In my former life as a teacher of English language and literature, I was always intrigued by the idiomatic expression: to take the bull by the horns.
Methinks it was coined by a man whose DNA rages with boiling blood. This desire to foolishly head into the path of a raging bull can only be as manly as one can get. Even the Spanish, whose bull fights are world renown, know better than to take the bull by the horns.
They wear it down by taunting it again and again and again. They spear it continuously. When it is bull tired and fed up with the whole spectacle of chasing after a piece of cloth with a red dot, it gathers all it's passionate energy and charges to meet its death.
The Spanish know that it is wiser to take the bull at its weakest point. If that idiomatic expression was coined by me, it would have read; hold the bull in the place where the sun does not shine. It is in that place that you will control the bull. It is also from that place that you will overcome any and all of those challenges that seem to be overwhelming you.
When you squeeze that place with all your might, your problems will yield to you. You will overcome and sing the tune that is known, by heart, by all those who surmounted seemingly insurmountable situations.
There is not a challenge on the face of this earth that does not have a weak spot. A spot where the sun does not shine. I guess that is why there is this expression in English: Every cloud has a silver lining.
Often times, we are right in the centre of the challenge. How it turns out will depend on how you perceive the challenge. Take the challenge of weight. The kind of weight gain that does not permit you to own your body.
There is an individual, whose name is known to only me. He was big. No! He was fat. He would buy trousers every other week. He had the kind of tyre extensions that are only normal if advertised by a tyre company . When his wife was pregnant, he was at the receiving end of bitter jokes.
One cool Sunday morning, on his way to church, he faced a huge challenge. There were four steps in front of him...1..2...3...4.. steps. Four steps that would get him to the church door. Four of the most agonizing steps that he had to take. He lifted one heavy foot after the other and had to sit his heavy body down on the fourth step.
His daughter then said the most innocent of things: " Daddy, you are just too fat, why don't you be like uncle Jim, our neighbor?"
That was the proverbial straw that broke this fat donkeys back. He took a hold of his health. In the silence of the night, he held onto the figure of fitness that was on his mind.
He cut out sugar from his diet. He threw out everything refined and discovered the beauty of organic foods. He made note of everything that he ate. He was determined to hold this bull in the place where the sun does not shine.
He signed up for his first 5km race. Then he run his first 10km race. Now he has fallen in love with fitness. Now his clothes fit him well. Now his eyes are set on the ultra marathon: the 89km comrades marathon...
No, there is nothing magical in what he did. He recognized the wisdom that issued out of his daughters mouth. He realized that only he had the power to turn his world around.
He decided in his mind and through action that this, his bull, had to be squeezed in that place where the sun will never shine.
Your life is in your hands.
Twitter:@ogogeo
Blog: www.gokot.blogspot.com
Monday, 13 August 2012
Thursday, 2 August 2012
The bums of an elephant
The Kikuyu, who birthed Ngugi wa Thiongo, have a fantastic saying that cements the value of unity: Turi hamwe ta matina ma Njogu'. In English it translates thus; "we are together like the bums of an elephant"
When I first heard it on a Saturday morning run with a wonderful group of fitness fanatics, I paused mid step and thought about the bums of an elephant. The more I thought about it, the more it did become clear that those bums are one unit. They are inseparable.
The world, I am sure would be different, if each individual behaved in a manner that was true to the pulsating echo of this Kikuyu saying. To perform to the maximum of our potential, it is imperative that we are in alignment with that which propels us forward.
Create, in your mind, a picture of an individual whose wall is littered with posters boasting of well sculptured human beings. Posted on his mirror is the affirmation; to be fit is to be fine. This means that every day that he is in the room and in front of the mirror, his mind is absorbing mind changing possibilities.
His behavior, on the other hand,is not aligned to his wishes. His body trembles at the sight of a huge cup of ice-cream. His body yields to common sense only when he has gulped it down and licked the side of the cup.
This individual will go out of his way to seek for fast foods.He will order for the largest pizza and wash it down with a large bottle of coke. He will then go home, slouch on the couch and dream away.
