The Sunday Mail
Ignorance is not bliss, it is death.
Everything that you do not know always looks threatening and confusing. Never give up because something is a mystery. Stay on course and keep challenging yourself to learn more and be more. Develop your story, change it to suit your vision. Do not change your vision to suit your story. To change your life, change your story.
It does not matter what you have been through, get through it and think differently. It does not matter what you are going through, if you keep pouting stories of complaints and bitterness, you will never change or grow.
The novel of a victim will never attract any buyers. Turn your life from a boring narration of events into a thriller of action. Refuse to die without any exploits. Choose to be an activist in life, not just a passive dumping ground of sorrows.
Story
Everyone has a story. Your life is a story and every story is a mystery. Watch your life’s story and be aware what story your life is telling. If you do not like your story, change it. If you are living someone’s story, pull off that highway and take the driver’s seat. You are not living a borrowed life, stop borrowing stories. When I grew up, I was fed a popular diet. The story ran like: read hard, stay away from mischief. Do nothing adventurous. When you are well read, you will get a good job, without much sweat. Just keep away from trouble you will retire as a successful parent.
The story was simplified, retold and told again. Alas, there were many pages that were missing in the reality of the story. This is because many have walked this story and they have been disappointed in the process. As many know, mere reading and accumulating certificates is not an end in itself.
Certificates alone are not the whole story, neither do they clear the whole mystery of life. Tame life, instead of it taming you into a toothless dog.
Your story could be a horror mystery, a chronicle of broken hope and frustrated dreams. You may be telling that story to whoever cares to listen. It could also easily be a story of abuse and suffering.
Whatever your story of today, refuse to park in the past. If you do not change your story, your life will never change. You may have a story of lack, not having money, being disappointed, cheated and whatever story you have. Decide to change your story. Divorce permanently your old story and marry a new story. Refuse to be stale news. Get fresh with life.
System
There is a social hypnosis that inducts everyone into negativity and impossibility. It even feels unnatural to be positive. Complaining is regarded as humility even when one has nothing to complain about. Doing the ordinary is the expectation and standard. Walking the popular road is regarded an achievement. Singing popular songs is the popular culture. Choose to balk the system, rebel against mediocrity and move to a new story. If you have no new story, you have expired. Refuse to be part of the negativity system.
Greatness is birthed by people who see a new story when everyone is still absorbed with the old and tired stories of yesterday. Greatness is birthed when you see opportunities and grab them before they are everyone’s staple of news. News is always history by the time it comes out. What new story are you writing?
Strategy
Going to war without intelligence and a strategy is committing suicide. Being a rebel without a cause is just mischief and time wasting. To change your story go beyond just hoping for change and complaining that things are not changing. Develop a strategy or game plan that you are willing to follow. Follow your strategy with the determination of a crusader. See what is working and what is not. If your strategy does not work, change the strategy. Your strategy makes your story traceable. If your strategy is working, keep refining it and doing more. If it is not working, stop being silly and doing what does not work and does not make sense.
Stumble
A popular story is the story of stumbling blocks, limitations and obstacles. Many people be-cry their limitations. Most stumbling blocks are mere excuses that those who would rather talk than do embrace with misdirected zeal. Refuse to let the story of your life be a one of excuses, excesses and threats. If you are facing a mountain, stop singing the blues at the foot of the mountain while spinning a story of self-pity.
Do not take out your tin-can and start singing songs of pity in the hope that someone will drop pennies into your can. Refuse to be a victim and your story to be one of self-pity. No one owes you a living and do not live life like you are begging to be here.
You are responsible for your life’s story. Unless you change your life’s story you will remain where you are. If you find a mountain in your path, choose to address the mountain and tell it your story until it hears. Challenge the mountain to move and give the mountain a forwarding destination. Never let an obstacle tempt you to change your life’s story. Do not just do things because they are easy. Do them because they are the right thing to do. Refuse to budge and be reduced by life into a miserable wimp. Refuse to feel pity for yourself. No one owes you a living and refuse to be dwarfed by your mountains and dispirited by your problems. Choose to trouble your troubles and confront your realities.
Serious
The unknown is a mystery. You can choose the path of mastery. Every wrong attempt discarded is a step forward and a rung up the experience curve. Every failure that you face is a feather on your cap. Get serious with life and stop playing “baby”.
When babies face any little pressure, they cry. When babies are faced with something they do not understand, they cry. When babies wet their nappies, they cry. When babies fall down, they cry. When babies are left alone, they cry. Such is life and so behave adult babies. Crying and seeking attention is great for babies, but nauseating for adults. Refuse to approach life with baby strategies.
Get serious, business is not for babies that are expecting everything to be done for them. No one is coming soon to tickle you or change your nappy. Take personal responsibility for your life’s story. Stop crying because you are facing pressure. Without pressure, you can never grow. Without challenge, you will never learn. Without sweat, work is never sweet. Get serious with your life’s story, you are the author and editor.
So what if you are disappointed. Stop licking your fingers and nursing your wounds doing nothing except reporting a story of bitterness, betrayal and disappointment. Use your disappointments as fuel. Turn your negatives into positives. Let your disappointments drive you to challenge your mysteries and start searching for new answers.
Let your disappointment be turned into a new drive for action. Sitting and waiting for what you do not control is being out of control. Disappointment, delay, defeat happen when you are going for greatness and thinking big. However, use disappointment to develop new strength and potential. Use it to break into new levels of thought. Get out of the comfort zone. Failure is just an event and has nothing to do with you as a person. Dust off shame, change your story and write it in a new way and present it in a new package.
Your problems are not unique and special but your vision is special and dear. Do not allow your problems to be the narrator of your life’s story. Let your vision speak up and speak loudly. You are born for greatness. You are destined for success. Stop living in shadows, come to the light and stand boldly on the stage of life.
Learn something new. Refuse to be stupefied by what you do not know and understand. Keep digging at it. Mystery today turns into mastery tomorrow if you are willing to learn daily, exercise frequently and keep on the move. Do not let anything stop you. Do not let anything derail you. Do not let despair, disappointment, delay, defeat, divorce, discouragement, disillusionment, distress, decomposition, domination, denial, dismissal, doom, devil, demon, dejection, destitution, debauchery, deflation, degeneration, depression, dolls, doubt, decay, depravity, desolation, disappearance, dissolution, dissent, dogs, discomfort or danger derail you from your story of greatness.
Whatever words you use to describe your misery and special circumstances, dump them and create a new story. Master your destiny and refuse to let life be a confusing mystery that you just watch passing by.
Milton Kamwendo is a cutting-edge international transformational and inspirational speaker, author and coach. He is a strategy and innovation consultant and leadership coach. His life purpose is to inspire people to release the greatness trapped in them. He can be reached at: [email protected] and on Whatsup at: 0772422634.
