THAT SPLIT SECOND

"I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker".  ~Hellen Keller

Life Signatures can be determined...in a split second. The keyword here is DETERMINED. I am a firm believer of incubation and processes, yet even that most important concept in life is preceded by...the SPLIT SECOND. The split second is nothing but the moment of DECISION. In a split second, I can decide to go for the fourth chapati (that means the minimum is three here, hehehehe). In a split second, I can decide to do 'one for the road'. We all know where that normally leads. In a split second, I can decide to go against the grain for the better long run, or maintain the mundane comfortable 'till a later date'.

Friends, we are all faced with that opportunity every single day. It does not take 20 years to decide to live a life of purpose. Neither does it take long to decide to live a wanton and destructive life. It takes a split second. Why is it that way? Simple. We are not robbots, neither are we tamed animals. We are human beings laddend with serious potential. We are meant for success, significance, wealth and greatness. Yet all these things are not a function of copying and pasting. They are a result of conscious choices we make in a life full of split seconds!

When Mike Tyson bit off Evander Holyfield's precious ears, it was a split-second decision. I can almost assure you that it was not a pre-meditated move. Yet, several decades down the line, Iron Mike still is affected by that split-second decision, albeit practising for the bout for months! The decision to have sex before marriage is normally taken in a 'split second'. Yeah, they will tell you that you have thought about it and meditated upon it. That plays a big and major role in the final decision...yet still the real decision is taken in 'split seconds.'

The split second  has a major power in shaping the destiny of a visionary. You know why? Because the split second decision is always gauged between two things: the bright and shiny objects (distractions), and the pale, un-inviting fundamentals that do not guarantee immediate comfort and thrill. I need you to know that in that moment of pressure, in the split-second, you always are in CONTROL. Can I tell you the shortcut for power? It is in a split second, against the lure of the now-now comfort and thrill, standing firm to choose the fundamentals that will ultimately shape a Life Signature. Ngina Otiende says it this way, "Saying 'No' to yourself and others deepens you". There are many happy people in this world, but I can tell you this: The happiest of them all are those who have made the decision that 'deepens' them in a split second!

 

Now, the most interesting thing about the split second is the GRACE available to us to operate AFTER we have made our choice. Whether we choose wisely or not, we have the psychological backing to see us through, just because we CHOSE...and as we do, we also decide the quality of the life that we will have.

In a friendship some years past, I had that opportunity. I had that split second right infront of me. I had a major chance to choose forgiveness right there and then against revenge and pacifying of my anger. I mean, I was justified to complain, front my rights and demand an apology. I also had the opportunity to say, "Forgive them Father, they know not what they are doing". Sadly, I chose the other way. In a split second, the following six months of my life were defined by that tragic decision I made. Tough. Traumatising. Maddening. Infuriating. To cure my anger, I took to running, but I only came back madder! Looking back, I can now see how things would have been different, and much better, if in that split second, I would have chosen otherwise.

I know I have advocated for taking time to PLAN before we execute. It reminds me of an army General who said that plans made before war are mostly useless at war...yet they are still indespensable. The moral is that Life is what happens when we are busy making other plans. The bigger planning is crucial and critical, however, the daily decisions we take are far much more important and impactful.

Friend, we live life in several opportunities of split-second decisions. I know you will take care about that, wont you?

WHAT THE NAMALES AND THE MANDELAS HAVE IN COMMON

The crowd, the world, and sometimes even the grave, step aside for the man who knows where he’s going, but pushes the aimless drifter aside~~Ancient Roman saying

Make no mistake about it. These are one of the most 'dry' seasons and times of a visionary. When the vision stays just it~a Vision. When the dreams still are up there un-materialized. When a visionary faces situations that are screaming a contrary message of your Life Signature. These are root moments. Yet they are faced the world over. In fact whether one is a visionary or not, they will come to that moment of disillusionment. Those moments where one's efforts seem to go unnoticed. Like one hitting a rock with a rubber hammer-it simply bounces off and even threatens to wreck the wielder of the hammer himself.

These are the moments that form the Steve Jobses, the Abraham Lincolns, the Nelson Mandelas and the Lawrence Namales, and for a good measure, you can insert here your clan's name. To be honest, I have learnt to embrace these moments and if anything, MAXIMIZE them. You see, the earlier I accept the root time, the earlier it is that I start filling up my Life Signatures with incredible nutrients. In fact the best University out there has been called the UNIVERSITY OF LIFE. It is in this place that you learn stuff first hand. There is no one to dictate notes, no one to mark your assignments. The root moments. We oughtta cherish them.

Isn't it amazing that our greatest opportunities so often arise from our greatest challenges? Yet we find it paradoxical enough that sometimes we term these moments as 'the lost years of our lives'. We could never be any wrong on a definition. These are seldom lost years. These are root years. Root years tend to pose those pertinent questions to a soul and ultimately to a Visionary of Life Signatures. Where we go wrong for the most part is equating progress with motion, or fruitfulness with incessant action.

However, one of the largest ingredients of success to a visionary is those solitude, rocky, tough times that life itself does not make sense at all. When your dream seams like a mockery to you. When pursuit of a dream is threatened with the watering down of a life to mundane living of putting food on the table, cloths on your back and shelter on your head. Evidently, this is far from fun as we know it. However, it is such times that shape our character, mold our resolves and strengthen our belief in the dream. Remember the iDIMENSION?

The crux of this post is to encourage all of us to stand focused on the path of our Life Signatures at those seemingly 'God forsaken' moments. What I have seen many people do is 'wait out the season'. This means that they suspend living and ultimately drop the dream...until such a time that conditions will become favorable. That is a mistake. I have learnt that there are illusion in tough times. The first illusion is that...the times are tough all over the place. Why do I call it an illusion? It is because everything else around us is sifted through the glass of what we are experiencing.

I have learnt to embrace and welcome the root-times of my life, knowing full well that they are shifting shadows. Will be here today, tomorrow they will be forgotten like they never existed. Of course the root times vary depending on the dream and the person. For a certain Mr. Nelson Mandela, it was well over 25 years of root time. We are talking a quarter of a century of root time just for one man alone. But in the end, this is one of the most respected statesmen who ever lived, I dare say in the same league as Abraham Lincholn and Martin Luther King Jnr.
For a certain Steve jobs, it was half a lifetime of starting over. One amazing thing is that the man just kept working. Kept believing. It made no difference whether it was a root time or otherwise. It is no wonder that some of the products at Apple are out of stock months after introduction for the very first time in the market.

Friend, root times do not make any sense....and that is perfectly well. They are not supposed to make sense, at least to a normal human being. They are to be embraced. Vision is to be held despite the things happening around that we do not understand. I read somewhere that 'persistance is the mother of personal development'.  I could not agree more.I count myself persistent, and how lucky and blessed I am to have many examples of individuals who have already gone before us, no doubt leaving their Life Signatures not only to this generation, but many more to come.