Saving Tomorrow

Everyone in life is said to have a certain way or pattern to how they view life and the things around them. Every man has a particular way he views things, believe in them and how he reacts to them. In all, man acts on a particular belief system; he operates on his own opinion which in a large way determines his tomorrow.

No man is certain of his tomorrow. Yes, a man can have a desired expected end but there is no guarantee for how events planned unfold towards that certain expectation. And there goes the cliché- “we hope for the best and prepare for the worst”. Suffice to say, man lives his everyday life in complete consideration of what tomorrow has to offer.

Tomorrow can be defined in different ways, best seen in every man’s own perspective. Just as some would see tomorrow as the day after today, others may see it as the “near future”. Viewing tomorrow in the former can be considered myopic which the latter considers tomorrow on a much larger and long range vision. How we view our tomorrow largely determines the kind of life we live and how much we can expect from it.

It is evident that no man can predict tomorrow. Yes! No one can be in complete certainty of what tomorrow has to offer. You need not be dismayed by the thought of not knowing what your tomorrow has to offer but take solace in the thought that you can save your tomorrow. Save my tomorrow? Yes, you sure can save your tomorrow by the life you lead today and by every action and decision you make today.

I know you are probably racking your brain wondering how possible it is for one to save his tomorrow. Well, it is not as hard as you think. All you need do is learn to personally develop and improve yourself every day-being a better version of yourself today than you were yesterday. To make this work, you need to have a proper mindset, a positive attitude and a loving heart.

Tomorrow is full of so much uncertainty. It is a day in constant flux that just a singular action can alter the outcome of the next day and many more days after that. So, in achieving a desired tomorrow, one must cultivate the habit of living with the proper mindset. A proper mindset determines how you view things and life in general, how you respond to these things and how you relate to your immediate environment. One who can learn to maintain a proper mindset aligned to success and a good healthy life can always achieve a fulfilled life- a better tomorrow. 

Also, a man who hopes for a better tomorrow must be ready to live life with a positive attitude. He must be enthusiastic about the things he loves and hope for. This would imply that even when those expected outcomes are not forthcoming, situations are not rosy and challenges seem to be overwhelming, you must learn to see the best out of that very situation. A positive attitude demands you operate above the mediocre life, beyond accepting just anything life has to offer. A positive attitude demands you become an optimistic person, seeing possibilities in every situation even when all hope might seem bleak; it requires you see things the way you desire and need them to be even though they might not appear so.

A positive attitude yields much as it is said, “nothing great can be built upon a pessimistic approach”. How you think and perceive things around you greatly affect and change the situations around you; positive thinking yields a positive outcome while a negative thought yields the fruits of the “down-life”. So, it is only right you construct the right attitude and approach to every aspect of your life and always expecting the best out of tomorrow.

To guarantee a better tomorrow, one must be ready to search for more, an element that complements a positive attitude and a proper mindset- love. Love encompasses all good tidings on earth. Love is indeed a binding force that has the ability to cause things to come into effect. Love is all we need and it is worthwhile to know that the best person you could ever love is YOU. Yes, the best person you could ever show love to is you.

Loving yourself for who you are, what you are and what you stand for greatly determines how you see yourself and how much relevance you attach yourself; for as you see yourself, so shall people also see you. Loving yourself in the right frame determines the scope to how much or little you see yourself and how possible it is for you to cause change and effect in your world.

When you love yourself, it should be genuine and not some sort of narcissism. 

Loving yourself says a lot about you, defines who you truly are and only when you can love yourself can you love some other person and the world at large. When you show love to a person, it helps generate the confidence within your inner being; it helps elevate one’s sense of sense esteem. Showing love to someone helps build a positive lifestyle, helps you gain respect and it allows you feel loved back.

In securing a better tomorrow, saving our future, we must be willing to love and be ready to be loved back as well. A life filled with love can only experience fullness, satisfaction and accomplishment. So, today, decide to live a life where you see everything working out for your good, every situation just how you want and need it and lastly, showing love in all that you do; just then can you enjoy a life with a secured tomorrow. Indeed, a man can truly live a good life with a better tomorrow in view. Start today! Live the good life now.

About the Author 

Ettoh Oghenekefe is a content creator. He writes articles, stories and develops ideas/content for start-up firms. He enjoys best translating words and ideas into enjoyable stories.

 

Dreams

Dreams they say come through. A great man once said, “dreams are those series of events that that keeps sleep off your eyes”. Struggling through torrents of self-discovery landed me into turbulent worries that made me cry out my eyes till aye. I started off as one who desired so many affluent things ranging from house to cars, a beautiful wife and kids. I jumped the gun, I never saw the truth and reality in finding wealth in what I love, thus I sought to find them in where ever they are regarding less whether it is in my natural environment, whether it gives me peace or not, satisfaction or not, what really matters was the cash in bank and not sustainability of the source.

