Man is architect of his own fate

15 Jan, 2017 - 00:01 0 Views
Man is architect of his own fate

The Sunday Mail

Ernest T. Marongedza, Form 4 St Augustine’s High Penhalonga —
Guess what? I’m succumbing to a quartet of diseases which comprises diligence, integrity, intelligence and dignity but don’t worry, they aren’t contagious.

That makes me and my mom unique. The reason being that every mother gave birth to a child except mine. She gave birth to a legend.

My sincere apologies for my misdemeanours, that wasn’t intellectual arrogance, provided you comprehended it so but I’m only taking pride in how far I have come and having faith in how far I‘ll go.

Hope you aren’t growing green with envy or becoming jealousy, which comes from counting other people’s blessings instead of counting yours because if you continuously compete with others you become bitter but if you continuously compete with yourself you become better.

The problem with the world is that the intelligent are full of doubts whereas the stupid are full of confidence. Do you agree?

Either side of the candle is worth the game. Many of us in this world are becoming victims of our own creation moreover worsening our burden through this fatal and latent disease which goes by the name of “stupidity”. What is stupidity? It is the deliberate cultivation of ignorance.

The reason why I regarded this disease as fatal and latent is because it has a great impact on one’s life and considering death into exemplification. When you are dead, you won’t know that you are dead, the same applies to stupidity. When you are stupid you‘ll never realize that you are stupid, thereby having this description dancing in accordance with the term “latent’ as I have alluded to before.

Ok let’s say you are a high school scholar. Yester-term you came home with unimpressive results from school due to a lacklustre performance which even made your parents throw cold facial looks onto your report book.

Adding injury to insult, you even knew the factors behind your failure which comprises lack of maximum effort and your deeds, for bad deeds bring bad results. Just to name but a few. However, if you do yet again the same thing next term, what do you expect people to call you? Food for thought….I can’t actually say you are stupid but maybe I’m supposed to regard you having bad luck when thinking. Hope you aren’t offended….. After all, you embark on a travelling spree to visit prophets in quest to know who bewitched you whilst you bewitched yourself.

That’s how stupidity goes like….It makes you repeat the same thing over and over again but expecting different results because you can’t solve a problem by using the same kind of thinking you used when you created it.

However everyone is a genius but if I am to judge a fish with its ability to climb a tree it‘ll live it’s the rest of its life believing it’s stupid. Don’t feel provoked because one has to be stupid first before becoming wise, the reason being that if you never taste a bad apple you would never appreciate a good apple. Sometimes we need to experience bitterness of life to understand the value of sweetness.

Be proud of yourself and stop wishing your life was different and live the one you have because it’s the only on you ‘ve got. When a plane flew past our homestead I could point at it wishing if i could be the one operating it but the air captain in it was also at the same time pointing downwards wishing if he could be the one lying on the green palatable pastures the same way I did, since then I have clearly understood the fact that pastures only seem to be greener on the other side of the fence but they aren’t. Be happy with what you have whilst working for what you want.

Life is the art of drawing without an eraser, therefore everything you do must be done to perfection.  Never let any chance go begging for you can’t bath the same water in a river twice or else you would have quenched failure’s thirst to exploit such a mistake in order to make its way into your life.

Yes of course the road to success is littered with pitfalls but you can never make a mistake twice because the second time you make it, it’s no longer a mistake but a choice. Be ready when opportunity comes because luck is when opportunity and preparation meet. Be optimistic and stay away from pessimistic people for they have a problem for every solution and bear it in mind that sooner or later those who win are those who think they can.

In order to succeed, your desire to succeed should be greater than your fear of failure. Destiny depends on the strength of your desires. If you cry at trouble, it grows double and if you laugh at trouble it disappears like bubble. Success isn’t a far-fetched dream. Keep struggling and just equip yourself with endurance, perseverance, determination and commitment.

With this ammunition, I promise you’ll never lose heart neither would you fall a victim to despondency nor despair. Hard and strong-willed struggle is bound to give good results. Justice maybe delayed but never denied and hard work always receives its reward. Suffer but don’t surrender for strong walls shake but never collapse. Misfortunes, if they come should be treated as test times.

