Multiple award-winning broadcast journalist and renowned motivational speaker, Oheneyere Gifty Anti, has credited her humility to the strict upbringing of her father.
In an interview on ‘The Book Review Show’ with host Mrs. Caroline Owusu Asamoah, the seasoned broadcaster disclosed that her father created the image of servitude and humility in her mind when she was young by making her clean gutters in front of their house.
“I grew up with a father who instilled in me the spirit of humility. I shared experience [in my book]of how my dad would make me go and clean the gutter in front of our house just to let me know that wherever I am going to, I am to serve and never to forget where I am coming from”, Oheneyere Gifty Anti narrated.
She added that her father advised her against allowing her fame get into her head, tagging that behaviour as ‘the curse of stardom’. Oheneyere Gifty Anti associated that socialization by her parents as the contributing factor to her humility.
“My father told me about the curse of stardom. He told me that when you get into the limelight or when you become a star and you let it get into your head, it becomes a curse. You become more powerful when you apply some sense of humility to your greatness. I am the last child of my parents but I was never made to feel special”, she stated.
The CEO of GDA Media Limited bemoaned the recent disrespect for the elderly by the youth, adding that she would rather harbour such unspeakable words, used by young people, in her mind than voice them out. She also disclosed that she did not find both arrogance and unnecessary pride ‘sexy’.
“I was reading something on some young people using some words against adults and I am like ‘I am 50 [plus half]years old but there are certain things I can never say to an adult, somebody older than me. No matter how angry I get, I would really check myself and I’d rather say it in my head than let it out of my mouth because I was raised to respect old age. I was born humble, so as for arrogance and unnecessary pride, I don’t find it sexy at all”, she concluded.
‘A Bit of Me’ is a motivational book that features inspiring nuggets by CEO OF GDA Media, Oheneyere Gifty Anti, about overcoming life’s struggles. The book, which inspires readers to be the best version of themselves, has received positive reviews from the reading community, with a 4.0 rating on the GoodReads website being proof of its quality.
Other books by Oheneyere Gifty Anti are ‘The Best of You’ and ‘Fifty Nuggets @ 50’, which are equally receiving warm reception from readers.
‘It was a horrible experience’ – Oheneyere Gifty Anti recounts events that led to writing ‘A Bit of Me’
“It was the 19th of April, last year, Good Friday. That very day, I was going to shower and I fell and sprained my ankle. I had to be in a cast [P.O.P] for 6 weeks and it was hard. It was tough because I had plans, programmes lined up and places to go but I had to be stuck at one place for 3 weeks. And to make matters worse, [the final straw]I was unable to play with my daughter because anytime she came close, I was afraid she would further injure my broken leg. I had to be always pushing her away and it broke my heart”. These were the words of ace broadcaster, Oheneyere Gifty Anti, as she narrated the ordeal which resulted in the authorship of her motivational book, ‘A Bit of Me’.
‘A Bit of Me’, a motivational book by Oheneyere Gifty Anti, provides words of motivation to readers on how to overcome life’s struggles. The book, which is a compilation of a series of short videos by the author, encourages readers to become the best version of themselves.
Recounting the experience that led to her writing the book on ‘The Book Review Show’ on August 7, 2020, Oheneyere Gifty Anti revealed that she had visited Adumasa for Easter festivities with her husband last year, when she tripped in the bathroom, sprained her ankle and had to be bedridden for weeks. The accident affected several of her programmes as well as her interpersonal relationship with her daughter, driving her to borderline depression.
“I went to Adumasa for Easter. The Adumasa people celebrate Easter like the Kwahu, so Easter is the time my husband gets a lot of visitors. I do parties for the children and the aged, so I was excited and looking forward to it. That very day, I was going to shower and I fell and sprained my ankle. It was, later on, I did the X-ray and realized my ankle was actually broken so I had to be in a cast [what we call P.O.P]for 6 weeks”, the celebrated broadcast journalist narrated.
“It was tough because I am a very busy woman. I am always on the go. I had my plans, my programmes lined up and places I was going to speak and suddenly I have to be stuck at one place for 3 weeks. I couldn’t even go downstairs. It was really difficult for me and to it all, what really did it for me, was my inability to play with my daughter because I was afraid she would further injure my broken leg. So I had to always be pushing her away and it broke my heart. I was on borderline depression”, she added.
Oheneyere Gifty Anti explained that she chanced on a broadcast of one of her ‘A Bit of Me’ motivational videos during that tough period, and she was inspired to put all those videos together in a written form to serve as a source of motivation to others who were going through similar hardships.
“Someone was sending a viral video, which happened to be one of the videos I had done, and it really encouraged me. I wondered how many people go through the same [ordeal]and would not get something like that video to watch or a voice note to listen to and they may be pushed over the edge. So it just dawned on me that it was time for me to put ‘A Bit of Me’, those motivational pieces in a book form”, she said.
‘A Bit of Me’, published on July 29, 2019 has received several plaudits from the reading community, including a 4.0 rating on the GoodReads website. Other works of Oheneyere Gifty Anti include ‘Fifty Nuggets @ 50’ and ‘The Best of You’.
Watch the interview on the book review show with Caroline Owusu-Asamoah
