I was busy with travels all through last weekend and barely had time to think let alone write. But I promised to be more consistent with this series so I dug into my old email drafts. I wrote this short musing in 2006, saved it in my email and forgot about it. Here I am publishing it 16 years later. You can now understand the importance of having a notepad handy to put down your thoughts. It is because they can be fleeting. So write them down anyhow. You will have time to develop them later.
Life Of The Mind
It never ceases to amaze me what God’s creation can offer the discerning mind. You can be inspired through the littlest of things if only you can take your time to appreciate the enormity of God’s creativity.
As I was doing my daily workout one morning, I noticed a little caterpillar rolling a snail on the floor beside the soakaway. On a closer look, I realized it was not just playing with the snail but was actually trying to drag it across the bump on the soakaway probably to its abode of which I had no idea where it was located. Its sheer determination was thrilling to watch and as I did just that, it became clear to me that the little creature had awakened this morning with a set target; Procure food for the day!
I then began to wonder if I had set my own target for the day, which brings me to the lesson I would like to share with you today.
In our busy lives, how many of us have bothered to set daily targets? How many have even set goals for our lifetime? How many have written something down, made plans and set out to achieve that? Your guess is as good as mine. Many of us have continued to carry on in life believing that God in his magnanimity will miraculously solve all our problems someday. No, my dear friend, it doesn’t work that way. The wise king Solomon put it this way “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of arms and poverty will come upon you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man”~ Proverbs 24:33–34. We have to work hard to achieve success in life, my mentor Chief Enekwe will say “The only way is the hard way”. There are no two ways about it, the earlier we realize this, the better for us. It is an age-long tradition and principle, it is right in our faces and there is nothing we can do to change it.
Goal setting can be easy yet really difficult. Unless you have a sober period when you can relax, think and set reasonable goals and objectives, you can never get around to achieving much. Success has been defined as the gradual realization of worthwhile goals and objectives through careful planning and consistent hard work. Obstacles are bound to be on the way but that is God’s way of strengthening us as we go through this journey called life.
Failures will equally be on the schedule but we must endeavour to rise and try again and again and again. That is why it is proper to set definite goals, write them down and then plan on how to achieve them. The beauty of gold is unparalleled yet it went through severe temperatures during its refining and purification. The problems that come along can be likened to the processing of gold, it will only test but cannot stop you, if you fail, try doing it again in a different way. It will just be a matter of time before you succeed.
We have to put down our daily, weekly, monthly and yearly targets. That way we can create a routine to work towards achieving them. In the end, we can take stock and analyze the positives and negatives. It will help us strategize and pick up from where we stopped. It will seem difficult initially but as we progress we will see that some of these things will work out according to God’s plan (now that’s what I call a miracle). God will supply all your needs according to his glorious richness in Christ Jesus. Phil.4:19.
Have you for once noticed that those sober periods when you are alone reading, writing, praying or even watching a good movie can be more fulfilling than when you are out clubbing, drinking or having fun as we call it?
Think about it and you will realize it is very true. Practically you lose more when you are out having fun, it costs money and energy. It is also time-consuming. Time is one thing we should resolve not to lose, you can recover lost money or energy but you can never recover lost time. Time is not under our control.
We have a specific number of years known only to God, that is why we have to strive to put aside a period in our daily lives when we can be alone, sober and sound. Let it be immediately after sleep, it doesn’t matter the time of the day but early mornings are preferable because of the tranquillity of the period and of course, your brain is free from clutter. During these periods try to be at peace with yourself and God, pray, meditate, think and also jot down all thoughts that flash through your brain. You will subsequently assemble these thoughts into solid goals which will crystallize into achievements through planning and hard work.
I have come to discover that the resources left at my disposal by the almighty God far surmount the challenges that come to me. You just have to put Him first and then look inward a little more to discover the boundless warehouse of positives that is just a breath away. It pays to sleep over our worries and wake up fresh with the worries left behind in dreamland. With a fresh mind, we can then pray and put every activity before God. As I read in Our Daily Bread some time ago, PRAY AS IF ALL DEPENDS ON GOD, THEN WORK AS IF ALL DEPENDS ON YOU. With this attitude, you can never go wrong. Life is simple when we make it simple. How do we make it simple? I say allocate more time to yourself, you will witness genuine awakening and positive rediscovery. You will be amazed at your latent talents. And when you tap into it with God’s directions the rapture will flow all around you.
Next, we will discuss “Act” to conclude with our 4 As. Till then, let’s use the week to think about the importance of goal setting and committing the same to the Supreme Being.
