discipline opens up for you, but you need it to recognise them, to
follow through & to recieve your prize. Unfortunately, after being a
drone for an industry of extraordinary selfishness, my personal
discipline record nose-dived. I got this into my head after reading
the bible.
It says in Proverbs He who is slack in his work is the same as he who
destroys. Note, it doesn't say he who is slack in the work of
'others'. It says in 'his' work. So what is 'my' work? Finding that
out is one aspect of 'my' work.
1. Leadership: I remember reading about pregnant women in China who
were attempting to induce labour on the 31st of december. It was
because the next year was the year of the sheep. It was humourous to
read, but I found it sobering once my laughter subsided. I was born in
the year of the Horse. My birth color is yellow, & my birth element is
earth. Sadly I don't possess the skill of chinese poetry, otherwise
I'd have arranged a name for myself that would be sooo cool. Still,
when I think about it, Yellow Earth Horse can't be rescued by anything
but the best in Chinese nomenclature.
What is it that I can rescue/contribute to that I 'can' be the best
at? What is my design of the 'better mouse trap'? Well, it's okay not
to know immediately. It is. But it's not okay to not do something in
the interim.
Everyone is a leader of some sort. Not necessarily Commander-in-Chief,
but a leader.
I won't drop the original japanese form a quote that comes to mind,
but I will drop the quote. "He who hasn't completed his stomach isn't
fit to lead. He who has completed his stomach is a leader."
An interpretation offered was that he who hasn't worked on himself has
no business being in charge of anything. Examples litter modern
Nigerian history. I don't want to join their number. I'm desperate not
to. Very. So things to think through, things to plan realistically,
things to drop, things to pick up, things to reach out to, things to
shy away from...
I haven't gone through any self-development training in a while. My
sense of will is pretty stiff. I won't be set in my ways, I can't
afford to be. I dare not.
Leadership isn't completed by having followers (Even Osama has
followers, & his thing isn't pure...to me, but that's for another
blog).
I don't know what completes it. Perhaps it is completed when you're of
living memory for a long time & then a lot longer. Jesus, Socrates,
Aristotle, Leonardo da Vinci,...these few examples are proof in
themselves, that a great leader remains in memory for long. Memory of
what they had done. I am not certain if that's the definition of a
legacy. I haven't seen a Nigerian legacy that I can relate with...&
that helps me better define leadership. Nigeria has been rife with
personalities, with forces, but not with movements. No movements. Not
a single one. With all due respect & all protocols observed, Fela
wasn't a movement. His followers had no leaders among them. They
wanted to be him so badly, they forgot that he just wanted them to
live like free human beings, not as mentally enslaved zombies. 1997
was a dark year when his flame died. It marked the end of a force.
Emulation / imitation is the highest form of flattery. It is also the
strongest showing of the worth of a leader in the eyes of his
followers. The strongest is when the fallibility of the leader is
factored in, & the worth of his thoughts/paths are stronger still in
the lives of his followers, as evidenced in their lives.
So maybe I'm not really interested in that sort of responsibility
(pastors can have it!), but it would be an honour to birth a movement
in Nigeria. Our first, authentic movement. Not people determined to
parrot what they've heard, but who are willing '& able' to assimilate,
measure with discerning, deliver with higher fidelity, the real
message. I don't know the message Nigeria needs right now. I'm not
speaking of adding to church membership, I'm talking about saving
people's lives till they thrive, instead of rescuing their means of
'existing'.
Perhaps I'm already bearing the message & don't know it yet. Perhaps...
Well, I've got to get to clearing up my room. Then drawing up a
schedule to recognise my second chances & position myself to take
them.
Yes, I'm aware of the '1'. '2' will be the next post. Any suggestions?
--
Sent from my mobile device
No comments:
Post a Comment