Fear! A recipe for greatness

Have you noticed people who are unaware they are sick and the day they become aware of their sick state that is when they start feeling very sick? I heard of a guy who has HIV for God knows when and not until the day he was told of his status (through his girlfriend) did he began to feel sick. I have heard of people who while climbing a tall mountain become afraid only when they look down. Many have reached heights or conquered challenges when their attention was not totally focused on the obstacles in front of them because at that time there was nothing to fear. Awareness to the obstacle breeds fear and has deprived many of the goals and victory ahead. The bible even taught of one Peter who walked on the sea while looking at Jesus and not until he began to see the turbulent sea wave did he began to sink. His fears were awakened when he became aware of the environment he was in. Of a truth fear has torment. It has ruined many; it has broken many homes and destroyed many relationships.

It is true fear can be destructive, but many through fear have achieved innumerable feats. These people have become great through the motivation derived from their fears. To some this fear is poverty; to some it is illiteracy; to some it is sickness or their spouse, boss or business. So many people have turned this fear to their favor; some have stopped the mouth of lions, some have conquered nations, some have gotten great jobs, married pretty women, obtained promises, were valiant in fight, escaped dark situations, led small armies to victory, built empires, became great inventors, utilized opportunities, attracted benefits and above all, many have become great. I am not interested in fear analysis for now; I am just convinced it is a recipe for greatness and I do hope you will understand when you are through reading this piece.

The story goes of a wealthy man who had only one daughter. When the daughter was of marriage age, the father sent news around town that all the eligible young men should come to compete in a test which would determine who was fit to marry his daughter. On that set day, all the able-bodied young men came out. Some came with paper and pen and others with cutlasses and swords. The rich man took them to his swimming pool and addressed the men: "Any of you who can swim from one end of this swimming pool to the other would marry my daughter. In addition, I‘ll give him $5m, a car and a house so they can start life well. I shall be waiting to meet my son-in-law at the other side. Good luck!" As the young men, all very excited at the prospect of winning, started taking off their shirts, a helicopter came over the pool and dropped snakes and crocodiles into the pool. Immediately all the men turned back and started wearing their shirts again. Disappointed, some of them said let the man marry his daughter, I can't enjoy d prize when I die.... All of a sudden they heard a splash in the pool. Everybody watched in amazement as one gentleman struggled his way across, avoiding the snakes and crocodiles. Finally, he made it to the other side. The rich man could not believe it. He asked the young man to name anything he wanted but the man was still panting uncontrollably. Finally, he got himself and made a request saying "Please someone should show me the idiot that pushed me inside this pool".

Funny huh? While fear has made many to shy away from the goal, fear has made many as well to obtain victory and achieve their goal. Some people see the hole in the doughnut while others see the doughnut in the hole. It all depends on what you see and how you see it.

While watching the ‘Karate kid”, I was inspired when Jacky Chan asked Jaden Smith why he wanted to keep fighting…his answer was puzzling. “But why do you want to keep fighting Jacky asked? Because I am still scared he answered”. I would think, fear would make him want to quit fighting, I would think his broken leg would shut him down completely; I would think the fierceness of his opponent would make him run away like a whirl wind. Well not for this young hero, his fear was what drove him hard like the guy in our story. Mind you, this guy (Jaden Smith) did not compete basically for the trophy; he competed to win over his fear which is a higher trophy in my opinion. I don’t know what is holding you down or depriving you from achieving that dream of yours. My father told me, not until your dream scares you terribly, you have not started dreaming. You shouldn’t be afraid to dream big; if you are afraid because of the hugeness of your dream then you are on the right path so says my father. But that fear should be your drive and motivation towards achieving the goal. That fear in my opinion is a good one and will set you apart. It will certainly beautify your life and put you on the path to greatness if not greatness itself.  If you master your fear, you can conquer all and anything.

May your future be bright. 

When trusting is difficult

Sometimes it’s so difficult to trust especially when one has had nasty situations with life, God, events and relationships and even with certain people.  The ability to trust in the face of disappointing situations has been handled by many differently. By reason of such situations, many have placed a guard over themselves and as such become cautious or suspicious over similar or near similar situations. This trend seems human and we can’t place any rule or theory to govern how one will react after such disappointing situations. I have had my share of terrible disappointments as well as damning situations where trusting could be likened to astute stupidity. I sometimes relate distrust to un-forgiveness, so over time I have chosen to create excuse for every wrong which has helped me to deal with un-forgiveness as well as trust issues. A story I heard many years ago might shed some light and it goes like this.

It was in the evening after over 2 years of preparation, the day finally came when he will climb the tallest mountain in the village. The people gathered to watch this courageous mountain climber in excitement ready to set a record that will live through time. He started the climb through the night and the people left and hoped to return the next morning to see their champion at the very top of the mountain in excitement.
While he was climbing that night, the rock began to feel slippery and snow started falling. In the face of this seeming dangerous conditions, he pressed on hoping to hit the top of the mountain in due time. Suddenly, his hand got hold of a very slippery rock and he fell freely engaging every part of his body for a possible rescue. Luck shone on him when his hands got a good grab on a rocky edge. He hung on this rocky edge but with unsustainable balance from his legs and at that point he started praying to God for help. His body started feeling pain from a possible blow sustained from the rocks while he was falling. Fear gripped his heart vehemently as he stared at death in the face, and so he cried out the more to God to rescue him.
Then God spoke softly and said “release your hand from the rocky edge”. Is that you God he asked? I think my mind is deceiving me he thought, God can’t tell me to let go of this little hope I have and lead me to my death he quipped; so he kept hanging on while screaming to God in prayers for help.  God showed up again and said release your hand from the cliff. Because he can’t see below him due to the pitch darkness of the night, he yelled and said this can’t be God: he can’t allow me to die; he will rescue me somehow but not through this let go thing. This must be my mind or my enemies that don’t want me to succeed. They (my enemies) must have heard of my quest and want to do all to destroy my dreams. I can’t allow them to destroy me. The weather became very chilly and so he froze and died while hanging on to the cliff.
This next morning, the people gathered hoping to rejoice with their champion when they see him at the top of the mountain. Instead of seeing him at the top, they saw something like a frozen statue hanging from a part of the mountain. They rushed to see if he was their champion and were so sad and disappointed to discover that he was their champion and was more disappointed to see that he was hanging just a foot below the floor they were standing.

The story emphasizes the effect of fear on trust. This is the true picture of most people who are skeptical on trusting---FEAR. “I don’t want to get hurt again or I don’t want to be misled again” and many other seemingly good reasons have made many to ignore the inner voice that could aid soft landing. A clergy man once said “nothing is more valuable than insight to the journey of life, if you leave your life to chance, you don’t have a chance” (David Oyedepo). I have studied this quote thoroughly and couldn’t agree more. If we don’t live our lives like one playing a game of card where he takes it (life) as it comes but rather subject our mind to insight to purpose and or destiny, we will be able to choose our friends, the place we go or the things we do wisely. Our mistakes will as well be limited and not costly as those that live their lives like those that beat the air or play the game of card. However one chooses to interpret the story is up to the individual. In my strong opinion, insight is paramount and as such when it is very hard to trust that it is the time to trust hard.