Staying Jigi even through the hurdles life presents is all about having a positive mindset and never giving up. We sometimes have the notion that celebrities get an easy life, but they too face their wahala. Life has no balance for everybody! Let’s explore the chronicles of events in the lives of celebrities who made lemonades out of lemons thrown at them.
1] Oprah Winfrey
She was born Orpah but people mispronounced it as Oprah and since then called Oprah. She lived a life of struggle and hardship in rural Mississippi to a teenage mother. Not only that, she faced molestation during her childhood and early teenage years. Regardless of all these, she overcame the turbulent storm. She was once the world’s only black billionaire and the richest African-American of the 20th century. She was ranked the most influential woman in the world in 2007. Oprah is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author and media proprietor.
2) Jimmy Ofuoyan
He was born into a family where nine children had to compete for scarce, limited and unavailable resources. He was also sidelined from getting a secondary education because of the non-availability of funds and had to start learning how to braid and fix women’s hair at age 12. To pursue his dreams outside the country. He decided to relocate to Libya where he fell into the hands of hostile human traffickers spending 18 months in prison. He endured some of the most difficult formative years any child could ever have had and sailed through it. He is the CEO of 360Kuts. He was crowned as the best in the trade in the Pescara and Milan areas of the country. He won the ‘Blurriest/ Fastest Fade Technique Barber Battle’ against other Italian-born hairstylists and barbers in his community and barbershop, through his unmatched expertise.
3) Tunde Onakoya
Tunde grew up in the slums of Ikorodu, Lagos. His mother offered to work for a school as a cleaner in exchange for his secondary school fees. It was as bad as not being able to treat his ailment as there was no money to pay for it. He got through all these hurdles and now he’s the founder of “Chess in Slums Africa“. Onakoya got a diploma in computer science at Yaba College of Technology where he was a gold medalist representing the school in the Nigeria Polytechnic Games and also at the RCCG Chess Championship. He has also won the National Friends of Chess and the Chevron Chess. Onakoya was featured in CNN African Voices. He is a board member of the New York City-based non-profit organization “The Gift of Chess“.
4] Simon Cowell
Simon had a failed record company with signing bands that didn’t work. This led to a major loss that restructured his life. Nonetheless, Simon picked himself up and became one of the biggest forces in reality television, serving as a judge for, “American Idol”, “X Factor” and “Pop Idol”.
5) Bethany Hamilton
Hamilton had her left arm bitten off by a shark during a surfing accident at just thirteen years old. That in itself could have disrupted her career and passion. Instead of admitting defeat, she went back to her surfboard one month later and continued to practice. Two years later, she was able to win first place in the Explorer Women’s Division of the NSSA National Championships. If that isn’t overcoming a difficult obstacle, I don’t know
These experiences are not just choking but are worthy of restricting one’s airflow. In all, we need to breathe and hope for better days ahead.
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