THE ART OF GROWING TOGETHER

Hello guys. Hope you're doing great?

So, obviously; today's post is inspired by something that has been trending on social media this week, at least, here in Nigeria.

So, popular and somewhat controversial on-air personality Toke Makinwa just announced that she had written a book to be launched this month. The book happens to be kinda a story of her life, and how she rose from the ashes to the throne. The announcement obviously brought a lot of speculation especially since she said the idea was divinely inspired.

However, analyzing all of that is not the purpose of this post. Typically, I try to be as objective as possible in analyzing things; so I believe there's always lessons to be learned in every situation.

When I saw Toke's post on Instagram announcing her book, I was a bit surprised, to be honest. But, the second thing to strike me was the fact that her friend Arese Ugwu had just published a book of her own which was also making waves.

I am writing this post to address a very delicate issue; the balance between friendship and growth. I have realized that many Nigerians have not appreciated this balance. Have you ever had a friend, probably one from childhood, and now you have grown, your lifestyle, goals and priorities have changed and the friend now considers you a snob? Yeah, we all have.

A lot of people think staying true to your friendship means you shouldn't grow but that's not true. As a matter of fact, growth can and should be a catalyst for even stronger bonding in your friendship. True friendship, among other things should encourage individual growth which would in the long run impact on collective growth.

As a matter of fact, I'd be concerned if I was friends with someone who appears to be stagnant.

Your friends should motivate you to grow and improve on yourself constantly.

And to those, who feel like they're friend is growing and hence, abandoning the friendship; think again! Be motivated by your friend's growth and success and do same for yourself.

Let us all make sure that our friendships are adding life values. Your friend needs to be adding value to you and you should reciprocate.

We all have a lesson from these two women. I can imagine that the next time, they're talking, they would be having discussions of editors, publishers and all that because they have grown together. So, start looking for ways to grow with your friends and you will be better for it.

Just as distance can be to friendship , so is one sided growth. So, the short and long story is friends who grow together, stay together!


Thank you.

Oreva Gold.