“If you do not find time to do it right, you will need a lot more time to do it over again.” – Akan proverb
The past holds all kinds of memories – sweet, sour, sad, happy and many others. Whatever they were, those are moments we can never alter. They are gone – and forever. What we can do is to make sure the future is always better than that past. To achieve that, we must make now is the beginning point. We must see ourselves as re-creating the creation story. And we must use lessons of the past to launch a future that is remedied of mistakes. It must be a solution-oriented future, which we know can be founded on discipline and inventiveness. We must task ourselves to annihilate evil by ensuring that we become the greatest forces of good.
Life is a poetical ideal. Just as we think as we have made a breakthrough, it drives us into a cul-de-sac; leaving us more baffled than when we started. It is as evasive as chasing shadows. The longing for answers and a thorough understanding of life is a curse that has marked us from the beginning. Try as we have, we haven’t gotten there yet. All we know is that life follows movements which still baffle us despite the great strides we have made with science and technology. We might never understand who we really are, but our way of living means we can no longer move steadily with the flow of the current. We must dictate how and where it flows.
That is the essence of fulfilling our dominion function. We were created in the image and likeness of a Creator. Many of us simply stare into space hoping for aliens to come and develop us, which is the worst attitude we can embrace. And especially in an era when time has been commoditised, there is an increasing demand that we take charge of our destiny. Considering where we have come from, and the length of time it has taken us to get here, there is a lot at stake for all humanity. And this is not just us now, but also for the many generations that will follow us. They will not simply ask about our time, they will question what we did for them. But what will they say about us? Will we be lost and unspoken of, because we did nothing that is of essence to them in their time? Or will they revere our names as their heroes and superheroes?
Too often, too many of us stare at the diversity of our ideas and aspirations and do nothing. These differences are the knots we must untie and unite to generate the energy that will create the synergy we need to make life awesome and meaningful. If we can attest to the wonderfulness of our uniqueness, how much more can all of it put together generate? There is a need for us to work together consciously to create tomorrow. This is the opportunity presented to us at the beginning of every new day. This is what nature does: the morning dew wipes the slate clean; the bird songs provide us with the musings, and the shining sun offers us power to unlock the potential in us and in our environment. It is a lesson that, together, we must learn to create synergy and use its impact tomorrow.
To achieve this, we must first expose the weakness of greed that prevents us from coming together. We must discredit the notion of ‘each one for him or herself, God for us all’. The concept of ‘love your neighbour as yourself’ locks us into a common destiny. It demands that we accept a common future and work together, each playing a role defined by their talent and skills. It is the only way we can dramatically dominate the world and carve a new creation. We have to attest that greatness is not generated by selfish aspirations. History teaches is time and time again that selfless acts become heroic deeds, and manifest as greatness. This deep-rooted principle should serve as our guide in all that we do.
The greatest characteristic/essence of life is that it is not static. This means we can create a life that is better than what we have now. And we must do this for the sake of posterity. This is why we must look reality in the face right now, and tackle it without any of the hypocrisy we live our individual lives with. We must reject pessimism and the impossible. And we should loathe un-creativeness with such zeal that we are forced/inspired to create something positive all the time. This is the way to shape the future: the way to impact positively on the many generations which will come after us.
Now is our chance -which does not mean there will be no other opportunities. There will surely be others, but they won’t be the same as we have now – which is why now is the best time to act; we must minimise the talk and let our actions speak. And we must ensure they are acts that are positive and bring about improvement in the lot of the masses, no matter how small it might seem. As the adage goes, ‘little drops of water make a mighty ocean’. Your little drop, and mine and those of all others can start the tsunami that brings about the needed change.
Kodwo Brumpon is an author, a trainer and life coach who inspires individuals, groups and organisations to think and feel that which is true by helping them positively respond to that which is beautiful while nudging them to let goodness govern their actions.
Comments, suggestions and requests should be sent to him at [email protected]
