The Nature of Purpose and Vision

Purpose and vision are two simple concepts that profoundly excites a high level of interest in the hearts of every man because, some way or the other, how rich one’s life and lifestyle turns out depends largely on a firm grasp of these concepts—not necessarily in terms of a fine-sounding definition of them but in terms of having a life and a drive that bespeaks an understanding of the concepts. There are people with heads full of nice definitions of Purpose, Vision and many other nice concepts, mostly gleaned from perhaps great books, but whose approaches to life evince very little of this knowledge. On the other hand, there are some others in history and even in our present society who have accomplished great things for God and mankind in line with their purpose without necessarily putting together any set of fine vocabularies to give definitions to these concepts at any time.  Hence, the aim of this write-up isn’t essentially to establish universal, grammatical or dictionary definitions of these subjects, but rather to express them in simple enough terms such that their application to life becomes very simple and effective. Do not therefore be turned off by any disparity in the definitions from what you must have read from perhaps any renown writer or author. Fix your attention on the content of the message and be blessed as you read. If you have not read my previous post on “The Search for Purpose” I recommend you do before proceeding. It would set the pace and give you a context within which you read this post while supplying the hunger and enthusiasm you need to really grasp these concepts.

What is Purpose?

The purpose of a thing is simply the reason behind the existence of a thing. In the same way, your purpose in life is the reason behind your existence; the “why” behind your being. Until  you find this out, you are merely existing, but not really living. You cannot be independently responsible for deciding what your unique purpose is (apart from God) any more than a product can decide the reason for which it was manufactured apart from the manufacturer. In other words, purpose isn’t something you cook up all by yourself. Rather, it is determined by the Creator of all things—God. The part you play is discovering it and running with a vision that directly shoots out from it. So when you genuinely recognize the reason why you are on this earth, then you’ve found your purpose. It could start out being as broad as realizing that you live to meet the needs of others, to help people with your resources, to be a solution to the problems of many. It is very important at this junction to point out that discovering your distinct purpose (vision) won’t happen overnight. It isn’t a quick-fix thing. It’s the reason many give up or would rather not want to bother themselves with searching it out at all, and instead engage themselves in many distracting frivolities and indulgence that require little or no effort on their part. It takes time and patience, like everything of long-lasting or permanent value that you may know of. But the excitement, the constant sense of fulfilment and the eternal reward that ultimately results from finding it and running with it makes our unrelenting search for it worthwhile. So like aforesaid, it usually starts very broad and not so distinct, but over time—usually with an intentional pursuit—it narrows down until a unique and vivid vision proceeds from the discovery.

Lack of Purpose breeds degeneration…

Life has been designed such that the vigour with which something exists depends on whether or not it is fulfilling the purpose for which it was made. Leave a house uninhabited for a considerable length of time and watch its parts falling off in no time and the whole building starting to collapse in far less time than the expected “shelf life.” It is bespoken by machines, like cars, left unused for a significant length of time as they do not just exactly remain in the functional state they were before being abandoned—many require servicing before they become usable again. It is not any different with humans. Where there is no vision, the Bible says, my people perish. Where there is lack of a picture of what we are working at or aiming at, people undergo degeneration in the form of indulgence, depravity, and all sort of ungodly and sensual things. All this result in consistent sense of a hunger on the inside needing to be satisfied, and unending dissatisfaction. Walking in purpose is the only guarantor of a genuinely fulfilled life.

God’s purpose for man…

The primary purpose of God for man is for personal fellowship with Him and by so doing, He communicates His dominion nature into the physical realm in the form of glorifying good works. Hence, the purpose of God for man can be broadly classified as: 1. Personal fellowship, and 2. Good works. This is the reason why a newly saved person could experience so much joy immediately after salvation. This joy could become so intensified as he engages in spiritual devotions like praying and studying the word. It’s because he has just been introduced into a new life that enables him to engage his purpose in life. However, he soon notices this joyful state to start waning if he stops at this point of receiving the life and merely fellowshipping in His presence. Enthusiasm for praying and reading or studying the word may start to fade also. This is an indication to step into the next role unto which we have been created in Christ—good works. Living with these two perspectives of purpose in view turns loose an endless stream of joy, fulfilment and enthusiasm to stay and fellowship in His presence.

