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.