When he awakes from a fat inspired sleep, he will look at his wall and pray for the day that he can get a "killer body".
That individual in your minds eye, lacks the unity that is evident when you look at the bums of an elephant. He knows that being fit is a good thing. He knows that it is important to take care of the temple of God. He is aware of the life changing possibilities that come with having a super fit body. He just does not have the discipline to align his thinking to his behavior.
Many of us are not willing to suffer the rigorous discipline that goes into the practice of what we know in theory.
We may know how to read, but choose not to engage in the daily task of opening our minds to new and challenging ideas. This kind of behavior has given birth to the ridiculous assertion that if you want to hide anything from an African, detail it in a book.
We all know that complacency is the mother of all sorts of regret, but we still hold on to that same old job in the hope that it will give birth to a fresh perspective to life. It is Albert Einstein who reminded us that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a new result can only lead to insanity.
To be all that we can be, calls for each of us to dig deep into our reserves so as to come up with a bucket full of cement that will cement our thoughts, ideals, wishes, dreams and visions to the action that is required to actualize them.
When thought and deed are built into the foundation of that which we desire; when our ambition galvanizes us into action, we will come to the realization that unity is power.
When we have gathered the critical mass of anger and moved from the idle zone of inaction into the battle field of action, our thoughts and deeds will blend together like the bums of an elephant.
Kikuyu oyee!!!
Your life is in your hands.
Twitter:@ogogeo
Blog: www.gokot.blogspot.com
When I first heard it on a Saturday morning run with a wonderful group of fitness fanatics, I paused mid step and thought about the bums of an elephant. The more I thought about it, the more it did become clear that those bums are one unit. They are inseparable.
The world, I am sure would be different, if each individual behaved in a manner that was true to the pulsating echo of this Kikuyu saying. To perform to the maximum of our potential, it is imperative that we are in alignment with that which propels us forward.
Create, in your mind, a picture of an individual whose wall is littered with posters boasting of well sculptured human beings. Posted on his mirror is the affirmation; to be fit is to be fine. This means that every day that he is in the room and in front of the mirror, his mind is absorbing mind changing possibilities.
His behavior, on the other hand,is not aligned to his wishes. His body trembles at the sight of a huge cup of ice-cream. His body yields to common sense only when he has gulped it down and licked the side of the cup.
This individual will go out of his way to seek for fast foods.He will order for the largest pizza and wash it down with a large bottle of coke. He will then go home, slouch on the couch and dream away.
When he awakes from a fat inspired sleep, he will look at his wall and pray for the day that he can get a "killer body".
That individual in your minds eye, lacks the unity that is evident when you look at the bums of an elephant. He knows that being fit is a good thing. He knows that it is important to take care of the temple of God. He is aware of the life changing possibilities that come with having a super fit body. He just does not have the discipline to align his thinking to his behavior.
Many of us are not willing to suffer the rigorous discipline that goes into the practice of what we know in theory.
We may know how to read, but choose not to engage in the daily task of opening our minds to new and challenging ideas. This kind of behavior has given birth to the ridiculous assertion that if you want to hide anything from an African, detail it in a book.
We all know that complacency is the mother of all sorts of regret, but we still hold on to that same old job in the hope that it will give birth to a fresh perspective to life. It is Albert Einstein who reminded us that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a new result can only lead to insanity.
To be all that we can be, calls for each of us to dig deep into our reserves so as to come up with a bucket full of cement that will cement our thoughts, ideals, wishes, dreams and visions to the action that is required to actualize them.
When thought and deed are built into the foundation of that which we desire; when our ambition galvanizes us into action, we will come to the realization that unity is power.
When we have gathered the critical mass of anger and moved from the idle zone of inaction into the battle field of action, our thoughts and deeds will blend together like the bums of an elephant.
Kikuyu oyee!!!
Your life is in your hands.
Twitter:@ogogeo
Blog: www.gokot.blogspot.com
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