ARE WE READY…?

“I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind; some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I have brought a big bat. I’m all ready, you see; now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!”…Dr. Seuss

Head-on

Where do we start from to describe or reiterate the countless instances that are proof that the troubles we face, by challenging us bring out the best in us, making success sweet and our triumph glorious?

Well, it’s pretty much a new age, and squaring up with your problems head-on has quite taken a new dimension far away from the stereotyped frontier, more like trickled down case studies of our forefathers coupled with the power of the knowledge of principles and emotional intelligence, thus, of course, reasonable optimism which some just call hope.

Facing our troubles in this relatively new age has never been easier as we are now more aware of multi-tasking, problem solving, leverage and so much more creativity and strategy to make an impact and mark upon the Earth.

 We have perhaps aside during the time of war of weapons never been this fearless even when now there is greater threat and more to be wary of. Yes we have made mistakes and challenges also lay ahead, our courage, knowledge, synergy, faith in God and power of will has given us confidence to march forward with graceful strides thrust upon our gaits.

“There are two things we should always be, Raw and Ready. When you are raw, you are always ready and when you are ready, you usually realize that you are raw. Waiting for perfection is not the answer, one cannot say ‘I will be ready when I’m perfect’ because then you’ll never be ready, rather one must say ‘I am raw and I am ready just like this right now, how and who I am”…C. Joybell. C

Perfection

The first time my dad told me never to rely on luck, I didn’t quite get it, perhaps then I was too young to understand. He constantly emphasized the imperatives of persistent hard work, and of course coupled with heart which translates to emotional intelligence and also spiced with a little sense of humour, which, to me is brewed by positive mental attitude.

Moving forward, we all are obsessed with getting it all right, even at the first time, but a school of thought teaches us that perfection is a mirage, and no human is actually perfect, only God is.

I love music, you probably do too. Some love Blues, some Jazz, others are obsessed with soul, reggae, then rap, calypso, juju, fuji and not to make little.

“The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience”…Emily Dickinson

 The point here is most if not all of these successful musicians passed through hard times honing their crafts and talent before they were able to earn the attention, admiration and love of fans that have appreciated their rhythm and content for different purposes such as fantasy, entertainment, enlightenment or even projects such as movie soundtracks, major events or even for school education. Of the entire song genres, you would most surely have your preference and probably dislike the rest, you may even have a singular use of a particular song or genre to portray a message not minding or not having a need to bother if it is an interesting or a sorrowful song. By implication, nothing is perfect, not even that number one song on the billboard, the unsung song may be the one that will open up the gates of inspiration in your mind, giving a clue to solving national crisis or easing a major world issue.

“If you have a dream, you can spend a lifetime studying, planning and waiting for it. What you should be doing is getting started”…Drew Houston

Just do it

We all need exercise to stay healthy right? It gets better when you get better to the extent where you step up your game by observing your exercise in style, that is where high end fitness brand Nike comes to the scene. Nike has the reputation of providing quality apparel, and they have over the years been innovative enough to take fitness to the next level by inspiring people to live healthier lifestyles and also adding the wakeup call of ‘just do it’ as a motivation which positively affects our lives in general as well.

Procrastination they say is a thief of time, so if you have enough enthusiasm to make things happen in a jiffy, I’d say that is a great option we cannot afford to throw away.

“To be prepared is half the victory”…Miguel De Cervantes

A school of thought tells us that life is perfect, it might as well mean that life is whatever we make of it, and nothing is impossible. We earthlings constantly face troubles every now and then either big or small, problems ranging from economic meltdown to natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis. With the world and age we currently live in however, our increase in knowledge, experience, and faith has helped us develop awareness to reality and the imperatives of getting prepared for whatever the world has to offer us, allowing us appreciate the importance of leadership and planning.

“For all days be prepared, and meet them ever alike. When you are the anvil, bear. When you are the hammer, strike”…Edwin Markham

Not a choice

My former boss and renowned Estate Surveyor and valuer Charles Adebiyi of blessed memory used to boldly say and even reiterate the following words carefully ‘Be innovative or die’. Wow! It was of course as scary as hell, but it has always been a bitter truth, we don’t have a choice but to keep moving forward, even if we are failing. Although no one actually sets out to fail, else technically it would be a total waste of time, but being ready makes a whole lot of difference as it enables you to plan and even do the relevant research.

“I can’t change the past, but that doesn’t mean I can’t learn from it. I can’t the future, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be ready for it”…Kenneth de Guzman

Where we presently are is as a result of the multiple mistakes that we have graciously made. We have become wiser through the advent of wars, accidents and natural disasters. This is where attitude comes to play, our disposition to life and what it throws at us determines what we’ll do with our future if at all our actions help us to continually live.

“When the student is ready the teacher will appear. When the student is really ready, the teacher will disappear”…Lao Tzu

The Future

Staggering statistics from the world over as regards avoidable deaths, hunger, recession and terrorism h constantly leaves us to become united in fear, insecurity and apprehension for the future.

There is a sharp increase in lots of diseases such as cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, AIDs and so much more even newer diseases being discovered each day which are majorly as a result of our poor lifestyles crammed up with complicated, unhealthy and artificial high calorie foods and yet we destructively criticize obesity and stigmatize diseases that we caused by mortgaging our health and future for the bottom line of fortune 500 companies.

I hate to be a prophet of doom, but with the current trends and the direction which our present generation is heading towards, trends such as racism, homosexuality, terrorism, corruption, lust, and discontent, there is bound to be increase in self-inflicted diseases and curses without us seeing that the cause is directly underneath our very nose, literally.

I don’t think we should be scared of the possibility of a gigantic asteroid crushing planet off the space radar; rather we should be concerned with our selfish and careless actions that are about to put us in a self-destruct state.

So ask yourself truthfully, are you ready for whatever is coming?

Thank you.

Akin Abimbola (akinzogee@yahoo.com)

Sources:

Google

Brainy Quotes

Good reads

Wikipedia

Cnn

Punch Nigeria

Time