Don’t give up! I know it is easy said than done and we might not know the extent of your pain. Perhaps you were about to overcome and needed to give it one more try, but you gave in to what seemed unbearable pressure. If your life or safety is not threatened, perhaps continue your journey, taking one more step even if it is simpler and slower. You’d achieve progress.
Life in South Africa can be daunting. Wherever one looks, one is surrounded by negativity. And if it’s not about lawlessness, it is about the abuse of power. If not about laziness, then it is about foolishness leaving one wondering when all this would end so “normality” could resume. Such negativity can damage one’s welfare. By Nimroth Gwetsa, 29 February 2016.
Indeed, when one’s life and health are threatened, moving to a better place could be the answer for consideration. In other situations, such depressing difficulties could be catalysts we need to create wealth. Since no one knows the future, how could we tell what best opportunities await us and therefore what decisions we need to take to realise them when facing such difficulties?
We have built-in, yet silent if not subtle Gut-feel Positioning System (GPS) ready to guide us on best choices we should make.
WHERE DID IT GO WRONG?
But first, we need to understand how problems eventually become unbearable.
Life truly conforms to the Second Law of Thermodynamics. This partial universal law of decay, explains why everything ultimately falls apart and disintegrates over time.
Once we reach adulthood, we begin to feel the effects of this law that unless we “do something”, we begin to die slowly. Giving up could spark the beginning of our slow death: death of our joy, freedom, wealth, health and sanity and life would be unbearable then. We are obliged to put up a good fight and live more fulfilling lives.
The natural decay can be likened to gravity (pulling us down) and overcoming it, to flying. Decay is therefore a thief of life. We now understand the “… thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy”, John 10:10. In fact, it would appear all problems that eventually overcome us, follow the same path: first stealing something from us, then moving on to kill and ultimately destroying the essence of life.
HOW THINGS GO WRONG
But such unbearable problems did not start that way. They felt innocent at first and eventually became unbearable. We became inattentive when it started to fall apart until it became too late and obvious that all has been lost.
- LIES
Looking back at how some daunting problems we are now facing as a country started, it becomes clear that most started with a lie or distortion. This happens when good principles of life are known but we allow doubt or lies to creep in, thinking we are in control and can manage the situation. We conveniently overlook adherence to good principles for expediency hoping the end justifies the means. Repeated lies and distortions eventually become believable. This results in our confusion and no longer knowing what the truth really is.
- CONTRADICTIONS
When doubt has been created on our minds, the groundwork for the outright kill has been effectively laid. Our incomplete understanding would be exposed, thereby enabling perpetrators to contradict what we know about the situation or the principles we rely on. Contradictions have a tendency of making us forget the consequences of our ignorance, and we eventually justify doing wrong things because a seed of deceit has already been planted in us and growing fast.
The result is that, if we begin to doubt, we begin to see sound principles as hindrances to our welfare. We see adherence to principles as something bad and a nuisance.
- OUR IDENTITY
Contradictions lead us to question our identity and opportunities missed, resulting in our belief that we would be greater abandoning principles expediently so we could overcome our challenges. But in wanting to be greater through such means, we become lesser.
HOW CAN WE OVERCOME
We overcome problems by remaining vigilant and knowing the root of our problems. The root usually starting with an appeal to our physical appetites, then our emotional desires and ultimately to pride.
In our vigilance, we should note that we would not be exempt from attack or enticement by perpetrators. How we respond to those advances could determine our final state of being whether overwhelmed by our problems and seeing giving up as the solution, or seeing it as the opportunity to advance your life.
Our vigilance should ensure that our strengths and abilities do not become our entrapment or tools used by others to cause more harm. Once deception has set in, our abilities and strengths would be used to perpetuate a lie. And what was supposed to be our strength for human development is now a powerful tool for human destruction.
We must know and be convicted about our founding principles so we are not confused. Equally, we should know and be convicted about the consequences of ignoring those sound principles so we are not tempted to abandon them.
Watching against pride is crucial. We should not allow praises we receive to change our character, for we could lose people we need to overcome our challenges.
Sometimes, we should be willing to take the longer way and avoid shortcuts. Shortcuts offer temporary relief but long-term devastation.
We should not fear telling perpetrators to leave us alone. Sometimes a bold statement might be enough to chase away charmers and perpetrators for good.
Success in life and business is indeed an effort we should be willing to exert. We begin to die and are ultimately destroyed when we stop trying repeatedly and learning lessons in the process.