Time is a friend to no one and waits not for one who is so patient with his comfort. Tick says the clock. Soon I sought for inner peace, amidst my wealth, I cannot kiss in peace. The journey into the realms of self discovery became tougher than assumed, it did not come on a platter, it was rough. I became victim of many vices trying to kill my pride to ride on my pride. The more I sought for who I am the more complicated it becomes; things I could do came in concocted concoction that had no direct connection to a fusion around the session where my passion lies. I sought to retreat in sober reflection but this makes it look like I am in detention hence the complication abounds.

Terrible search for solution pushed me violently to attend events on personal development and self-discovery, which to some extent paid off. An encounter with Bankole Williams salvaged my case. He said, “your talent is that which you can really do with great enthusiasm without care for remuneration and preparation, keep doing this until the demands are high, and before you know it, you would start earning from your talent”. I remembered an incident that happened while I was in School. On a certain day, while I was returning from the library where I went to read for my exam, I decided to stop by a seminar which a friend invited me to. Having sat for some minutes, a word spoken by the speaker ignited me, and I said to myself, if that was the only thing I could learn for that day, I guess it’s enough. That which the speaker said was this, “an award merited but not received is better than an award received but not merited”. The implication of this to me is that, even when I am rewarded for a talent and or skill exhibited its better off than to be rewarded for a talent not exhibited or exhibiting a skill outside ones domain. Put in another word, it is more profitable to glow in your strength than to glow in your weakness. I quite realize that everything comes with a price, achieving it needs the application of patience, persistence and consistence. With time, you will become a brand.

Managing and multi-tasking could be cumbersome and herculean a task, hence discipline must be cultivated, if not, one may lose focus. I had a little glitch there. I discovered that I could do a whole lot of things, as a result I am here in one minute and in another minute, I am in another place, at the end of the day, I am everywhere but nowhere. Having developed the habit of attending personal development seminars or training, I got the key to unlock this problem, let loose of it, and then became free.

In one of my sessions with EldaDavid, he made me understand that it is not a problem to be multi-skilled, however the ability to place them in their order of priority and concentrate on a few after interconnecting them would make one efficient.

Money though may not be important but it sure affected every other thing that is important. Money was needed to get “groomed” in my “bride” and not being able to withhold the frustration that comes with lacking finance to excel, I soon digressed and delved into a money making venture that has little or nothing to do with my passion and desire. What is not original, however does not last. Challenges from this venture soon inundated and overwhelmed me and I was plunged into search for a true self and a purpose driven life to attain self-actualization. The journey to self-actualization is very demanding and tasking, but only right focus will make me win the battle.

In order to scale through personality crises, the following must be taken into cognizance…..

1. Retreat

2. Reflection

3. Education

4. Training

5. Focus

1. When faced with series of personality crises, and you are caught in a web, the first thing you ought to do is RETREAT. By retreating, you are expected to withdraw from the series of activities you are into. This will help you get relieved of the less important activities but still connect you to your essence.

2. Having retreated what follows next is reflection which is often accompanied by review. The time for reflection is a period when you ask yourself serious question as to who you really are, it is not a time to lie to yourself or to be selective on the questions you ask yourself or to be insincere to yourself. While asking you are expected to have a review of your past activities, in fact, the review will provide you with the right questions to ask yourself. The apt result of this will be a revelation of the activities you derive joy in and the one you struggle with.

3. It is expected that at this point in the series of activities towards self-discovery, you must have gotten the idea of what your strong and weak points are and a clear perception of who you are. When this is achieved, necessary education on the chosen path should be the next line of action. Education here is required so as to know or have an in-depth on how to excel in that path. A man who seeks not knowledge is tantamount to a blind man walking the road, he will stumble. The value of education could be seen in the statements of two great religious leaders in history. Jesus Christ said, my people perish because they lack knowledge. And the Prophet Muhammad said, seek knowledge even to china.

4. When all that is needed to be don is clearly executed, the next to be done is to seek platforms for the exhibition of what you do or who you are, these platforms will help you put into practice the ideas in your mind. At this stage, money should not be the focal point, all you should seek here is brand, let your brand be known and famous so that when the money comes, it will come in whole number and not in piecemeal.

Conclusion

Dreams they say come through but not in a day. Most successful people are those who have nurtured their dreams for a very long time and have stayed focused to that dream without wavering.

Actualization of dreams should be a deliberate act nurtured with patience and persistence.

About the Author

Nwosu Marcus Ifeanyi  is the Program Coordinator of Standout Media TV in the South West zone of Nigeria, he is a writer and a poet par excellence. He is quite passionate about Teens and Youth Development.