Jump into the Rain if You Have to Make It

Dear loving people,

Tekinda got up that morning feeling on top of the world; he was all-smiles as he gaped at the mirror on his wife’s vanity table. His smile broadened even more as he nodded to himself. His brand-new 3-piece suit was nothing less that perfect on him. In fact, he loved the way it folded along with his natural contours.

Satisfied with his dressing, he headed for the door and just as he grasped the door handle, he came to an abrupt stop and looked towards the ceiling in total disbelief, a terrifying lightening sent bright rays through the windows and lighted up the room, then came a mind-blowing thunder accompanied by torrential rain.

Peeping through the window of his sitting room, it was clear to Tekinda that he will not be able to make it in time. I met a completely dejected Tekinda that afternoon; he was filled with rage for having missed a recruitment interview. He had been job-hunting for the last three months and here was the first opportunity that just went down the drain, he arrived fifteen minutes late for the interview and was sent off.

I asked Tekinda a question; are you angry at your improper preparations, the rains, the lost opportunity or the time conscious interview panel? Behold, he was speechless. You see, most of the time; we leave the object and go chasing the shadow. If Tekinda my friend badly needed that job, and translated his desire into action, he would have tried all options and if it all came to the worse, he would have jumped into the rains. Yes you heard me right and why not? He must have thought like many other people that just for the simple reason he so badly needed a job, the universe was just going to align with him without minimal effort on his part. No way! All research on earth concord with the universal rule, which states that there is no free lunch. What you get out of life must equal your level of effort.

Tekinda did not do his homework well. If he did, he would have realized it’s the rainy season thus; he should have made arrangements for an umbrella or should have arranged for a cab to pick him up early.

How many times have you been in a similar situation? Instead of evaluating it, learning from it such that you do better next time, you retreat to a corner in total dejection. When you do that, you simply reinforce the guarantee that the next time, you might repeat the same mistakes or do worse.

How many people do you know who desire to be rich, who want to step onto the higher grounds of individual achievement but turn around each day and either do those things that rather distance them from what they so desire or do nothing at all? How is it possible that you want success but you are not ready to pay the price? Get it from me today if you have not already, every single major achievement in life, has a price tag on it.

“You say you love rain, but you use an umbrella to walk under it. You say you love sun, but you seek shelter when it is shining. You say you love wind, but when it comes you close your windows. So that's why I'm scared when you say you love me” says Bob Marley.

You Must Swing Your Pendulum!

Dear Loving People,

I agree with Arthur Schopenhauer who says “Life swings like a pendulum backward and forward between pain and boredom”. As a matter of fact, Life is a lot like a swinging pendulum. On the one side of the pendulum is happiness, fulfillment, excitement, variety, interest, and on the other side is the potential for failure, risk, disappointment, and criticism.

Recently, I kept late nights at a time when I would much rather be sleeping than staying awake in the dark thinking things over. But the truth of the matter is, this pendulum equation of life has been ringing in my mind for a while and enough to keep me sleepless. I have been thinking of what will happen if I brought my pendulum to a standstill. If that were to happened, it means for certain that I will not have issues like failure, risk, disappointment and no one will say anything bad about me; however, I will likewise miss out on all the excitement of life, the fulfillment, the variety, the interest and the happiness.

During these reflections, I realized how much I micro managed the last seven months of my work life. Every day I left my house for work, I was deeply worried about one work-related thing or the other, as if that was not bad enough, I got tired of the management system in place. In fact, the mere thought that I will meet some faces at my office spoiled my day; I got really disappointed with some of the routines.

From that moment, my pendulum continued to swing. I critically examined all that happened around me in the office. Every ‘Yes’ I said had a purpose. I wanted to be at the center of every negotiation, for short, I wanted to become a ‘Mr. Fixit’. The pressure was mounting and I was unwilling to stop it. Many colleagues who found profit in what I was doing congratulated me, but inside I was screaming “This is not part of the plan.” I thus concluded I badly needed a change. For seven good months, I fought tooth and nail (bones and brains) to get out of such an emasculating system and out of the prison of my depression… guess what, I did. I got a new job!

The pendulum was finally swinging in a direction I was happy with. Life changed. I changed. Anxiety and fear no longer controlled what I was doing (or lack of doing). Depression no longer had a hold of my heart and spirit and for the first time in my life I was absolutely present in the moment.

Do you realize how much you cannot swing a pendulum one way? Think about this for all aspects of your life.  In every relationship there is a risk that your heart can be broken. When you raise a family there is a risk that child will make bad choices that bring pain to themselves and others or shame to your family as a whole.  However you don’t run away from a relationship or a family because you are scared of the Potential for pain.  You are willing to take a risk because you want the other side of the pendulum.

Now think about your business.  On the one side is financial freedom, excitement, fulfillment, success, but on the other side is the Potential for rejection, criticism, failure and disappointment.

The journey to a fulfilling life and that of achievement is about finding balance and honestly, I   know I have not been doing a good job of finding that balance. Contradictory ideas have been running rampart in my mind and playing themselves out in ways that I never thought would happen to me. While work is essential and central to me now, my recent act of frequently moving jobs is really painful at times…I want better jobs, my mind is saying otherwise.

Unfortunately, I often meet people who let the pendulum stand still. They don’t want the failure, the rejection or the disappointment, so they don’t take massive action where risk is present. However, what they fail to recognize is that by making this choice they are also missing out on the other side of the pendulum – financial freedom, fulfillment, variety and excitement.

My advice – get moving, stretch all options beyond limits, generate enthusiasm and swing your pendulum as high as it can get! You must dare a lot in order to get a lot.

The less you are scared of the “bad side” of the pendulum and are willing to charge ahead then the pendulum will eventually swing to the good side. Nobody will hold you accountable if you fail anyway, failure is never permanent unless you accept it as such. That is how life was designed by the powers that be to function.

I believe this is a universal law – if you are willing to push the pendulum to the “bad side” then it will inevitably swing the other way! The ‘good side’

At any one moment from now, you have the choice either to swing your pendulum or not. Whichever choice you make will certainly shape your future.

To your success