Names have a life-long impact on
a man. All through the Holy Scriptures, whenever a special child is to be born,
there were always specifics about the name of the child. John, Jesus, Jacob,
Esau, Isaac, Samuel, etc. Notable figures in the scriptures have name
specifics. It is a further validation of the impact of the names on the life of
a child. Do you know a mother named her child Ichabod (I Samuel 4:21) and another named her child Jabez (I Chronicles 4:9)? What a Mum!
Thank God for we Africans that
respect Culture to the letter when it comes to names. No real African goes by
names like Carpenter, Price, Rice, Wood, Tiger, Rat, Green, etc.
However, there is a trend that is going viral these days – “Nicknames”! Everyone has a nickname now, don’t we
all? If you don’t, you pro’ly haven’t been in an institution or a sociable
environment for a significant period of time. You’re gentle, there’s a nickname
for you. You’re outspoken, you got one. A slight facial/body deformity, you
definitely got one. Some people no longer respond to their names as much as
they do nicknames. People now refer to them using their adopted nickname
absolutely and they respond almost absent-mindedly.
Names have an impact on destiny
and nicknames are no exception. Yes, most of the nicknames originates from
school (Primary, Secondary or Tertiary) and very often, there is little you can
do about them especially as students continually enjoy it when you object to it
the most. My nickname “holyparcel” is self-explanatory, but people still ask me
what it means and the inspiration for it. The inspiration came at the advent of
mail addresses earlier in the millennium. My sister and my friend opened mail
addresses with the ids “portparcel” and “angelsparcel” respectively. I sat and
thought for a season then came up with “holyparcel” which has stuck and has
been significant over the years.
Bottom line, carve a name for
yourself, a meaningful worthwhile name that you will be proud of and hold your
head high to when called in a crowd. Jacob cried out for a new name (Genesis 32:28), Jabez did also (I Chronicles 4:10), who said names cannot be carved or changed? If you don’t give yourself one, a
befitting one, people will soon give you a nickname, one you may not like and
the more you object to it, the more it sticks and it more often than not
answers in your life.
I observe people a lot much more
than I talk. There was this lady back then in school that nicknamed herself “AforceToReckonWith”.
I was thrilled the first time I saw it, but what’s more thrilling is the advent
of events in her life ever since. I have closely monitored and I can say she’s
going places in as much as she focuses and continues in her drive towards
fulfillment. Your name or nickname is very paramount in how your life shapes up
and the set of events that follows. You may not believe it and it may not look
like it now, but it will surely tell at the long run.
Words and names have power over
everything, natural or artificial…and the human life is no exception. Have you
read Dr Masaru Emoto’s experiment on the effect of words and names on water?
Read it up, it might thrill you a bit. www.masaru-emoto.net/english/water-crystal.html
Please, if you don’t like your
name or nickname or you don’t even know what it means, ask around, if it’s not
something palatable, it’s not too late for a Change of Name or Nickname.
