Facing The Sky

Dear lovely people,

  

A New Year will start every year. Each New Year, comes with new opportunities and possibilities for you to transform your life. To many people, especially those who are facing the sky, it is always time to redouble your efforts and shoot even higher. It’s time to hit your targets head-on and with precision. To some who have lost focus, those who have allowed worries to take a hold on them, it’s the worst time; time to cry over spilled milk and remind themselves that faith long turned its back on them.

I am facing the sky, I am headed for my goals and for always certain that the best is still to come. I am not lying on my laurels, I don’t take things for granted, I know it’s a tough journey but I equally know the place of persistence. I know I will fail severally on the way but I am ready to learn from the failures.

I know that many are those who will dig pits on my way for me to fall into, I know that some of my actions might constitute some of the pits on my way but rather than bury my head, time and effort in fighting those who want to see me in those pits, I will jump over them and focus on the more important things, my goals.

I know that I will register short-lived successes along the way. Rather than get comfortable with them, I will always remind myself that those are just stepping stones and pointers to the fact that I still need to work even harder to get to the most desired destination – the skies.

That is why I am unyieldingly, unflinchingly, decidedly and resolutely focused on facing the sky.

Why not join me? It’s our time.

Bad Harvest, Plan For It

Dear lovely people,

It was harvest time, Johnson, the onetime contented farmer, walked around his maize farm disbelievingly. The harvest was obviously going to be a horrible one but, his mind could not settle on a coherent explanation. He planted at the right time, worked tirelessly throughout the year and did everything in the best way possible as before so he could not place a finger on the reason for such a horrifying harvest.

Many people suffer from the consequences of bad choices. Even though they're regretful, they still struggle to be free from the pain and sometimes shame of the past. People expect that simply because they have a great dream and plans to change the world, everything will just fall into place in their favor. There are those who expect everybody else to bow to their requests simply because they are so passionate about their dreams.

The world does not operate like that. You have to critically examine your options at all times before acting. You equally have to know that there are times when things will not work to your favor no matter how much you plan and work for them. There are times when you will end up with a bad harvest no matter how much you worked. That should not stop your determination to become a better person, you can always start all over again so don’t give up.

When I met Johnson recently, he had a lot to spill out. We reviewed his struggle to be free from things that took place in his past and that were weighing him down in regret. We dissected the hurtful issues that brought him to the situation he was living in at that moment.

Despite Johnson’s past successes as a farmer, he has never forgotten his painful past as a young boy, he was abandoned by both of his parents and so he could not continue his education to become the medical doctor he always dreamed off. This rejection left deep wounds and scars that led him down a dark path of crime, substance abuse and addictions. He felt so hopeless that he contemplated suicide on several occasions. He told me when he returned from the farm that evening, he went to the community church where he wept and cried out to God at the altar for deliverance.

Johnson is note alone, perhaps, you find yourself in bondage to hurtful behaviors and the consequences they bring: pain, lack of focus, demotivation, chains of bad choices and even shame. If this is you, here is a word of encouragement from the Lord for you as recorded in Matthew 11:28 (NLT) “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”

Time to Slough

Dear lovely people,

Sloughing in biology refers to the act of shedding or casting off dead tissue, such as cells of the skin. Skin sloughing is the process of shedding dead surface cells from the skin. Snakes are known to slough often. Snakes shed their skin to allow for further growth and to remove parasites that may have attached to their old skin. As a snake grows, its skin becomes stretched and eventually reaches a point where further growth is not possible. When that occurs, a new layer of skin grows underneath the current one. As soon as it is complete, the old skin peels away, leaving behind a snake-shaped shell along with any parasites that may have been attached and the snake is ready for a new life.

You’ve been told and advised that as you work towards your success, you are welcome to dream big, it’s completely ok to plan to explore the world, develop strategies to conquer and don’t be afraid of making mistakes. Always keep an open mind.

Some of the times, irrespective of your big dreams, no matter how best you plan, things don’t move the way you want them, results don’t come knocking as often as you would love and sometimes, failure hits you straight in the face. Tell me, what do you do when some of your closest associates fail you, abandon you or double-cross you? What do you do when success seems to distance itself from you the more you run breathlessly towards it? Maybe it’s time to slough.

Peel off that skin of mediocrity, inertia, lack of motivation and loss of focus that has clogged your vision. Slough out of that skin of negative thinking, lack of discernment, fear and redundant strategies. Only then will you live anew with a refocused mind and a new skin of determination, informed decision making and rejuvenation and making strides towards your true dreams.