SNAIL IN THE COMPOUND

How many times have you asked God for something and then feel disappointed in the end because you think He didn't answer? But what if He answered but you were not even prepared for it? The fact that you asked, doesn't mean that you're ready for it. 

   Opportunity doesn't come to us because we deserve or ask for it. I think opportunities are everywhere and available to everyone but for you to see or get any opportunity, you have to first draw a mental picture of that which you want and have your mind at alert and get informed about where and how to look for such opportunity. I think opportunities exists with us in countless forms but if you're not prepared for it or consciously paint a mental picture of what you are looking for in your mind's eye, you will walk pass or even live with opportunities without knowing it. I do have a story to share and here it goes... 

    Over the years I have repeatedly visited my cousins in Asaba, Delta state and there are a few plantain trees and other plants in the compound.  Few weeks ago, which would be my third month in Asaba, I saw my our neighbor with a big snail ( I love snail) and I was shocked when she said her 5years old son had picked it in the compound. Few minutes later, she had found another big one. "Snails in this compound, how?" She was shocked that I had never seen a snail in the compound before and she almost thought I was joking about it, while I was dead serious. This exchange had happened in the early hours of the day and by that same morning as I was walking to the tap to wash something, I had seen a snail climbing on the wall and I excitedly picked it and added it to the two she had covered to the ground. As I moved to go to our apartment I had seen another snail and as I went close to pick it, I noticed it was not just one snail and by the end of that day, I had pick about six of them. The next day, I walked the same path I walked for months before and I found snails everywhere I turned. I was so excited to be picking them myself but I wondered why. Why did I never see a single snail until my neighbor informed me that there were snails in the compound? I always walk around the compound, why did I not see even one before that day? I answered my questions myself.... I had not thought of snails and the possibility of them being in that compound, therefore, I didn't see any snail.  The information from my cousin's neighbor, awakened my interest and put my mind at alert and so I started to see the snails that had being in the compound all along. The truth is, they have always being there, I may have walked passed many before without noticing because I didn't have it in mind and I wasn't looking. Your mind calls your attention to things that you yourself have highlighted as important and desire badly. Talk of opportunities and chances and I remember this 'Snail in the Compound' story. When information meets desire and desire meets preparation/ hunger, then opportunity is birthed. There are opportunities around us but the question is, what do you have in your mind's eye? What information do you have and from who? The best people to point you in the right path and open your eyes to possible opportunities, are those that have successfully walked the path you are now dreaming about. Dream,listen and then look out. 

Have you ever had someone show you something in a place you've being for long and you wondered why you have never seen it? Your mind and the lack of the needed knowledge, is why. Imagine I prayed for money or just to find a place to buy snail but I didn't know God already made provision for that in the compound because my mind was fixed on finding a place where they are sold in a market. Your mind follows your programming, so be flexible with your thoughts. 

This is however my own view on things, using my singular 'snail in the compound' experience. You may think otherwise and your thoughts would be just as correct and meaningful.

Conclusion: some will say "oh! I missed that opportunity"  "oh, I missed that chance" the question is, were you really looking for that opportunity? Or did you only recognize it as an opportunity you would have loved to have because someone who knew were to look for it, got it? We don't see what we are not looking for and we don't look for things in the places where we don't think they can be. Look around carefully and intentionally, what you think impossible, might be somewhere there in the rough, waiting to be found. 

P.N: I made a delicious pepper sauce with the snails and everyone loved it 😄😄💕💕💕