DEFINING THIS LIFE.......
This
life is a game. This life is a puzzle. This life is funny. This life is a
wicked one. This life is a transient one. This life is blah blah blah. I
am pretty sure you have come across all or some of these phrases describing our
world. But I believe each of us depending on our situation will see the world differently.
Just like the proverbial maxim “your description of the elephant depends mainly
on the part of the gargantuan animal you are touching”.
To
most people in pain, no matter the cause of that pain, this world is wicked. To
those who are well to do and have peace in their families, this world is a
wonderful thing. To
the man who misplaced his last GH¢1000 he had just withdrawn from the bank,
this life is unfair. To the jobless poor man who finds this money by the
roadside, this life is very generous.
The
suitor who gets accepted jumps up and punches the air saying “I have found my
missing rib”. To the suitor who unfortunately does not win the favour of the
lady-this life is unfair. Rarely
will you find many people describing this life in the same way, there are
always bound to be differences. But
we are talking about the same world right? Why then do we describe it
differently? The definition of “matter” is the same, no matter who is defining
it. So why do things change?
Maybe
the fact that we see the world through our own eyes, experiences, aspirations,
disappointments, successes etc. is another way of describing the world-This
life is how you make it, it is how you see it. It is how you want it to be,
make it to be and believe it to be. Suffice it to say therefore that we cannot
rely on anyone to define this world for us. Unfortunately for us, this life is
not like any other thing to just read off from google or from a dictionary, you
will have to define it for yourself and work things up from that point.
It
is from your definition of the world that the principles and standards upon
which you function as a human being are based. If you define this world as just
being a care-free world, then anything goes. You will live your life without
any social inhibition. What a pathetic life it will be to live. If
you define your life based on a strong scriptural foundation, surely your
principles, standards and morals will be entirely different from our care-free
friend up there.
But
there is a middle line over here. If you live your life without any definition
then again you are in the middle of these two people we have just described.
What
this immediately makes bare is the fact that you cannot use somebody else's
definition of the world. In other words, it is impossible to live another
person’s life. You will have to live your own life. But the comforting thing is
that we completely have the free will and what it takes to define the world and
live it. Therefore it will be unfair to blame anybody now or in the future for
any predicament you will find yourself in.
Your
friends, family and colleagues, may help you to live this life based on your
definition if it is a good definition. Otherwise, they will still try to
impress on you to correct your perception of this life and to live a better
more purposeful life. However, in all of these, they have no power to make you
do it. The “ACTION” must emanate from you.
My
exhortation to you this day dear friend is that for all you want to be, for all
you perceive this world to be, for all you want to see in this world-YOU ARE
WELL ABLE. Never in this life wait for somebody to do something you can do and
must do. The greatest American Civil-rights activist and preacher Martin Luther
King once exhorted his congregation to be the change they want to see in the
society. Never think in this life that you are just one person and hence cannot
effect any change.
Seek
every day to learn something positive to make your own life better and more
formidable. So my dear, take that bold step today to define your life.
