I Will Sail to Shore

Dear lovely people,

Come shine come rain, I will sail to shore. So as I set out to carve a place for me in the world of achievements…

I know I am filled with hope

I know I am armed with plans

I know I am loaded with dreams

I equally know it will not be just a smooth ride to the finish line, rough days are ahead of me because…

There are people who will betray me

There are people who will laugh at me

There are people who will undercut me

I choose to forge ahead with conviction and without fear knowing that

While some will undercut me, others will uplift me

While some will betray me, others will stand by me

While some will laugh at me, others will support me

I choose to move on no matter how rough the road gets

I choose to surround myself with the people who celebrate me

I know that those who get to shore are focused on the lighthouse not the waves

There is hope for tomorrow so, I will sail out like I have never done before. The waves could get wild as they can but they will calm down at some point in time. I will face the waves with bravery for I see a glitter of light from the lighthouse. 

I will sail to shore not because I am the best sailor, but because I am willing to risk it all for what I believe in, my dreams.

I Tried

Dear lovely people,

Sitting in a lonely room with his head in his hands that evening, Polinus told himself all was over for him. He was so convinced and decided to write a letter to his old mother before doing what he had premeditated….

My most lovely mum, as I write to you now, I feel as if the world is on my shoulders, I can feel its wait. I was committed in school, graduated with good grades, I have hunted for a job for over five years to no avail. I have tried to do menial jobs and still no headway. I tried my best mum, I tried.

I decided to go back to school, I was conscious you had no funds to finance my education so, I tried my hands at all scholarship opportunities I came across, you know the rest, all were negative. I have tried.

I tried to do business, I got into all sorts of negotiations still, I have had many more rejections than acceptances. The few that came through, I invested all I had and one after the other, my efforts have all gone down the drain. Trust me when I say I have tried, mum you know I have tried.

I have read books, I have attended seminars, I have tried my best at this positive thinking stuff but looks like the more I try to stay positive, the more negativities come my way. I have tried mum, heaven knows I have tried.

As I write to you now, all is over for me. I think I am at the end of pain and so should end it all. Don’t come looking for me mum, wipe off the tears that are sure to roll down your beautiful and soothing chicks and move on. Count me as one of the failures you have had in life and may Providence give you the strength to carry on…..

What a letter. Some of the times, most of us feel the pain Polinus felt, we experience failure in various ways at different times. We put in our best and feel as if nothing is moving forward. Is that enough reason to give up? Should you surrender to the negativities that come your way? What happened to your fighting spirit? What happened to that heroic nature in you implanted by God?

God assures us in Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” You can’t decide on your own to give up when God has not said so. Keep on fighting even when you have no reason to fight on and before you know it, the day will come when you will not remain in pain.

A few days after Polinus gave up and disappeared into thin air, came a letter for a full scholarship and as if that was not enough, one of the contracts he had been waited for got approved. Here where two giant opportunities to transform Polinus’ life but where was he? He was languishing in the fangs of ‘surrender’. Never ever give up and the day will come when you will smile and say “I tried.”

I Am Convinced

Dear lovely people,

In Romans 8:38-39 (NIV) I read “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” What a heightened level of commitment, isn’t it an indescribable summit of conviction? One that lives you with no other choice but to remain steadfast in the Lord and of course, the rewards are bounteous.

Because you are so convinced and belief in this truth, you live by it and it becomes part of your inner being. What if you were to apply same to your quest for success knowing fully well that your plans aligns with God’s plan for your life? The rewards would certainly be beyond description too.

As Swami Vivekananda says "Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life--think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success."

Certainly, when you have consciously opted to improve upon your life, to go on that quest that will leave you fulfilled, you cannot afford to fly low, you must fly at high altitude. You become compelled to think big and hit great goals each step of the way. At that point in your life, you just have to do all it takes to be at the very top. 

For sure, it will never be an easy task but because what you have within is more than what you have around you as obstacles, you become convinced that you will succeed.