They test your endurance, forbearance, fortitude and dusk always turns into dawn and always remember that the darkest hour is just before dawn. Fate and fortune are there but nothing is impossible to be achieved by a man of strong will. Success is the problem and failure is the formulae, you can’t solve the problem without having a good grasp of the formulae. True that there are turns of fortune and they determine our lives but efforts can change the direction of the wind.

We are continually faced with great opportunities which are brilliantly disguised as unsolvable problems, therefore you may be disappointed when you fall but doomed if you don’t try for the problem isn’t the problem, but the problem is your attitude towards your problem. I watched as my little sister, Kimberly, was learning how to walk.

She would waddle for a few steps then fall down and start laughing her lungs out. For a moment, it looked as if she would never walk but only time was to tell, for the greater test of our faith is our patience when we have nothing and our attitude when we have something.

Also in my lifetime came a day when the new school prefects were to be announced during our usual morning assembly. Out of all the boys from our cluster, only five were to be selected. As far as I was concerned, expectations were high on the 4th position but circumstances turned sour. It was meant for my best friend, Nyararisai.

As he made his way to the podium, one of my friends yelled ‘’Oh no” to me. Tears welled in my eyeballs and streamed down my cheeks in a melancholy way. As the exonerator was now calling out the last name, here came the golden era as she eloquently breathed out my name from her mouth. Simmering with excitement, I also made my way to the podium.

Since then I now have a good grasp of the fact that the word “NO” is just a mnemonic that means next opportunity. Every time you get a “no”, don’t give up or take it personally. It’s your dream not a popularity contest. Love the sound of the word “no” for every time you get a no, you are closer to a “yes” and always remember that delay doesn’t mean denial.

Once again it came a day when my dad approached me, held up an envelope, and said, “Sir, in my hand I hold a guaranteed formulae for success, which I‘ll gladly sell you for $25. “Sir”, I replied, “I do not know what is in the envelope but however if you show me, and I like it, I give you my word as a gentleman that I will pay you what you ask.” He agreed to the terms, and handed over the envelope. I opened it, and extracted a single sheet of paper and gave it one look, a mere glance, then handed the piece of paper back to him. And I paid him the agreed-upon $25, 00. Printed on the paper was the following information:

  1. Every morning, write a list of the things that need to be done that day.
  2. Do them.

Therefore, this scenario brings me to the conclusion that a goal without a plan is just a wish……..

The world is full of guys, be either a man or a lady because the problem with guys is that they never finish anything, they actually have black belts in partial arts. Don’t pay heed to those who yell out negative words to you for dogs bark to people whom they don’t know. People say and do things dancing in accordance to their own perspective.

Usually they can’t see the expanse of your vision and potential. Never allow anyone’s irresponsible comments obstruct you for speech is the gift of all but thought of a few. “Some people say that dreaming gets you nowhere in life. But I say you can’t get anywhere in life without dreaming.” However it should always pop up in your mind that dreams are only dreams until you wake up and ooze beads of perspiration to make them real.

Furthermore ships don’t sink because of the water around them but because of the water that gets in them, don’t let what is happening around you get into you and weigh you down. Never rely too much on someone because even your shadow leaves you when you are in darkness. I declare and decree more power to your elbow. And please don’t misunderstand the way God answers your prayers. I‘ll share with you a casual glimpse of how he answered mine.

I asked for strength and

God gave me difficulties to make me strong

I asked for wisdom and

God gave me problems to solve

I asked for prosperity and

God gave me brawn and brains to work

I asked for courage and

God gave me dangers to overcome

I asked for patience and

God placed me in situations where I was forced to wait

I asked for love and

God gave me troubled people to help

I asked for favours and

God gave me opportunities

I received nothing I wanted

I received everything I needed

MY PRAYER WAS ANSWERED

HAPPY 2017

Students, YOU CAN SEND YOUR ARTICLES THROUGH E-MAIL, FACEBOOK, WHATSAPP or TEXT Just app Charles Mushinga on 0772936678 or send your articles, pictures, poetry, art . . . to Charles Mushinga at [email protected] or [email protected] or follow Charles Mushinga on Facebook or @charlesmushinga on Twitter. You can also post articles to The Sunday Mail Bridge, PO Box 396, Harare or call 0772936678.

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