14: Stick to your stones
Guys, I hope you had a great month. I was able to give birth to a three year pregnancy, finally getting a book I wrote during NYSC printed. It’s been a while coming but that’s a story for another day. I hope to have a formal book launch and I will be inviting you all to come, with or without your cheque books, preferable the former! Have a chew on this thought for the month. Stay blessed.
Stick to your stones
I once spoke to a friend’s younger sister about an examination she was preparing for. It was either TOEFL or SAT because she was wanted to go schooling in the United States.
A key requirement of the examination was an ability to write very good essays on subjects of your choice.
She was at a loss on what to write and asked me for help. I then proceeded to tell her to write on her experience of growing up without a father because their parents were separated. She was very puzzled about my suggestion and asked my reasons for that topic.
As I understood it, such a life experience is always a very emotional one and is usually laced with sparks of passion that cannot be duplicated by writing about some fictional occurrence. You see, I lectured with all the wisdom of a wannabe Sage; whatever sparks your emotions gets noticed and has more impact on any audience.
I have noticed that the songs that stir the most, the books that melt the hearts, the speeches that win the election are the passionate ones. Not only must they be passionate, they must have a spark of authenticity that will set them apart. Mere headwork will not suffice; mere gimmickry cannot substitute the power of an authentic and passionate slice of your life being experienced in your contribution to your world.
One time presidential candidate in the US, Al Gore is a passionate defender of the Environment. Yet he made the very costly mistake of listening to his consultants who told him to avoid focusing on the environment during his campaign and speeches. They gave him a list of ‘safe’ topics they had analyzed from several polls of the electorate. The fact of the matter was that he wasn’t passionate about any of those issues!
He ended up looking stiff and unsure throughout the campaign period because he went to war with borrowed armor, armor he hadn’t tested before, weapons he didn’t know how to fight with. That wasn’t the only reason he lost the election but I’m sure it formed a major reason why he lost.
Real leadership doesn’t sample what is d best thing to say from the crowd and then say it. Real leadership goes to its heartfelt core and uses what it knows to be true and convinces those who follow.
It was with such boldness of heart that David rejected the armor of Saul as he approached battle with Goliath, he stuck to the stones he was used to. They had never failed him and they didn’t fail him on that day.
In a world that demands conformity, it is essential that we stick to what makes us unique and authentic, that which brings out the passion that propels us to significance. Your uniqueness is all you’ve really got to offer.
Everyday I pray to find more stones to add to my pouch, my authentic stones will not let me down. Yours won’t either. Go on, go get your stones! Peace.
5 Comments:
That was brilliant Idiareno.
Its interesting that in the present world we live, the gospel of the day is Individualism with the supporting commandments, Love Thyself, Be Thyself, Treat Thyself, For thyself, Only Thyself and Be a god onto Thyself
Yet Individualism gives rise to Clones. Everyone is individually the same. Wonder why brands have such an effect on the psyche and the supposed dearth of true leadership?….
Anyway back to your unique stones….
Being unique not only means we are different but it also invariably means we need each other and God because we are not enough for ourselves. That’s humility.
Then there is the fact that there will be never another like you and me. I take Pride in that.
I agree with Bridget that this peice is brilliant...
One truth is, no matter how much we try to avoid it, everyone is selfish, and its the selfishness of one that drives us to serve others and then the rest of humanity/nature...
I believe that one should pride one in oneself, but then there is a boundary to that. One can only share the love for self to others only when One is completly overwhelmed with love for oneself, hence the teaching, love thy neighbour as thyself (which invariable could be the most difficult task anyone could ever attempt).
bigups Idiareno!!! nothing can sell more juice than selfishness, and nothing can serve more love either... for the path to selflessness lies the bridge of selfishness...
Being Unique is the one selfish thing we all should be proud of...
I usually dont do this but felt i should contribute one or two things
does this amaze you?
-ish
suffix
Of, relating to, or being: Swedish.
Characteristic of: girlish.
Having the usually undesirable qualities of: childish.
Approximately; somewhat: greenish.
Tending toward; preoccupied with: selfish.
So when the word SELF-ISH comes into the context of the above dictionary definations, it could either be one of these
1. of relating to SELF or being SELF
2. Characteristic of SELF
3. Having the usually undesirable qualities of SELF
4. Approximately or somewhat SELF
5. Tending toward SELF or preoccupied with SELF
Unfortunately, everything in life is ironically full of bilateral stakes - which outweighs the other is usually the question we live to answer. Food is good and bad - the diabolic side surfaces only when we take sides with abuse. Love (outside God's perspective) could even be that way (have you not noticed how our parents can love us to a point of fault -they actually think they do love us and they actually do). Amusingly, Cocaine is a drug that is highly suited for good ends. Abuse it and it becomes ones greatest nightmare. Power in the hands of leaders in good itself but when they come to play with it then things always go otherwise most of the time. Anger is bad in itself but it can be channelled toward good ends. maybe you might have heard about holy angers or even in contemporary terms, angers with the imperials that be which in turn led to the independence of many nations from thier colonial masters. Knives or guns or nuclear technology as bad and dangerous as the stereotypes, our minds have come to accept, may be could still be put to useful ends when we choose to.
