By Debbie Ogunjobi

No show is a term used by the airline industry to describe a passenger who has booked and paid for a flight but just didn’t show up. Airlines tend to come down heavily on such passengers and charge a penalty fee or even refuse to rebook and refund such fares!

I tend to follow my instincts and I will not get on a plane if I have any bad feeling or foreboding so I am a potential no show for any trip if I have second thoughts.

I knelt down to pray a few days ago and while I wasn’t loud enough to be audible, my words seem to take a life of their own accord and the crux of it was based on the power of my intentions for this year. There is a premise that has been playing around in my head for a long time and it is the idea that most people actually tremble and fear success; so we choke and self- destruct just when we are at the edge of something really great.

I have observed this in a few people and I know from my life that most of the things that have not materialised in my life didn’t because I just didn’t show up for their manifestation. I either got panicked by the commitment that it entailed or nervous by the idea of failing publicly that I just didn’t try or stopped trying when it mattered the most.

A couple of years ago, former President Bill Clinton was asked a question at the Wimbledon tennis tournament in England. Wimbledon is a British tradition that is one of the grand slam tournaments of lawn tennis. It is a highly coveted title and a Briton has not won it in many years.

That particular year, Tim Henman (a Briton) actually stood a great chance of winning as he seemed to be in great form; he was the great British hope long before Andy Murray; the new star of British tennis.  During that particular tournament, Henman had made it past the quarter-finals and everyone was praying that would be the year the all-England Club would welcome the trophy back home.

I was struck by Bill Clinton’s answer to the obvious question of would Henman take the title that year. He said he had no doubt that Henman had the ability and form to win but that he worried that Henman would not because he always lost the battle in his head at the big moments!!

His game always collapsed at the important matches and he would choke and start making easy mistakes that would be his undoing. We all wanted Clinton to be wrong but he wasn’t. Tim Henman did fall apart and he gave away point after point to leave himself disappointed and the hope of a nation crushed yet again. At the most important point in his career, he was a complete no show!

Some people are programmed to go through life almost passionless and sedate; they don’t choke at important periods because they are hardly ever excited. The rest of us are at the mercy of our passions! Some of those passions are unfortunately giant strongholds that keep us rooted to one spot when we should be running or even soaring.

That night as I prayed; I asked God to help me overcome my strongholds of fear, rejection and anxiety so that I could show up fully for life in all ways and always. It is interesting to find that of the many people I queried almost 90 per cent confessed they had times in their lives when they had been so overwhelmed that they were “No shows” for opportunities and obligations.  Just like with the airlines, they were passengers who had tickets and confirmed seats but did not show up to take their flight.

The analogy that applies to us all is that life is the airline and the opportunities that we encounter are the flights; the prayer is that we take advantage of the opportunities and move to the next level.

I believe in miracles; I believe in the ability of a supernatural power to intervene in the natural to produce results that would normally be impossible. So, this year my prayer to God is an appeal for a supernatural intervention to give me a spirit of excellence to finish everything I start and a zest to start the things I should.

In short, I need God’s help to show up for life. I want to show up for my family and friends, show up for my work, my country and my God. I want to be that voice that yells “Present” when opportunity calls!! I totally agree with Woody Allen “80 per cent of success is showing up.”