Make your life count

As I sit down to write this maiden edition on the “Shape a Life” website, my heart goes out to several young people out there who really desire to make it in life. They want to make it big but somehow don’t know how to go about it. My heart goes out to the young man or woman who looks at the world and everything in it seems to be going at such a fast pace that you can hardly catch your breath. You seem to be in a vast land without a compass, but I have come your way today to redirect you to the compass. Yes, there is a compass, which is very obvious and audible; the only challenge is that you are too consumed with the desire to ‘make it’ that you have completely ignored the compass. You have become so overwhelmed with where you are that the noise is so loud and this has made the compass completely inaudible to you.

Now what is a compass? A compass is a tiny object that:

1. Shows you where you are (locates you)

2. Shows you where you are going (directs you)

Now, going by the size of the compass, the ignorant person will probably throw it into the sea when the storm arises, but the sailor will rather throw everything else into the sea but not the compass, because he knows that as long as he has the compass, it might only take him some time, he will get to his destination. My desire for you, dear reader, is that you will get to your destination, and all that you dream to become will come to pass.

There is a Kenyan adage which says, ‘The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, but the second best time is now’. So, you might have missed planting the tree 20 years ago, but I have good news for you in this column. The morning starts just when you wake up, so wake up today and take advantage of the second best time to plant the tree, and that is NOW! Don’t let one more moment slip past you, you can make it, you will make it and not only that, you will in turn show others the way. That’s because you are on your way to being the role model that you have always dreamt to be; the reference point everyone is happy to identify with, the son or daughter every parent dreams and prays to have.

Let us look at the compass a little more closely and attempt to find the compass for our lives. The compass like I said has two main functions: It tells you where you are, and it directs you to where you are going.

The compass in you is your spirit. There is something about the human spirit that you cannot explain. It has the capacity to discern right from wrong. Stop and think for a minute, can you think back to when you were about to do something wrong and a voice from deep within you was condemning you? Can you remember the times you decided to sleep off in the room when lectures were going on and a voice from deep within you could not allow you rest? Or can you remember when you were about to spend your last dime on a drink and you felt a very strong urge to save it. That is your compass giving you direction.

Now you need to know that your actions today determine where you are tomorrow, but the good thing is that your actions yesterday have become history and history has no power over you. Your history can only do to you, what you allow it to. If you allow your yesterday to haunt you to the extent that you cannot lift your face today, then it is your fault, you simply empowered your past. Rather than sit down crying over the spilt milk of yesterday, I challenge you to go all out and buy yourself another cow today so that you can enjoy fresh milk tomorrow.

You might succeed in deceiving everybody. You can claim to be what you are not and no one around you will immediately discover, but there is one person you cannot deceive and that is yourself. Your spirit knows exactly where you are. The spirit of a man is likened to a candle that has the capacity to show you the way in the midst of darkness, but that can only happen if your candle is lit.

How then do you light the candle of your spirit so it can be the true guide? The first thing to do is to align your spirit with the laws of the Creator. Everything created is for a purpose and the best person to explain the use of a thing, is its creator. The same thing applies to man, and this point is critical; you must make out quality time to seek your Creator, for only He can show you where you truly are, and direct you to where you are going. I recommend getting up very early in the morning every day to seek the face of your Creator, and to spend time in His presence. There, your spirit will begin to receive the illumination and direction it needs to give real meaning to your life.

So until I come your way again in the next edition, make excellent use of your compass and go for it! You can do it!

Impacting lives and fulfilling purpose

Oluwayomi Uteh (Mrs.)

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