Different between purpose and vision…

However, there are many good works on earth. And no single person has been born to do them all. In fact, if you chose to go about doing all good works or meeting all needs that exist around, you will soon wear yourself down—you will soon die! In other words, God has so designed life in a way that different persons have been configured to meet different specific needs. These are what constitute the unique purpose of each person on earth. Two persons may have similar purposes, but differ in the specific ways in which they fulfil them. A man may for example find out that his purpose is to actively or directly harvest souls for the Kingdom. Another may have similar purpose, but the specific way they will go about accomplishing it will be different—as evangelist, pastor, apostle, or prophet. A purpose is therefore a broad definition of why a person is living. While a vision, which is sometimes referred to as unique purpose in this article, is a vivid or specific picture of what one is to accomplished in furtherance of this purpose. John Ehoche, for example, has found purpose immediately he realized he has been born to help restore sanity to our society. I personally have the same purpose. Olanrewaju Seun Bayonle has the same purpose. Olabisi Olasunbola has similar purpose. But the ways we individually go about them are unique. While John Ehoche’s picture of how to accomplish this is by reaching out to children 10 years old and below, and pregnant women, meeting their basic needs and changing their orientation at an early stage through a platform he founded, JohnGreat Foundation (JGF), with the vision, “to save, educate, and train the child”; Olanrewaju Bayonle Titus on his own part accomplishes similar purpose by reaching out to young people in schools and churches with the vision “giving people advantage in life and destiny” through the platform Leverage Hub, changing their orientations by showing them God’s perspectives to personal growth, societal values and development. In my own case, I founded a leadership organization—LeadIgnite Network International(LINI) with the vision “to be a platform for raising men and women who are devoted to exploiting their gifts, skills and talents for invading the various systems of the world with the values, influence, and light of the Kingdom of God in Leadership, Innovation and Intervention.”  So the point is that purpose might be so broad that it could be peculiar to many people, but vision carves out a niche for you as it defines the specifics of what exactly you want to accomplish which, together with those of other persons in diverse places, will result in the promotion of the Kingdom course—adorning the message of Christ by demonstrating God’s will for mankind, thereby winning men over from the power of darkness into the Kingdom of light. To be continued…

The realities of Adulthood (1)

Denial of the realities…

Some time ago I had a strong vexation in my within that lasted over weeks, for reasons so hard for me to really pinpoint. I’d intermittently felt inconvenienced from within before then. I’d felt so disinterested and indifferent towards many activities and things I normally really enjoy—reading and thinking, and impactful conversation. Reading of Scriptures and prayers too had been irregular and infrequent, making the whole thing more complicated. I tried to ask myself what the problem could be, but found out there isn’t really any physical cause obvious enough to be seen. But upon a deeper thought, I realized that a bulk of these challenges proceeded from my not acknowledging enough the realities that surround me as the demands of adulthood come surfacing.

I seemed to want to be free to go anywhere, do anything, avoiding every task that might require accountability and responsibility from me; but it all was like denying my status as an adult and wanting to still keep enjoying the “comfortable and stressless” free life of a child. The child is not only dependent on others but also thinks only in terms of what he and he alone wants, what he feels, or what brings pleasure, while as much as possible avoiding any tendency to want to be inconvenienced for whatever course however pertinent—“just let me have my fun” is the major voice or watchword of the child. Every attempt to wish for or put on any bit of this kind of life, instead of affording me a genuine sense of freedom, only ended up getting me into being busier in dealing with the inner inconvenience and emptiness that resulted from this attempt.

