SKETCHES OF LIFE

With a lot of things seldom going my way I always find I have every reason to whine, complain and feel frustrated with my life. I have reached a point in life where if I were to look at the things that don’t work I would simply wallow in self pity. Have you ever been in a situation where you think the whole world is ganging up on you? If you look at the mirror (I don't have a full lenght mirror. But the one i have is cracked!!!) you tend to over-judge yourself.

I don’t know if I am the only one who seems to find fault with ‘me’. I always want to blame myself for this and ofr that. Take yesterday, for instance, when I was on my way to town to make a presentation to a client. Though it was a wonderful day, I felt the world had yet again short-changed me. The weather was too cold, the love of my life wanted to be reassured of my undying devotion, and as the traffic moved at a slower pace towards Muthurwa Market (a notoriously overcrowded and noisy market cum bus station in Nairobi) I realized I had forgotten to charge my cell phone.

This meant I could not call the client to warn him I was running late. In short, I had every reason of picking on my poor self. I felt like a total wreck I fwlt I wasn't good looking. I felt I wasn't qualified. Furthermore, I was going to meet the client in a trendy hotel, and I had borrowed some money, to make an impression on the client. But there I was, my phone a monstrous Motorola V2288e, the kind that has an antenna, had died on me because I had forgotten to charge it. Now I had no way of calling my client. I felt there was nothing right with me.

Everything was going wrong, wrong, wrong!

I have a friend who even in the face of failure doesn’t see a reason of asking that is wrong. This friend of mine doesn’t do anything extraordinary except leave his house carrying a couple of toothpicks. I remember there was a time when he arrived for a job interview without the right kind of certificates. Though he didn’t get the job he was still happy and contented. He still felt he had something going right for him. He still had his toothpicks.

Toothpicks, you may ask, wondering whether you should refer such a guy to seek a mental check up. But wait a minute, my friend isn’t crazy. He uses the toothpicks to remind himself the importance of maintaining the best asset that anyone can ever have. There is nothing as important as the self. We all have families, friends and mentors. But when all the failures and frustrations have been dealt with, there are always two people left. There is God and you.

You can achieve anything you put your mind to. But you can't do this on your own, alone. You get a lot of help from God and from other people. God wants us to be partners with Him in the divine purpose He has for all of us. This means we have to strive to do our best as we pursue our goals in life.

Every goal we have in life should be a road map we use to reach our preferred destinations. Our success depends on the kind of decisions we make along the winding path we travel as we pursue our goals.

“Of course, all depends on how you react to what happens in your life,” explains my friend, a toothpick dangling from his mouth.

Life will take a new shape the moment you start asking what is right instead of what is wrong with you. Start focusing on what is right with you, and what is wrong will change.

“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change!”
Dr Wayne Dyer