and aborted magazine. The exact name and the exact issues I planned to write about were all enclosed in the maiden edition I was holding.

I hurriedly flipped through to see if I would see the names of any of those people who knew about my project but there was none inside. I called some of those people I discussed my idea with but they all seem to have forgotten I discussed any such things with them. Then it dawned on me that I wasn’t the only one who had the idea. After several hours of being angry with myself, I disclosed the whole episode to my husband this time not as a complainant but as a friend sharing with another, lessons she had learnt from certain situations in life and these were my basic learning points.

Dreams are seeds that are sown in the mind. A farmer scarcely sows one seed rather he sows many and the viable ones grow. This is to tell you that the moment an idea springs forth in your mind it must have sprung in the minds of countless number of people.
For those who nurture their seeds, water it by taking steps towards turning the dreams into reality, the seed sprouts and buds showing great prospects for the dream in the future if you press further.
Work with the right attitude and you’ll see the sun shine on the buds of your dream and the flowers open up. This was where I packed up my box.
Put in a little more effort, water, prune and add manure then expect an explosion. The fruits start coming out and the dream becomes a reality.
The fruits of a plant are always bigger and more numerous than the seeds that bore them. They even come carrying new seeds in them. If you follow through your dreams be sure it will open up other opportunities and launch you into a bigger dream because now you are no longer a dreamer you are an achiever.
Never get engrossed in things that are outside the scope of your dreams and purpose. That is if you are sure you’ve discovered your path in life.
Don’t be carried away by distractions that come like attraction.
Marriage or other milestones are not hindrances they are supposed to facilitate your dream. It’s just that we misuse opportunities.
Nurture your dreams and follow through until you’ve actualized them.

I learnt these lessons just yesterday when I saw my dream hijacked by a more serious person and that was when I decided none of my dreams was going to ever die again. I thought of Women Connect and I decided it was not going to be hijacked from us (Sola and myself) by any force.
We have made up our minds to touch the lives of women and that WE WILL SURELY DO!