The inherent sense of the need to put away childish things…

Accompanying adulthood is the need to be responsible and accountable for certain tasks or people, and also shedding off certain scales of involvement in some things that might not be really expedient. This need is not optional; it is inherently built in there by the Creator. And the best we can do is learning and giving the right response to the call. To attempt doing otherwise is intentionally resolving to cause anarchy on our inside, for nothing else would be able to make up for it. As adulthood approaches, one’s specific purpose (vision) in life starts to unravel, and this implies definiteness and specificity in the kinds of things or events one gets involved in. The childhood and adolescent stages are periods meant for trying out many things and testing many waters, all in search of meaning or what really matters. And when one finds out one’s unique course in life as adulthood comes knocking, one should be ready to put away “childish things”. Carrying on that childish mentality of “freedom to do all” into adulthood would result in many abnormalities and dysfunctions that apparently mar our societal values, and it’s a major bane of our polity—ranging from spoilt children to broken homes. A married man, for example, should get acquainted with the reality of a married life, learn to maximize the enjoyment and bliss in the conjugal life instead of wishing for the “freedom” of the bachelor life. The same should be true of every woman who desires a peaceful home with long-lasting happiness and atmosphere of love. How free would we really be from stress and anxiety, and how much peace of mind would we have if we could realize this truth early and consciously choose to respond appropriately based of certain immutable principles of life!

Pointers to the onset of adulthood…

I have come to realize that a pointer to this reality starts attempting to express itself early in the life of an adult who tries to disregard its existence. It could express itself via dissatisfaction and even discomfort from things that normally gratified one as a child or adolescent. This inner pointer, as it were, is meant to prevent the more serious consequences of neglecting this reality that could surface later in life—for instance during marriage, at work, in one’s ministry, etc. When it starts getting stronger and stronger over time, then it’s time to take up the cloak of adulthood. It’s time to answer some crucial questions about what life truly is about; and then live out the answers we find. However, people who disobey this pointer by constantly violating it, rather than responding to it appropriately, soon get the repercussive bash of disobeying a fundamental life principle—lack of inner sense of balance, complications and various distortions in other crucial aspects of one’s life. On the other hand, recognizing this pointer quickly enough and adjusting one’s life appropriately could save anyone of endless regrets, especially at old age, and delivering into one’s hands the satisfaction and sense of fulfilment that results from adhering to genuine life principles.

I put away childish things… 

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, simply because I thought like a child. I also acted like a child. But when I became an adult, I had no other option but to put away childish things.

The Search for Purpose

The indisputable reality…

            The search for purpose is at the core of every man’s heart. It is a hunger put inside everyone by the Creator to serve as a guide that lifts us towards the course of life that brings maximum satisfaction, fulfilment, and sense of significance—as every man so desires. It is a thirst so intense that nothing else can satisfy besides patiently searching out for it, finding it, and then running with a vision that shoots out of its discovery.

It is a desire that has been the major drive behind the best of inventions we have known; the greatest, most passionate and courageous freedom movements spare-headed by great leaders in history were products of this search. It was what prompted the likes of Apostle Paul to be bent on affording the Gentiles spiritual freedom at all cost; the same thing that was the impetus within Martin Luther to initiate the Reformation, the same fire burning within Martin Luther King Jr. who faced terrifying threats, even till death, just to see his fellow black race physically and mentally free from the oppressions of fellow men. However, interestingly, it is also this same search that birthed some of the most ruinous attempts and acts in history—the 9/11 saga by Osama bin Laden, and the Nazi’s rule of Adolf Hitler are two examples of such. All these people were searching for the sense of significance that genuinely comes only from a true understanding of the concept and principle of purpose. A faulty understanding of this could be dangerous: Hitler and Osama are obvious proofs to this! “When the use of something is unknown”, they say, “ then abuse is inevitable”.

God’s Real intent…

Living a life of significance has been God’s idea from creation. It has been his desire that everyone would discover their unique God-given purpose and then run through life with a unique vision, thereby deriving their sense of fulfilment from having accomplished his purpose through Him. Like aforementioned, until a man finds out his purpose, that is the “why” behind his existence, nothing else will consistently satisfy. Moreover, any attempt to go ahead and discover it or run with a vision apart from the One who placed the content on our inside would only at best result in an underutilized potential, distorted fulfilment, and bad success (a success at the expense of something of equal or more importance in one’s life), and at worst, deeper and deeper sinking into a life of indulgence, depravity, or frank wickedness resulting from an attempt to find an alternative to the original—which only proceeds from God.