So a question comes to me? How come things that are normally on one side of the bilateral stake come to take another form when WE step in?. Could it be that the will and power to change destinies and events lie simply with us? if it does, then SELF or me or you or us is something we out to relate with out of conscious reverence and respect.
from our definations above, 1,2 and 4 may be what i think the writers and commentators may be trying to push out to our faces, being SELF or characteristic of SELF or somewhat SELF. David with his stones epitomised that at the battle. He was just being himSELF (characteristic of him) no one else and nothing else. He was being David fighting the bear or the lion or trying to do something to save the day as with either sheep or man - no more, no else. He was not trying to peddle with definitions 3 and 5, which of cause is the most relate-able definitions of the word SELFish.
Pause for a second, David knew there was a sweeptake with the outcome of the battle - the kings daughter and obviously a life of fame,maybe, but then i really do not think that was his preoccupation. He was more bothered about the nation as a whole (in short, others) and the fact that one man, one man and just one man could challenge a nation and nobody was willing to do anything about it when GOD was even with the nation under attack.
Preoccupations with self (or selfishness) is not really the issue. It may even be good atimes -at least it comes across to your observers as ambition but as earlier established, where we go with everything in life is usually the bane of this matter.
It tends to disintegrate into the definitions that reads Having the usually undesirable qualities . No normal thinking person wants to get here but somehow we just find ourselves there. Who is to blame? SELF (if we are willing to take that responsiblity). We just allow ourselves to slip so bad that we forget what are stones are for and rather than use them to bring Goliath down, we become another Goliath bringing others down with our stones and most of the time, rather ignorantly.
Selfishness is neither good nor is it bad - It is simply an odourless fragrance.Like most things in life, it only assumes the character of the one who showcases it to everyone and what we can say of it is only unique to the one who has chosen to give it off from his or her SELF.
So simply put, Stick to your stones and watch out for yourself that you dont go before your stones.
peace and God bless.
I usually dont do this but felt i should contribute one or two things
does this amaze you?
-ish
suffix
Of, relating to, or being: Swedish.
Characteristic of: girlish.
Having the usually undesirable qualities of: childish.
Approximately; somewhat: greenish.
Tending toward; preoccupied with: selfish.
So when the word SELF-ISH comes into the context of the above dictionary definations, it could either be one of these
1. of relating to SELF or being SELF
2. Characteristic of SELF
3. Having the usually undesirable qualities of SELF
4. Approximately or somewhat SELF
5. Tending toward SELF or preoccupied with SELF
Unfortunately, everything in life is ironically full of bilateral stakes - which outweighs the other is usually the question we live to answer. Food is good and bad - the diabolic side surfaces only when we take sides with abuse. Love (outside God's perspective) could even be that way (have you not noticed how our parents can love us to a point of fault -they actually think they do love us and they actually do). Amusingly, Cocaine is a drug that is highly suited for good ends. Abuse it and it becomes ones greatest nightmare. Power in the hands of leaders in good itself but when they come to play with it then things always go otherwise most of the time. Anger is bad in itself but it can be channelled toward good ends. maybe you might have heard about holy angers or even in contemporary terms, angers with the imperials that be which in turn led to the independence of many nations from thier colonial masters. Knives or guns or nuclear technology as bad and dangerous as the stereotypes, our minds have come to accept, may be could still be put to useful ends when we choose to.
So a question comes to me? How come things that are normally on one side of the bilateral stake come to take another form when WE step in?. Could it be that the will and power to change destinies and events lie simply with us? if it does, then SELF or me or you or us is something we out to relate with out of conscious reverence and respect.
from our definations above, 1,2 and 4 may be what i think the writers and commentators may be trying to push out to our faces, being SELF or characteristic of SELF or somewhat SELF. David with his stones epitomised that at the battle. He was just being himSELF (characteristic of him) no one else and nothing else. He was being David fighting the bear or the lion or trying to do something to save the day as with either sheep or man - no more, no else. He was not trying to peddle with definitions 3 and 5, which of cause is the most relate-able definitions of the word SELFish.
Pause for a second, David knew there was a sweeptake with the outcome of the battle - the kings daughter and obviously a life of fame,maybe, but then i really do not think that was his preoccupation. He was more bothered about the nation as a whole (in short, others) and the fact that one man, one man and just one man could challenge a nation and nobody was willing to do anything about it when GOD was even with the nation under attack.
Preoccupations with self (or selfishness) is not really the issue. It may even be good atimes -at least it comes across to your observers as ambition but as earlier established, where we go with everything in life is usually the bane of this matter.
It tends to disintegrate into the definitions that reads Having the usually undesirable qualities . No normal thinking person wants to get here but somehow we just find ourselves there. Who is to blame? SELF (if we are willing to take that responsiblity). We just allow ourselves to slip so bad that we forget what are stones are for and rather than use them to bring Goliath down, we become another Goliath bringing others down with our stones and most of the time, rather ignorantly.
Selfishness is neither good nor is it bad - It is simply an odourless fragrance.Like most things in life, it only assumes the character of the one who showcases it to everyone and what we can say of it is only unique to the one who has chosen to give it off from his or her SELF.
So simply put, Stick to your stones and watch out for yourself that you dont go before your stones.
peace and God bless.
I love reading things or materials that will take me to another level, I saw your blog ling on your facebook and I got hooked until I almost finish all your writeup you are a change maker..... please continue the good work. Thanks
Igbekele Tope
www.sediworld.org
07030618506
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