What makes us resolve time after time to improve, to make better decisions, to make better choices, and do the right things but, we really never get around to doing these things and we gradually slip back into our world and style of life as usual and forget all about the resolution to improve?
Why are we more inspired by what we hear than the will to do? Why do we always acknowledge the fact that we have better opportunities and prospects for great improvement, superlative performances and achievements yet, can’t just get around to manifesting the capacities?
Day after day, time after time, many of us indulge in listening to teachers and good speakers; some read to obtain more knowledge and answers to their various circumstances and life challenges, but putting into practice that which they now know so as to improve their lives appears to be so difficult hence, no improvements what so ever despite all the new and powerful knowledge. So daily you can’t help but come across very brilliant and knowledgeable but broke and frustrated Nigerians. The power to apply is not there.
Every now and again I speak to so many people on steps and procedures they can take to get out of a bad or difficult situation or even improve on their average life conditions; they love it, they accept it, applaud it and they inadvertently just ignore implementation. They just revert to their normal way of doing things and in my interpretation remain satisfied by just the knowledge of the solution to their situation.
Apparently wisdom is the correct application of knowledge. What you know cannot help without you applying it to that situation. Dear friend, if you really want to see significant improvement, you must take deliberate steps to apply what you know and have learnt.
I think also for many of us, there is an unruffled and secure zone we love to embrace because we are by nature not confrontational. We hate to confront situations, people and circumstances. We hate to be seen as troublesome or trouble makers. We are overly bothered about the opinion of others, we want everybody to like us, we don’t want to offend anyone and we pretend to be on everyone’s side whether we agree with them or not. We feel comfortable when we are at peace with everyone, so we hate to disagree even if it hurts us. We love to be wanted and accepted, we hate to be alone in and with anything, we appreciate togetherness even if it’s taking us down. We want peace at all cost even it its graveyard peace.
Dear friend, may I say to you this morning that you may be somewhat disconnected with the reality of your life? Listen, every passing day you are aging and your time is running out?
Dear friend my challenge to you this morning is to wake up and fight. It’s time to fight complacency and become positively confrontational. Who and what is standing in your way to greater achievements and accomplishments? For every stagnation or retrogression there is someone or something responsible. Nothing just happens in life. Life is fashioned in a cause and effect manner. All things have causal factors. Someone and something is responsible for your situation weather you know it or not, it could even be you, accept it or not, believe it or not, there is something in the way of your greater self.
Please understand I’m not asking that you put up an offensive quarrel or fight, I’m asking that you must decide to stop bowing and bending to your oppositions and challenges. Stand up for what you want, what you desire and what you want to achieve. And may I introduce you to your most powerful opposition? It’s you, yes, you.
Dear friend, you can’t conquer what is on the outside unless and until you’ve conquered what is on the inside.
Some weeks ago a young married woman; about 23 years old with a daughter who works as a counter clerk in a supermarket in my neighborhood excitedly told me her funny experience. Married for about three years, her very quick tempered husband for all their married years took delight in beating up this young pretty wife. He was very mean and abusive, and beats her up at the drop of a hat. She’s been in and out of the hospital and attended several counselling sessions on this account and in fact friends and family have advised she leaves her husband before he kills her by accident but she wouldn’t listen as according to her she still loves him and she loves her daughter.
Before now when he begins to shout and approach her to hit her when in an argument, she would just go on her knees and begin to beg, then he would begin to beat, kick and hit her, but on this last occasion, as he approached her to hit her, she refused to kneel or beg instead she dared him to hit her, according to her, he slapped her and immediately she slapped him back, she said he was so shocked he couldn’t move, and after she did that all the love she had for him just faded away instantly and now she’s back with her parents with her daughter and she’s very happy and free. I smiled, I was glad she was now free and happy.
But if you, with me critically analyze the situation, she actually didn’t conquer her abusive husband, he wasn’t really the problem; she was the problem. Her refusal to reject that kind of treatment from day one was what made the beating linger for that long. Immediately she conquered herself, she conquered the situation. According to her, her husband has been coming to beg with his relatives promising to change and never to lift a finger against her again.
Dear friend, most of the issues you’re confronting today – stressing, manipulating and overpowering you is most likely by your permission. Your refusal to reject and psychologically confront your thought disposition towards the situation would make it linger for as long as you keep tolerating it.
My dear friend, I believe it’s time for you to stand up and in your mind confront every thinking and mindset that tolerates poverty, insufficiency, stagnation, inferiority, laziness and non-productivity in your life and career. I tell you, you are the way you are based on your own permission to be that way.
You are broke today because somehow in your mind, you’ve become tolerant of lack hence have refused to take consistent deliberate steps to stem the flow of poverty in your life. You’ve tolerated it to that point where it’s almost like your identity. In fact in your speaking at times, you make statements like we the poor! Taa!
Hence, when you go for counselling and listen to tapes, teaching realistic and practical steps out of poverty, you enjoy the teaching, appreciate the knowledge, get excited about the knowledge but because you are unwilling to confront that state of poverty, you condone it and jettison all you know and have learnt on how to escape poverty.
Many today are ‘hearers’ but not ‘doers’. It is only knowledge applied that profits! All that you know today, wise saying, principles, quotable quotes, philosophies and profound statements that you have memorized, put up as display message and status update on your phones and social media sites, all your shared broadcast about what great men of old have said, where is it applied in your own life?
The many books in your library, many tapes in your collection, newsletters and journals; all the lessons and insights, have they found relevance and expression in your own life?
Truth is a man can teach others how to be rich and remain poor if he does not personally app
ly what he teaches.
A boss can teach a subordinate how to become a managing director and the subordinate would become his managing director if that boss wouldn’t apply the principle he teaches.
My dear friend, enough of just knowledge and talking, it’s very easy to talk, it’s very easy to display and show off how much you know. It’s not so difficult to be crafty with words and poetic in expression, you can coin and develop as many wise inspirational sayings as possible and be a victim of what you address if you don’t apply what you know.
Dear friend, resolve today to confront all negative and mediocre mindset you carry. It’s really not in how much you know but in how much you apply and practice.
Do you realize at times because you know the answer you become careless with a problem? Then you make costly mistakes.
Confront that situation and overcome in your mind, pull all your emotional energy together and withstand all your oppositions. You are better than this, you can do more, can achieve more can deliver more than this. The best of you, the world is yet to see, I tell you, unleash your excellence and surprise yourself and everyone.
Rise up today and apply all you know; that’s what makes you wise my friend. Enjoy your day.
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