Wake-up Call…

If almost every day you wake up, you do not have so much enthusiasm to enter into the new day, then, this message is for you. If you usually look up to the next opportunity to fall asleep just to escape the realities of boredom, disinterest and challenges faced at work, in school, or at home, and then wishing to have an endless sleep lest you wake up to find out the difficult and hard realities are still existing; then that is a convincing enough indication that you really need to understand the subject of Purpose. With a sense of purpose, each day is seen as a reason to be grateful to God for providing another opportunity for moving closer to the apprehension of the immeasurable fulfilment that comes from living for purpose. If pleasurable things like watching movies, partying, chatting aimlessly, pointless chatter or gist are the only activities that keep you high or free from boredom; if you cannot stand your being alone for any length of time and yet feel good and therefore helplessly crave for the company of friends, movies, toys, tasty things(food) for you to feel alright, then these series on purpose is truly for you.

Are you still there?

If you are so eaten up with jealousy towards friends, colleagues or relatives that you cannot stand the sight of their successes and be genuinely happy for them—from down deep within you—then you really need to discover your unique meaning and purpose in life. With the understanding of the uniqueness of our individual purposes, we would come to realize that there is really no basis for comparison, competition, envy or jealousy among us as humans. Though our transient societal value systems try to make us believe that these strong feelings and mind-sets are normal, yet they are not—from the Creator’s point of view, of course! Why?  Simply because we, as distinctive individuals, have unique abilities and potentials that are different not really in degree, but in kind. I really hope you got that! With the right concept and appreciation of purpose, every other person’s success is an opportunity to learn another success principle to be inculcated on our journey towards the pinnacle of significance.

No offence meant—trust me!

If you find it quite difficult to give yourself to discipline, to say “No” to some frivolous, unproductive and self-destructive acts or activities, and to successfully stand by these decisions, then you need a bigger “yes” burning on the  inside of you—which only the sense or discovery of purpose can supply. If, as a student or employee, you do not  really like being cumbered with so much workloads as you currently have in school or at work, but then you become so quickly bored upon any short break from the same work or school, and soon start craving for resumption into the same duties or activities you so despise; it, thus, passes a message that you aren’t free yet: you are still enslaved! I’m sorry if that hurts. No offence meant—believe me! And the fact is this: you can’t change what you tolerate. Some bitter pills of realities need to be swallowed sometimes so that we can forcefully spit out the disgusting vomits of lifestyle that has held us bound to mediocrity for so long. If you can presently relate to this, if it is (similar to) your present situation, then you may try considering the freedom from external limitations and subconscious oppressions that a purpose-driven life has to offer. If you constantly feel the pains or pang of inferiority complex and low self-esteem such that you almost never see anything worth taking pride in about yourself, understanding your God-given purpose will do more than morphine in curing the pain, I promise!

Where do we then go from here?

With all this said and found indisputable, the big questions then are, “where do I go from here?”, “How do I find that unique purpose of mine?”. Moreover, even before that, “what is ‘purpose’?”, “How about ‘vision’—how do they both differ?”. Answers to these questions shall be the contents of our subsequent articles in these series on the subject of Purpose. Watch out for subsequent posts!!!

The “Invisible Main” Factor of Success

Nature, the cost-free teacher…

If you have ever had a sight or picture of an iceberg, you would agree with me that the little portion visible on the sea surface has a far bigger support beneath the water, that is not readily visible.

It’s often easy to realize concepts like this in nature, especially while observing non-human aspect of nature. But how simple and wonderful would life be if we could exploit the wonderful school of nature put in place by the Creator, adopt the lessons embedded therein, and apply them to our day-to-day living! How much less struggles we not have to wallow in as we walk through life! As simple and self-evident as the iceberg scenario is, its analogy is the basis for the “invisible main” factor of success.

One Scenario... 

Sometimes we wonder at how some people explain concepts we already know in very simple enough terms that almost any audience would easily understand and could easily apply the knowledge to effectively produce results. They get so appreciated that we feel “what’s so special?” “I know that already!” “I can explain that too!” But in most cases, we really cannot deliver like them as we soon find out if we try. Why is this so? An answer is this: apart from communication skill or any other thing we may think of, the person who explains things simply enough often has deeper knowledge of some intricate underlying details that make the simple explanation of surface issues of the subject possible. This could be from long time experience, as we have in some of our exception teachers of certain subjects, or a result of deep and wide study that often happens behind the scene. Getting in-depth knowledge of the subject matter enhances once ability to communicate it. Estein once said, “if you can’t explain it simply, you really don’t understand it well.”
 

