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Middle game…
By Felix | August 13, 2008
I was told once, that life is a middle game, and I didn’t make much of it then, but as we age and experience robs us off our youth, we begin to understand or unravel the greatest mystery of all… Life!
No matter where you are today and what you are going through, the truth is there have been people or better put there are people who are going through worse and you can really only call you situation bad when you have compared it with something better.
I’ve watched enough CNN, looked at where I am coming from and also seen in the environment around me to know you and I are lucky to be where we are, no matter how bad it seems to us compared to our dreams, desires and fantasies. It’s a sane thought and worth thinking.
Where you stand today, there are a lot of people who are secretly wishing to be in your shoes, yes maybe not knowing fully what you are going through, but seeing your situation from the outside is good enough for them. I remember a some ten years back I was chatting with an uncle who was my role model back then, I so wanted to be like him, he was just a few years older than I am and he represented the big brother figure for me (being the first and only boy of just two), we got talking about his friend who lived a couple of blocks from us and I asked him; I thought they said the richer you are the bigger your problems, and he said “God should give him half of what his friend was worth at that time, and give him twice the problems he had” …(lol) I agreed with him them seeing that the friend in question was worth hundreds of millions, looking back at that now, I realize how wrong he was, because if he had the half what the man was worth and twice his problems, he’ll be bankrupt within a few months or weeks, if not much less.
We were both looking at the person in question from the outside and not the inside. Man was designed to with an insatiable desire to want more (even if I don’t see anything wrong in wanting more). No matter how much you acquire today, you’ll still want more after sometime. Even the likes of Bill Gates are today in competition for who will be the richest man in the world and what takes them there and keep them is their desire for more.
Let’s get back to the topic before I deviate totally, no matter what it is you are going through, no matter how overwhelming the problem is, it is only as big as you see it or think it, I once heard a saying that goes “Prosperity is a way of living and thinking… especially the thinking part” today as I write this, there are people out there who aspire to be like you as much as you aspire to be like others or better still as you aspire to be better. I am writing this today, because (in my few years of being on this earth) I have never seen when worrying solved any problem, so you can either today choose to worry about your problems or whatever it you are going through or see yourself as fortunate, because there are people out there who are going through worse, and I believe the latter will help you see possibilities on how you can overcome your situation.
I also picked inspiration for this article from the story…
In 1982 Steven Callahan was crossing the Atlantic alone in his sailboat when it struck something and sank. He was out of the shipping lanes and floating in a life raft, alone. His supplies were few. His chances were small. Yet when three fishermen found him seventy-six days later (the longest anyone has survived a shipwreck on a life raft alone), he was alive-much skinnier than he was when he started, but alive.
His account of how he survived is fascinating. His ingenuity-how he managed to catch fish, how he fixed his solar still (evaporates sea water to make fresh)-is very interesting.
But the thing that caught my eye was how he managed to keep himself going when all hope seemed lost, when there seemed no point in continuing the struggle, when he was suffering greatly, when his life raft was punctured and after more than a week struggling with his weak body to fix it, it was still leaking air and wearing him out to keep pumping it up. He was starved. He was desperately dehydrated. He was thoroughly exhausted. Giving up would have seemed the only sane option.
When people survive these kinds of circumstances, they do something with their minds that gives them the courage to keep going. Many people in similarly desperate circumstances give in or go mad. Something the survivors do with their thoughts helps them find the guts to carry on in spite of overwhelming odds.
“I tell myself I can handle it,” wrote Callahan in his narrative. “Compared to what others have been through, I’m fortunate. I tell myself these things over and over, building up fortitude….”
I wrote that down after I read it. It struck me as something important. And I’ve told myself the same thing when my own goals seemed far off or when my problems seemed too overwhelming. And every time I’ve said it, I have always come back to my senses.
Peace N a Fist!
Topics: choice, life lessons, motivation |
August 14th, 2008 at 3:23 am
“…seventy-six days later (the longest anyone has survived a shipwreck on a life raft alone)…”
I’d better remain in the middle and live life as it was designed by my Father.
Thanks
August 14th, 2008 at 11:37 pm
Human nature to have pitty parties on our situations.. and God willing we have a light bulb moment n snap out of it.. Be grateful for who u are and what u are about STOP worrying about what others have it is their life not yours do the best for you, if one spends so much time worrying about what others have they stop living their life… LIVE YOUR LIFE..
PRAYER NEEDED HERE… this week my family found out that my nephew Adam has a tumor on his spinal cord and it is cancer he is 26yrs young and dealing with a life threatning illness not to mention peralisis.. so please all you prayerful souls out there .. say a special prayer for my nephew Adam.. Thank you .. xxx
August 18th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Its funny that no matter how bad you think your situation is, someone somewhere is going through worse things. The best we can do is always thank God for where we are knowing He will keep us.
Felix I think you should know that sometimes, I wish to be like you…well in some areas sha o!!
August 18th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
@ Tola … LOL not in the area of his life with me .. trust me u wouldnt want to deal with me.. lol right love.. lol
August 25th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
@debra… you can say that again
@tola… its good you added in some areas.
@jesusfreak… in the middle doesn’t mean we shouldn’t strive for more!