Embrace it...

There are certain words in the English language that conjure up vibrations of negativity in the human body.

'Disappointment' in one such word. It can cause a huge sensation that flows with such pessimism that many a people are known to have surrendered to its overwhelming and subjugating power.

In my secondary school days I was hit with the spotlight of disappointment that consumed my very being with negative sighs. If, by any chance, you find me smiling from ear to ear, that very spotlight is front and centre in my mind.

At the urging of my brother in law, I did, what up to that point, was unthinkable in my studies: I was among the top five in one of those countless exams that test ones ability to cram and regurgitate.

He threw the gauntlet at my table: Score highly and be among the top five in your end of year exam and I shall slaughter a cock in your honour.

The very thought of succulent chicken pieces invading my stomach, galvanised the whole of my brainpower in reading, appreciating, but most importantly, memorising aspects of the thirteen subjects that we had studied thus far.

I burnt the proverbial midnight oil and true to the biblical view that you reap what you sow, I performed very well and earned the third spot in the final exam. My face was gleaming in the shadow of the evening sun as I majestically trooped home with my immaculate report cradled on my arm. I patiently waited for him to return home. As soon as I sensed his foot steps in the compound, I rushed out, handed him the report and waited for the response.

He mumbled something to the effect that I had done well and that I should see him first thing the following morning. I was at his doorstep when he sauntered out of his room. I was elated when he instructed me to chase, capture and slaughter the biggest cock in the compound.

During the course of the day, as the aroma of pot-cooked chicken was wafting in the air, visitors began arriving. The laughter and loud merry- making in the living room loaded a cloud of suspicion over my thoughts. My brother –in- law spiced the cloud by avoiding eye contact with me when I went in to serve more drinks.

When lunch was served and all I got were pieces of chicken that are best forgotten, it hit me that the man who married my sister had duped me. I was enraged and infused with as much hot air that would fill up a thousand balloons. Seething with anger, I resolved not to speak to him again. I was a disappointed wreck, swimming in the pool of deceit.

With the sweet passing of time and the innocence that flows in the mind of any young human, I woke up to the realisation that I had undergone a lesson on the unpredictability of life: for as long as there is breath that issues from your lungs, you will be disappointed from time to time. It is key that we learn to adapt to the ebbs and flows of life.

It is a given that those around and about you will be the agents of schemes that will shock you to the core of your being. Not many people have control over what happens to them. On the other hand, we can all determine how to respond to what happens to us.

Given a choice between responding and reacting to a disappointing situation, I would be the first to respond with the calmness of Mother Theresa in the slums of Calcutta. When we nominate to respond to such a situation, we deny disappointment that sting that causes us to become unhinged. It will then become a friend that thrusts us forward.

It will become one of those sharpening knives that sooth's our rough edges. It will be the fire that burns out the burdensome dregs. It will be the laser beam that directs our negative energies and channels our desires through, over and around the roadblocks that keep appearing on our journey through life.

Disappointment is that fervour that can rouse the authentic you that is hidden in a heap of negativity. With an intensity that baffles the ordinary mind, disappointment can spur you beyond your wildest imagination.

Embrace it.

 

Waltz into 2014

I was born and bred to respect culture. It is on that basis that I spoke to my conscience the other day. I laid down a couple of things that I knew would make my conscience wiser, smatter, healthier, fitter and with a full blown potential to take on any and every challenge that this new year would toss at him.

Resolve to read. The plan is to read one book a month and that would amount to twelve books in a year. I urged my conscience to read one book every week of the year. With fifty-two books ticked off at the end of the year, my conscience and I would be fifty two times wiser. I cautioned him to choose books that are as uplifting as they are engaging.

 I alerted him to the danger of opening up the mind to energy sapping literature and those that generally appeal to the base nature of man. I spoke to him about the fertile nature of the mind and its ability to sponge off the good and the bad with equal ferocity.

Commit to a fitness-training schedule. I told my conscience to train like a professional athlete. I advised him to determine the fitness level he would want to achieve by the end of the year. We both agreed that he will work at being as fit as a fiddle with the agility of a nankasa dancer. I urged him to recognise and surpass any limits that have been spelt out by him and society.

Whereas the general rule is to exercise for thirty minutes a day, I reminded my conscience that he risked wallowing in cow dung if he chooses to stick with the herd. If it is going to be two hours of military like training every day, so be it. I echoed the words of Zig Ziglar; you do not pay the price of fitness, you enjoy the benefits of fitness.

Eat healthy. Do not commit slow suicide by eating and drinking industrially processed food. Your body is a first class machine, let alone the fact that it is the temple of God. Feed it well and it will serve you well. Whatever you eat and drink should go along way in enabling your body to be a partner in the perpetual and life long process of mining your full potential.

Pray. It matters not what you perceive God to be. It is key that you acknowledge the existence of a supreme being. It could very well be, I reminded my conscience, that that being is in your soul. Nurture your soul. Feed it by being morally upright. Know the difference between vice and virtue.

Consolidate your relationships, I pronounced.  Like a guided missile, seek out positive relationships that build and inspire you. Turn your blood relatives into your friends. That way you would have scored double and your bridge of relations will be that much stronger.

Laugh. Make sure that you laugh out loud and proud. Laugh without apology. Laugh. Your lungs will thank you and the years on your face will shimmer. Your heart will be glad that you permitted the child in you to live forever.

With those very few words, I empowered my conscience to waltz to the vivacious drums of the year 2014.