I hope you all had a good and a
merry Christmas season. Welcome back so that we may continue to JOIN THE DOTS
in life. I hope you did not overspend and did not do things that you will regret
as we start this New Year as we said in the Christmas season message.
Now Life is interesting. At the
beginning of every New Year, we make New Year resolutions. We set goals of the
next year. We want to have achieved this and that before the year ends. We set
limits of our financial worth before the end of the year. The unmarried perhaps
make a resolution that before the end of the year they hope the lord will be
gracious to them and they will find a life partner. The married may resolve to
be good husbands, submissive wives, caring and loving dads and mums. We make
decisions to terminate certain relationships and friendships and to pursue some
hard. The employed members of the society make firm decisions and hope to be
promoted and acquire more experience and skills. Business people want to make
more revenue and hence larger profits before the year closes.Students too make
a resolve to study harder and score better grades than they had the last
academic years. The spiritual people will want to set aside more time for
quality, deeper and unwavered devotion to God. And no one is left behind. In
one way or the other weather consciously or unconsciously we made new
resolutions each year.
Perhaps the realization that we
have not lived up to the standard in the past year drives us to this. The very
thought of life being too short, is tormenting. We want to make most of the
time we have and so we set up limits for ourselves. We do not want to go
anything below these limits. So the imperfections that think are our shortcomings,
we make up of them by what we consider as the standards that are perfect. But we are in the cycle every year. We do this
every time. We make new resolution every year. We even revisit some of the past
year resolutions that we did not manage to achieve and make them this year’s
resolutions.
I am no different from everyone
who does this. In my room during the festivities season, I thought how I will
behave the new coming year 2015. Honestly speaking, I think almost every time I
have made up these New Year declaration, I have ended up miserably failing. And
so given these circumstances and after much soul searching, I have made up my
mind not really make fixed declaration that I must follow to the letter.
However this does not mean I will
have nothing to do this New Year.
So, What
will I pursue this year?Towards this, let me make this opening statement.I was
born and raised up in an African society. This simple fact has too much meaning
in my life. For one it tells you as a matter of fact, most but not all my
values and beliefs. But also as a boy and a first born brings with it more than
it appears on the surface. An African boy is taught to be strong. They are
taught not to cry. They should always appear strong even when they are hard
pressed by issues of life. Even when they face death, they are taught that this
time to prove their manhood by fighting to death.
But it’s not only this; they
should also learn to provide direction/leadership among girls and other society
members. Later they are taught to take responsibilities of providing, caring
for the family. And so I grew in such an environment where this kind of
knowledge was impacted to me daily. I lived under this doctrine. I cannot
complain that this is too bad. I appreciate this custom and culture I grew up
in. am proud of it.
As think of this year, I desire
to think, behave and act as this African boy. Throughout this year I wish to be
able to be identified with the values taught to me when I was young in my
village. I must make all effort to exhibit the values of courage, temperament
and be fixed in my goal.
We are made of “materials” that
can overcome failures. Like the African boy in whom life failures are not tolerated
unless they fight to the end so must we attempt to make our life better.
Whenever we step out in faith to go after success, we must remember that we
should use all strength within us to reach out for it. We must not withhold
even the slightest power we have within us in our pursuit for happiness in
life. We must explore all possible avenues to attain financial freedom. There
is nothing beyond the limit of human being except that which God has found
suitable to conceal from our knowledge and ability. Everything else that he has
revealed to us is achievable if we toil honoring him in the process.
We must find true joy in finding
solutions to what we face in life. We must not wait for others to fight our
battles especially those that concern us. They are our responsibilities. We
must lead the way and not complain when a hard things come our way and in the
society that we live in. African boys would do this everytime when a lion, bear
or a cheetah attacked the villages. They face it fearlessly. They would grab
its jaw and tear it. They would hold the bull by its horn until it was no more.
It was their moral duty to fight like genuine warriors who were ready to lose
their life protecting themselves and the society of all the dangers.
No matter the giants that you and
I face this New Year know for sure, you have all that it takes to overcome
them. You are better off than anyone else you will meet to give up pursuing
those dreams you want to achieve.Remember if you walk like you are defeated
then you will surely be perceived by everyone who you meet along the way
similarly as defeated. Walk like you know you can win. Talk like you can win.
But as we seek to be winners,
most times we are tempted to go and win and get all the glory and praise from
men. We want to live as tough we live for ourselves. But we must live because
we want to honor God with our lives. If we win we praise him. If we lose we praise
him.
Because living for ourselves to
win everything is too a small thing to live for. Life is beyond our winning and
losing. It’s more to faithfulness in whatever will be entrusted into our hands.
If we get an opportunity to lead,
then let’s be diligent like the African boy will do. To the weak we will come
across, let’s be kind enough to them. Along the way,let’s do the small acts of
compassion like the African society will encourage us. Let our hearts be moved
by the suffering and pain of our neighbors and whenever we can help them. But
again let’s build our lives. It’s what matters more to us. Personalities that
can prove our integrity,lives that we cannot ashamed of. Status that befits our
lives.
Cheers this is our year to talk
and walk like we are strong and winners. It’s an year to live the African way
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