Logic will get you from point A to B but imagination will take you everywhere-Albert Einstein.
When I was about 6 or 7 years, I picked up the habit of biting my nails. The reason, Wairimu (my best friend) had the cutest short nails I’d ever seen as a result of the habit. I wasn’t going to be left behind. Like any new habit, it took a while to stick. It did get painful at times when I attempted to take the nail to a new low, but I was determined. However with time the ‘new low’ became the standard and it wasn’t painful anymore. I did manage to bite off most of my nails to about 2cm from the root. It was painful of course in the beginning but this went away with time. I did eventually manage to get short nails (though not as cute as Wairimu’s)
Now, leaving our comfort zone is pretty much like biting nails. If we attempt to leave what we consider normal and test new waters, resistance is the first response. It becomes a battle of logic over passion, with logic having an upper hand. We are after all conditioned to live in order and avoid chaos. The mind has over time become wired to do things in a particular way such that when we decide to take a different path it ends up in total chaos. The most natural reaction to the chaos then becomes to quit the new path and stick to the old. However if circumstances are to change from the old to the new we have to allow ourselves to fill the pain and move on in spite of it. Achieving the extraordinary requires one to abandon the ordinary and fly with the eagles.
Like a new pair of shoes a new mindset is uncomfortable but with time it moulds itself into the core system that drives us- the mind. What we once perceived as new and unfamiliar becomes the norm. After all what we now consider possible, once existed in the realm of the impossible until someone somewhere decided to change that. Like biting nails you start off with baby steps, a bite a day. It becomes easier to focus on the immediate obstacles and tackle those, other than focusing on the long-term ones that are yet to even materialise. Focusing on a hundred tomorrows before you even get started, is most likely break even the strongest of wills. Overcoming the initial obstacles-breaking out of the cocoon- provides momentum to face bigger challenges.
When a river leaves its source it has to establish a course, if it’s to carry its waters beyond its point of origin. Its burrows gorges into rocks, carries away boulders and displaces soil- anything to set its flow in motion. When a course is finally established the water flows freely without much resistance to its destination. There will be of course the occasionally boulder that sets itself firmly on the river’s path. Depending on the magnitude of the rock the river will carry it away, break it down and move on along or find a way around it. Choosing a different path other than our comfort zone is pretty much alike. Filled with resistance at the beginning; but accompanied by much fruit when we persevere. The resistance we face at the beginning can either shape us or break us, it all comes down to choices. Of course it helps to know when to quit and when to try just a little bit harder.
Like Helen Keller once said, “We can do anything we want as long as we stick at it long enough.” If it burns with enough desire in you, it is worth the short term pain it causes.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Everyone has a story...
Mark has got to be one of the most interesting characters I have ever met. Nothing is ever that serious to him, even when it’s really bad. If ever I struggled with the meaning of the word apathetic, he clarified it for me. He never seems bothered to do anything beyond what is required of him. Life is one continuous monotone for him and nothing promising could ever become of it. Anytime I find him telling a story, it is always alcohol related,if he's not telling alocohol related stories he’s reeking of it. The man loves his bottle and no one can blame you for judging him. His right leg is disabled so he walks with the aid of a cane. I always thought he suffered from polio when he was young, turns out that is not the case.
Born 30 years ago, Mark is your classic rags to riches story. He came from a humble background; growing up the best his parents could afford was the bare minimum for survival. He studied in his local primary school, no fancy academies. He fondly remembers the feel of wet earth between his toes during the rainy season as he made his way to school barefoot. Despite the struggles he had to endure to make it through school he emerged top of his class and managed to secure a place in a national school. Unfortunately his parents were unable to raise the requisite school fees and he ended up in the village high school. Undeterred he went ahead to secure himself a place in Kenyatta University come form 4.
In the university, the ‘village hero’ discovered life as he had never known it before. He discovered the big city, all night partying and readily willing girls. Although he indulged in the goodies and privileges that came with university, he never forgot the main reason why he was there. Majoring in Bio-chemistry, Mark attained first class honours at the end of his four years in university.