The value of Character…

We often wonder why someone with amazing communication skill and high intellectual ability may sometime not seem to be so inspiring as some other person with not so spectacular communication ability and perhaps of relatively lower I.Q. we wonder why this same kind of things surface even in the lasting success of some organizations or teams headed separately by these two kinds of people(in the aforesaid scenario). This is because there are some behind-the-scene principle-based qualities that are more foundational to a lasting success than mere skills that, when possessed, can so potentiate even limited skills, making the person an amazement even in the sight of the more skilled counterparts who are devoid of these qualities. Of course skills are wonderful, strategies are great things to possess. Two major ingredients of successful leadership are competence and character. But someone once rightly said, “strategy and character are crucial to leadership, but if you must choose one, then choose character”—you of course will most likely never find yourself in such dilemma. These are qualities such as love, integrity, loyalty, honesty, genuine empathy, commitment to knowledge acquisition and balanced personal development, etc. These qualities precipitate success and greatness in their vessels, even when the technical skills possessed are not so spectacular.

Yet, another wonder…

We often wonder why we face the same situations as some other persons, have the same resources at our disposal like them—the same time, money, and the likes—yet they seem to have more composure and acumen in handling the situation and they often get better results—consistently! But the issue is not so much about the situation or the available physical resources. Rather, it is about how prepared you were before the situation arrives—the arrival time of challenges, situations and opportunities alike is usually the latest time to prepare. Consistent blind preparation lies at the root of the heights attained by the great people in history. They were people who kept preparing for life even when they were not yet aware of the time and place to deliver their contents. Yet they kept at it, and waited patiently for the opportune time to show forth their “stuff”. One of the foremost footballers on earth presently is famously known to arrive at the training ground before every other player, and leaves after everyone. His name might be very familiar to you—Christiano Ronaldo! “His success is by luck and sheer talent”—ask any mediocre, that would be his response!

The wealth of ages…

We often wonder why some people go faster in their success journey in life why some other ones go so slowly—and some eventually become complacent and stagnant. It’s because challenges abound on the pathway of anyone who sets out for greatness (this is why many don’t even attempt to start at all). And the magnitude of the speed with which we overcome these challenges is a function of our timely awareness of certain fixed principles of life and our application of and adherence to them. Many of these principles are discovered by experience—usually terrible ones that cast one down for some time before one eventually learn from the failure and move on. The wise ones among us climb on the shoulders of those who have gone ahead. By so doing, they are better able to see afar off before they encounter the various situations, and therefore gather the required resources before hand—they don’t start running around to procure them just when the needs arise. They learnt from the reservoir of knowledge of the elders and are saved of many stress or discomfort in life. These wealth of experience are largely hidden on the pages of books. Happy are they that find them out by being given to voracious reading! These treasures are also accessed by mentoring and attending educative programmes, especially ones outside the four walls of the formal academic class. The less wise ones amidst us neglect this bank of resources. They are too moral to take out of what does not belong to them—what they did not ‘work’ for! They are too honest to reap where they have not sown. So they want learn it all by themselves. They want to learn everything by their own experience. The good thing is that they still learn some things, but the sad thing is that they go slowly and remain battered and scarred from the wound of the “learning process” when they eventually attain a measure of success—and that’s if at all they survive the “learning adventure”, which isn’t very likely.

The conclusion of the matter…

So the whole story behind many outstanding dramas isn’t what we see on stage. The wonderful melodious 10 minutes ministration we get from an orchestra usually has hours of rehearsals invested behind the scene. The true secrete behind many success stories isn’t all the visible, public or obvious things we see in the “main players” in the stories. Majority of the things that make for success are the behind–the-scene efforts and preparations, the not-so-widely-embraced unbreakable principle of life and quality of character which make up the “success armour” of the successful. A man once said, “the heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companion slept were toiling ever upward through the night.” 

If thou shall give thyself to understand these things,

 absorb them and get to work with them,

 thou shall be full of plenty, and

 happy shall thou be.

