Blame self for your present state of life

By David Kajoba

Just like the years past, the mood at the beginning of 2017 was nothing short of the usual. The "happy New Year" and "this is my year" phrases, resolutions, wild celebrations, night long prayers and such like were everywhere. Now that May is here, my question is; what is new about the New Year? Many are they that start and finish one year after another with nothing significant to show in terms of accomplishments in all spheres of life apart from the obvious i.e. aging, yet they celebrate every 31st of December.

My questioning self thus wonders; are the celebrations about the passing of time and looking forward to the passing of more time? Or are they about the value added to the past time and thus looking forward to more value addition? Remember; you are the product of the answers you supply to life's important questions.

If you do a critical evaluation of the past 4 months of 2017, the above question should be an easy one to answer.  You made resolutions at the start of 2017, prayed about them, you then returned home and resumed play from last stop; with the same script, cast, location, costumes and director, but you expect a different movie in the end.

The greatest problem in my opinion is lack of self-evaluation. An individual, organization or nation that shuns self criticism and evaluation is doomed to repeat the past mistakes. It is imperative that you conduct a self-evaluation; think about where you are vis-à-vis where you ought to be. Only then can you get uncomfortable with your present state.  Many of us are concerned about stuff but are not fed up. Thus we talk about it, how we dislike it and promise ourselves to do something about it, but we actually do nothing. There is a difference between wanting things to happen, wishing for things to happen, and making things happen.

You need to get upset about the present state of your life. You'll never win if you do nothing about your state. No athlete has ever been crowned champion without running the race. You don't win a competition by wanting to or wishing to. You must first take the bold step to get into the competition, get into the arena, get to the starting line and then set off to run in such a way as to win the prize. You ought to determine the prize for which you're racing i.e. your ultimate purpose. This has got to be clear in your mind. Ambiguity precedes failure.

Many times our resolutions fail and turn into frustration because they are not aligned to our ultimate purpose. It is your ultimate purpose that answers the WHY question of your resolutions. It's got to be a strong convicting and emotional WHY. It is the WHY that determines the WHEN and thus drives us to accomplish the WHAT. The WHAT is that which you've set out to do, and the WHY is the reason behind. A proper understanding of the WHY pushes us to focus on things that matter the most and overcome any obstacles even if it's those who are dearest to us.

For the law of association states that, "you become exactly like the people you spend most of your time with."  This WHY enables us to go to each day with a plan and a goal. We become well cognizant of what and who matters. That's when each minute becomes valuable and each second accounted for. This clearly defined WHY enables us to confront our strongest fears.

The sun rises and sets every single day my dear reader. How many times has it risen and found you in the same place? How much longer will it rise and find you in the same place? For how much longer will it find you homeless, jobless, hopeless, loveless, and friendless? How much longer will it find you in that profession which isn't satisfying, the job which isn't paying and that relationship which isn't working? There is always a way out of every situation.

It depends on your determination to find a way out. Purpose this year to move. You've done enough thinking, organizing and planning over the years. It's now time to stop planning and start doing. It is never too late to mend as long as you still breathe. Like my friend Samson Kasumba once told me, "you can be anything you want to be, if you can be anything you want to be." Purpose  henceforth to do things differently, to risk the unknown and try out new things. I dare you to explore the unknown, for even the known, was at some point unknown.

The writer is a Biblical theologian, a motivational speaker and a life coach based in Kampala, and a friend to the Critical Thought Group.
d.kajoba@gmail.com