Life may have dealt him a slow start but it had been nothing but generous to him ever since. Perhaps nature’s way of saying, “No hard feelings.” A month after graduating, he secured a job with the UN and a 6-figure salary to show for it. The boy who had walked to school barefoot with a tattered sweater and runny nose, now lived in the leafy suburbs of Nairobi. The company provided him with a four wheel drive vehicle and an entertainment allowance to boot. Life had finally begun.
In 3 years he rose from a project officer to a project manager overseeing projects running into billions. The world had become his playground. Now when people mentioned a place far yonder he didn’t need to reach for his atlas to locate it, he had most likely experienced it.
One day, he left Nairobi with 3 of his juniors to supervise a project in Garissa. It was a journey he did not have to make but being a hands-on kind of person he chose to. They never made it to their destination. 30 minutes after leaving Nairobi as they approached Thika town, a truck lost control and landed on their car. Everyone in the car perished save for Mark.
3 months later he woke up to a white ceiling and his leg suspended mid air. For 9 months, the hospital became his life. One day in the I.C.U, then in the general ward and just when he thought things were easing up he found himself in the H.D.U. Not only did he have to deal with the fact that he would never use his right leg again but also that he had lost his job. Having spent so much time in the hospital, his employer had chosen to let him go. The world that he had intricately built came tumbling down. What else was there to do but embrace depression?
Having seen his dreams come to pass then get crashed, Mark reckons there’s no need to plan for tomorrow. “There’s no room for dreams in my life anymore, I dreamt and lived it but look at me now, what do I have to show for it?” Nothing worries him anymore, seeing as he has experienced the phrase-life dangling on a string. Though he got over the depression, he has adopted an apathetic stance towards life. To him life is a mere existence, with everyday dressed the same.
Born 30 years ago, Mark is your classic rags to riches story. He came from a humble background; growing up the best his parents could afford was the bare minimum for survival. He studied in his local primary school, no fancy academies. He fondly remembers the feel of wet earth between his toes during the rainy season as he made his way to school barefoot. Despite the struggles he had to endure to make it through school he emerged top of his class and managed to secure a place in a national school. Unfortunately his parents were unable to raise the requisite school fees and he ended up in the village high school. Undeterred he went ahead to secure himself a place in Kenyatta University come form 4.
In the university, the ‘village hero’ discovered life as he had never known it before. He discovered the big city, all night partying and readily willing girls. Although he indulged in the goodies and privileges that came with university, he never forgot the main reason why he was there. Majoring in Bio-chemistry, Mark attained first class honours at the end of his four years in university.
Life may have dealt him a slow start but it had been nothing but generous to him ever since. Perhaps nature’s way of saying, “No hard feelings.” A month after graduating, he secured a job with the UN and a 6-figure salary to show for it. The boy who had walked to school barefoot with a tattered sweater and runny nose, now lived in the leafy suburbs of Nairobi. The company provided him with a four wheel drive vehicle and an entertainment allowance to boot. Life had finally begun.
In 3 years he rose from a project officer to a project manager overseeing projects running into billions. The world had become his playground. Now when people mentioned a place far yonder he didn’t need to reach for his atlas to locate it, he had most likely experienced it.
One day, he left Nairobi with 3 of his juniors to supervise a project in Garissa. It was a journey he did not have to make but being a hands-on kind of person he chose to. They never made it to their destination. 30 minutes after leaving Nairobi as they approached Thika town, a truck lost control and landed on their car. Everyone in the car perished save for Mark.
3 months later he woke up to a white ceiling and his leg suspended mid air. For 9 months, the hospital became his life. One day in the I.C.U, then in the general ward and just when he thought things were easing up he found himself in the H.D.U. Not only did he have to deal with the fact that he would never use his right leg again but also that he had lost his job. Having spent so much time in the hospital, his employer had chosen to let him go. The world that he had intricately built came tumbling down. What else was there to do but embrace depression?
Having seen his dreams come to pass then get crashed, Mark reckons there’s no need to plan for tomorrow. “There’s no room for dreams in my life anymore, I dreamt and lived it but look at me now, what do I have to show for it?” Nothing worries him anymore, seeing as he has experienced the phrase-life dangling on a string. Though he got over the depression, he has adopted an apathetic stance towards life. To him life is a mere existence, with everyday dressed the same.
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