Amanda was playing in the garden when she saw her grandpa holding a butterfly. 
She quickly ran to him and said, “Grandpa, I love butterflies. Can I have it?” 
Grandpa gave it to her, and she ran off happily. 
After a few minutes, when she became tired of playing, she decided to play a trick on her grandpa. Amanda asked him to guess whether the butterfly was still alive or dead, folding her little palm.
Grandpa smiled and called her, “Ada, the life and death of that butterfly are in your hands. If I say it’s alive, you will kill it, and if I say it’s dead, you will free it to fly.” 
Grandpa went further to explain to her that she should see her destiny as the butterfly and always know that it is in her hands to either kill it or allow it to live.
I believe you understand what this story is telling you: your destiny and your success are 90% your decision and intentionality. The remaining 10% is God’s guidance. While He advised us in Proverbs 3:5–6 to always put Him first and He will direct our path, He also reminded us in James 2:14 that faith without works is useless (I believe you now understand the meaning of work).
So, it is your responsibility to make conscious, the unconscious habits, associations, and decisions that are preventing you from living a fulfilled life. Otherwise, they will control you, and you will call it fate. If you are an adult now, you must have come to the understanding that you will not achieve success without conscious thoughts and deliberate decisions.
So here is the formula I recommend you follow :
✓ Discipline: This means planning your day, saying no and yes when appropriate, thinking before you talk, and most importantly, doing things because they are necessary, not based on your feelings.
✓ Consistency: You can’t achieve anything this year if you are not consistent. Be tenacious and resilient, even when you don’t feel like doing it.
✓ Silent and strategic: Keep your mouth shut, because the fish that closes its mouth avoids the hook. Do not announce your moves before you make them.
✓ Patience: To everything there is a season. Work with your own time and clock, and avoid unhealthy comparison. Learn to clap for others until it is your turn.
As our people said, if the sacrificial yam is allowed to live, it will definitely germinate. Once there is life, there is hope.
In conclusion, however your life is today, it is as a result of the decisions you took or did not take in the past. However, a bend in a road does not mean the road has ended—unless you fail to make a turn. Pause and reflect on your life today, stay positive, change any habit hindering you and remain connected with your Source, because cut off from God, you can do nothing.
I remain your friend and brother,
Maazi Onuora Obodoechi
Pen it down. 