It is that time of the year when scorecard is taken, books are finalized, plans are reviewed, and goals are subjected through the scrutiny of implementation. The ritual is a familiar one, yet it never goes extinct. However, the big question is: How did you fare over the past 365 days?
There is an inherent pressure that comes from that question. The subtle inclination that you might not have done enough, that you could have done more. Put in the right balance, this is the correct mindset. There are literatures that seeks to encourage you irrespective of how mediocre, stupid or insipid you might have been. While the intent of such literatures is mostly genuine, the unintended consequence of overtly enmeshing yourself in a mild falsehood; something my friend Olachi Olatunji called the ‘danger of praise’ in her TEDx speech, is that you are not challenged enough to grow. Sometimes, being offered false tenderness and foisted praise feels like the very proof that you've been ruined. We must be honest with ourselves when having a reflection on how the year has gone.
Honesty is not a license to be extremely critical, but it is required. For if we cannot behold our own nakedness, who shall we turn to? To have been average in 2019 is not enough. We must seek better. As Edmund Gaudet once said: ‘Average is what the failures claim to be when their family and friends ask them why they are not more successful? "Average" is the top of the bottom, the best of the worst, the bottom of the top, the worst of the best. Which of these are you? Being "average" is the lazy person's cop-out; it's lacking the guts to take a stand in life; it's living by default. To be "average" is to be forgotten once you pass from this life. The successful are remembered for their contributions; the failures are remembered because they tried; but the "average," the silent majority, is just forgotten.’
Yet, one thing you should always have in your wheelhouse is your power to remain grateful, irrespective of how your year has panned out. Gratefulness is a powerful thing. It helps you put things in perspective, and it is a deft reminder that you have so much to be thankful for. Nature has a way of rewarding the one who is full of gratitude. At this time of the year, count your blessings. If you can’t find any, you are not seeing clear enough. Your year might have had more holes than a Swiss cheese, but there is still a litany of things to be grateful for. More so, you have to believe that when it comes to your life, Elvis has not left the building. At this time of the year, get a list of all those that have made the journey easier, more rewarding and supportive. Send them a gift; gifts of presents, words, visits and cash. These little actions are evidences of your gratitude, and Life has a way of giving us a taste of our own medicine, in even greater measure.
There is an inherent pressure that comes from that question. The subtle inclination that you might not have done enough, that you could have done more. Put in the right balance, this is the correct mindset. There are literatures that seeks to encourage you irrespective of how mediocre, stupid or insipid you might have been. While the intent of such literatures is mostly genuine, the unintended consequence of overtly enmeshing yourself in a mild falsehood; something my friend Olachi Olatunji called the ‘danger of praise’ in her TEDx speech, is that you are not challenged enough to grow. Sometimes, being offered false tenderness and foisted praise feels like the very proof that you've been ruined. We must be honest with ourselves when having a reflection on how the year has gone.
Honesty is not a license to be extremely critical, but it is required. For if we cannot behold our own nakedness, who shall we turn to? To have been average in 2019 is not enough. We must seek better. As Edmund Gaudet once said: ‘Average is what the failures claim to be when their family and friends ask them why they are not more successful? "Average" is the top of the bottom, the best of the worst, the bottom of the top, the worst of the best. Which of these are you? Being "average" is the lazy person's cop-out; it's lacking the guts to take a stand in life; it's living by default. To be "average" is to be forgotten once you pass from this life. The successful are remembered for their contributions; the failures are remembered because they tried; but the "average," the silent majority, is just forgotten.’
Yet, one thing you should always have in your wheelhouse is your power to remain grateful, irrespective of how your year has panned out. Gratefulness is a powerful thing. It helps you put things in perspective, and it is a deft reminder that you have so much to be thankful for. Nature has a way of rewarding the one who is full of gratitude. At this time of the year, count your blessings. If you can’t find any, you are not seeing clear enough. Your year might have had more holes than a Swiss cheese, but there is still a litany of things to be grateful for. More so, you have to believe that when it comes to your life, Elvis has not left the building. At this time of the year, get a list of all those that have made the journey easier, more rewarding and supportive. Send them a gift; gifts of presents, words, visits and cash. These little actions are evidences of your gratitude, and Life has a way of giving us a taste of our own medicine, in even greater measure.
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