I call you blessed!

  

A call to an Extra-ordinary Life

Success and greatness do not come by merely wishing for them. Rather, they come by working at them. If wishes were all it takes, then the world would currently have been inhabiting more great men and women than it currently does. If wishes were horses, they say, even beggars would ride.

Making the case

The world is full of many mediocres and very few exceptional people because only very few are ready to step out of their comfort zone and do what does not come naturally. The majority of people are driven by fleeting feelings—sleeping when they feel like and as long as their body wants, playing when they feel like, watching movies when they feel like and working when they feel like. All their lifestyles revolve around their feelings. Their decisions are driven by mere feelings unless otherwise constrained by an external force like the demand of formal education and the education system that, for example, coerces you to read whether or not you feel like it. “I will do it when I feel like it”, such is the summary of the inner drive of a mediocre. But the exceptional men and women are those who have chosen to be more intentional about their lives. They do not just do what comes naturally, or what their feelings tell them. The have the habit of asking “what do I need to do now?” They measure their decisions against their clear priorities of what they consider most important in life base on the unique purpose of God for their lives. And they just go ahead to do it, whether or not they feel like it. Interestingly, feelings are very transient and have a very low staying power. They may try to stand against you initially, but if you choose to necessarily defy them and consistently go for what needs to be done, the feelings soon catch up and flow with your decisions.

The call…

So, resolve to be exceptional! Choose to be different! Be courageous! Go beyond doing what is ordinary—there are too many people doing that already! Make a decision for the extraordinary life! Run beyond the ordinary lane—there are too many folks on that track already! Go the extra-mile—there are only very few people there! There is never over-crowding up there. Step out of the crowd—there is never hold-up on the extra-mile, because there no many people with the inner drive to get themselves there.

Where are you headed for?

Are you going to be a minister? Choose to be a great one. Spend more time on your knees than an average Christian would do! Spend more time on the study of scriptures. Resolve to study hard; pay attention to church history and the stories or the great men of God of old—learn from their victories and failures. And determine to always give the people values for their resources, efforts and time spent in the church. Determine to see men and women who will invade the systems of the world with the values and influence of the Kingdom.

Beyond the pulpit…

Are you going to be a lecturer, an engineer a nurse, a business man or women, a fashion designer a philanthropist, or whatsoever? Spend time to identify and learn the rudiments; find out stories about those who have go through a similar path and have obtained results similar to the one you seek—those who have gone ahead—climb on their shoulders by learning from their wealth of experience—the time is too short to learn everything by your own experience only—and resolve to fly higher than they ever did. Nothing is so exceptional about merely reproducing or repeating the accomplishment of another man. It is never part of God’s plan. In His agenda of things, the glory of the later is always greater than the former.

 

Resolve to step out…

So whatever you have discovered that you are meant to do, start out in time. Identify the principles that guide the results you hope for and give yourself to applying those principles. Be aware there will be challenges and obstacles, and resolve to face them headlong. Build your faith muscle with every challenge; they are not there to get you down, but to make you stronger and better balanced and mature to handle the character-demanding state of greatness.

If you will do this, then excellence is guaranteed! So decide to go the extra-mile! Defy every constraining fleshly feeling! Shun the distractions of many voices around calling your attention. Choose to give yourself to discipline until discipline becomes a habit! Decide to look out for people's needs and resolve to meet them—these are the lunch of champions! Remember, “indifference finds excuse, but love always finds a way”. Make your life count and make up your mind for the great life. There is always room at the top for those who resiliently set out for it. See you there! I call you blessed!

Stay True to Yourself

Reminiscence

Sometimes when I reflect on some factors that did inform much of my efforts aimed at changing some things about myself in the past, I tend to notice a major one with so strong impact, and also which I have seen to be so evident in the lives of people I daily see around. Just like I had done, I see people trying to adjust many things about themselves in appearance, behaviour, knowledge base, and attitude just to fit into the prevailing transient social image around, to be accepted or "sought-after". But I've come to realize that even though the idea of "adjusting" oneself isn't a bad thing in an absolute sense, however, the vain motive of mere social acceptance or fame has so thwarted the positive effect it should normally have on one's life. Learning from one another and consequently adjusting certain inadequacies or wiping off dark spots are true essence of socialization. Nevertheless, without a vivid picture or knowledge of your unique course and vision in life, continually trying to fix yourself to fit the social image can be so frustrating because you remain unstable due to our ever-changing technology-driven westernized society which will never cease to demand more from you. It could also become so detrimental that you lose touch with your real self, not having a distinct identity known even to yourself let alone others.

The Need for Value addition

 Many times when we seem not to be "sought-after", it's usually because of not exhibiting anything of value that is worth seeking after, something that can be of help to others. And in that case, the obvious thing to do is to put on the shoes of love, caring-ness and need-driveness; the jacket of constant, continuous and consistent dedication to personal growth(because you cannot give what you do not have) and value addition through learning(maybe by books or skill acquisition via seminars and training sessions); and always walking with outstretched hands, willing heart and a bright caring face advisably smeared constantly with a smile that shouts aloud, even without words, "I would be glad to meet your needs to the best of my ability".

Shunning the Many Voices

However, also equally many times, when we seem not to be really accepted, it is not really because something is wrong with us. Mediocres would definitely love the company of fellow mediocre, and would always want to move with them lest his/her life of low existence and inner emptiness become evident in the light(or presence) of a visionary, purpose-driven highflying persons who have chosen to step out of the rut of mediocrity and consciously put in efforts to living a life different from that of an average human being. In this case, the temptation to want to be detached from your true self and deviate from the genuine lifestyle that defines you become so overwhelming. You may feel so out-of-place when that other loosely dressed fellow(a fellow lady especially) become so "sought-after" but you seem invisible within  the crowd simply because you have chosen a higher life of nice but modest dressing. You may feel so uncomfortable sometimes when you adhere to certain genuine life principles of discipline in your choice of words or actions, or in being visionary and need-driven, caring for people and willing to help without defying your integrity, while that other fellow with mouth full of jokes that are unseemly and crowded with depravity, with a lifestyle of indulgence and desperate gratification, appears to be the majority's favourite. But never give in, the result hangs in the nearest future. It might not seem so evident, but wait for it. You will not regret it! It may be sometimes difficult to stand your ground, stay true to the values that define you and uphold your true identity. Nevertheless, success is assured. Your victory lies in the unwavering acknowledgement of your unique identity, your inner picture of a desired future and your dedication to put in the necessary measures of self-control, personal growth and focus which it takes even the midst of the prevailing challenging situations until that desired future becomes a present reality.

Resolve to Stay True, keep at it and rejoice!
 

So at some times when you feel out-of-place, you may need to fix some things and make yourself more valuable. However, at some other times, what you need really do is to remain firm on the solid foundation of timeless principles. Adherence to these universal genuine principles may take some time to produce results, but it surely will produce results--long-lasting ones. So keep at it! Quick-fix and shortcuts approach to life may produce immediate results, transiently making mockery of these fundamental life principles(of the process of growth),but their folly gets to becomes revealed or precipitated by the semi-permeable filter of time.

  You may not seem needed now. But as long as you are sure your life is in harmony with the timeless and genuine principles of life (all delicately ingrained in your heart),keep working at it. And in no time, people will so desire what you have that they soon come rushing in, just to see or hear you talk about how you have become whom you are. And you will feel fulfilled living a blessed life of impact!
 

Insight of 16^th of June, 2015

The Audacity of Opportunity

       Many opportunities that would set you up for the higher life will not adjust themselves to suit your convenience or time schedules. Rather,they are often such that you need to adjust your schedule and most times violate you convenience to suit them. But,the gains,joy and fulfilment that proceed from them in the long run almost always far outweigh the short term denial of convenience or pleasures. And interestingly,as you keep on making such decisions,a habit of discipline develops. And then,making every efforts towards exploiting every opportunity becomes more convenient,pleasant, spontaneous and natural than giving in to many fleeting unproductive pleasurable activities. 

        

When this happens,that is, when discipline becomes your habit and seizing opportunities becomes a lifestyle,then excellence in all you do becomes not just a certainty but also a cinch. And then you are set up for a life of definite greatness and impact! I call you blessed. #SYATT