WAS life meant to be easy? Was life meant to be hard? A great and good life is not devoid of challenges.
You are not alone the fight that life always throws at us. At times it’s extremely hard.
It’s hard to lose your hard earned cash in an investment that did not work.
It’s hard to see yourself having to pick broken pieces of a relationship that you have invested so much in.
It’s hard! At times life is not fair, you attract enemies even if you are a good person.
There are hard seasons that everyone inevitably goes through.
Keep Reading
- Epworth eyes town status
- Courtois prepared for penalties
- Liverpool interested in Mbappe
- Klopp hints at squad rotation
Every dry season has its significance.
In most cases such times prune our bad character to bring the best out of us.
Such times herald the new season that we are about to enter into.
When we fail this step, we cannot graduate to the next level.
The bad behaviour we cannot conquer when we are in tough times, determines how long we stay in the desert.
You have to go through the tough and the rough times.
Elisha Goodman, in his book Passion Prayer of Jesus the Christ (2004) illustrates it so painfully frank; for David to reach the top there was to be a Goliath.
Goodman further goes on to say “. . . your enemy is as important as your friends . . . friends create comfort while your enemy creates rewards”.
Do you want to be rewarded? Then there has to be a test.
Tests, trials and tribulations give birth to testimonies and triumphs.
Storms are unavoidable, but misery (when passing through those storms) is what is optional.
In this instance, when things seem gloomy, that is when many people give up, not realising that it is like a woman giving birth; if she stops pushing, she will experience at least one of many fates, either she will have an abortion, the baby will die, or she will die herself.
Some people have failed in the process, thereby aborting their dream.
Now, we stand on the edge, with two options to embrace.
One option is to abandon your dream in fear of the tests and the other is to dive into the dream and see yourself being battered left, right and centre to come out refined and find yourself in the history books and standing with the great.
In life, there are two basic people that we have on earth, connotatively, those that dream and those that sleep.
Dreamers are those people who have been branded by society as being ambitious, who love to see things happening and always want to make this world better than they found it; by making their own contributions.
Sleepers are those that do not care what happens.
They are not into changing this world, but they are simply tossed to and fro by its change.
At times, they detest change and these are the people that have always wanted to be led, told what to do and they usually spend the rest of their lives being employees.
I am not saying quit your job, but be an engineer of your own destiny.
The dreamer is innovative and creative; the sleeper is imitative and would want to maintain systems like some managers who have not grasped the power of leadership and change.
There are people who cause action and those who watch action and those who are reeling in confusion, they do not even know what causes action, how it is caused and they do not bother learning how to bring about action.
They specialise in gobbling what others have toiled for.
They do not necessarily get positive tests, but they just would want to always taste what others have done.
The problem with sleepers is that they are not in the archives of history.
The unfortunate thing is that the sleepers do not leave a legacy; they are simply born so that they die.
On the other hand, dreamers leave a mark that the generations will always cherish.
Now, I believe greatness does not just fall from the stars, but it is created by those who want to be great.
Let us explore some of the practical tests that one goes through when they want to be on top.
Temperance
Restraint or self-control is important in all your success endeavours. As you go along, your temperance will go through fire.
A good example is that if you want to prove the weakness of a preacher, just step on their toe or push them to the corner.
They might punch you if their temper is not controlled.
A snake is sometimes not dangerous if not disturbed, but the moment you step on its tail, it strikes.
Our temperance test in most cases comes when we are under pressure.
The temperance test has made me learn it the hard way.
When you are hot tempered, it is easy to punch someone in their face and the next thing is to see yourself behind bars for assault.
When things subside or when you get back to your right senses, you regret.
Along the way of success there is always a temperance test.
Begin to control your temperance; otherwise it could bring a downfall to your dream.
Stamina
Stamina is all about how you endure, how you are determined to press on until your dream is given birth to.
In such instances, when your staying-power is tested, you could easily give up.
Giving up to me is as bad as abortion.
Pressing toward your destiny is like travelling from one point to another.
Your stamina will determine your progress.
For example, when one faints in a track race they fall down because they have run out of the stamina that they need to progress.
If no one helps them up or if they do not get back, they stay there until others in the same competition reach their goal.
In the journey to success, stamina is to have the power to push on.
Endurance is bitter, but its reward is sweet. So have the verve to press-on.
The courage to say I will fight until I hold it. I will read until I pass the test. I will pay the price despite what it costs.
I won’t lose patience until I am at the pinnacle. I won’t dwell on my failures, until I am the first.
I might be hearing dissenting and discouraging voices, but I will stay on my choices.
The process might be painful, but I will never let go of the promises that God has given me.
Reaching my Canaan may be very long and very laborious, but I will press on until I get my honey and milk.
Mount Everest might be very tall, but it is too early for me to give in before I reach the crest. This is stamina!
Being misunderstood
At times, you have to flow against the tide and embrace the real you other than what other people want you to be in life.
People around you do not have a correct concept of what you are, other than the real you and God.
If at birth the mother of American businessman and philanthropist Bill Gates knew fully what she was carrying in her hands, she would have started celebrating the success of her child.
Those who went to school with former United States President Barack Obama would have treated him in a better way if they knew that one day, he would be their president.
Generally, people around you do not have an idea of who you are and what your potential is; so stop letting their perceptions define you.
People might misunderstand you, but that does not mean that you are wrong or have to be what they want you to be.
Stop puzzling yourself with what people think or want of you because they might be also busy trying to figure out what you are thinking about them.
Rather, think about what you want to be.
Time
Some people have said that what is important in life is not necessarily how we start the journey, but how well we finish.
People will not celebrate the start of your athletic competition, but how you have finished.
So there is the time factor between the starting point and the end line.
So whatever your dream is, it should go under the test of time before it is celebrated.
Your dream might be taking a long to bring fruit, but it will definitely bring one if you hold on in there.
Possibly you are thinking of quitting because it has taken very long for you to break through: take yet another mile and you might smile.
The thin line separating those who are successful and those who have failed is this: those who have won refused to quit and those who failed gave up when the race got rough.
Simply, I say, do not give up until you hit the finish line.
Faith
Your faith needs to be put under test to make sure it is built on a firm foundation.
In His ministry, Jesus after fasting for forty nights and forty days was tempted (Matthew 4vs. 1-10).
As you pursue that dream you need to realise that those that are heroes have to pass the test.
Your faith test, as long as you have an assignment, will definitely come.
The bigger the test, the larger the triumphs. Little tests bring little victories and big tests bring bigger testimonies.
The bigger your faith is in what you want to achieve, the bigger the test.
Faith says, before you see it you have to visualise it, before you visualise it, you have got to go through certain processes and one of the ingredients in the process is passing the faith test.
Denial
Your dream has to be big enough to attract denial from some sectors of the society.
In most cases, people go well with what they already know other than a new design.
People are naturally opposed to change and the new invention that you might want to experiment on can cause some people to be against you.
Does that mean you should give up? NO!
This test is trickier if there is not any helping hand when need arises.
That should not trouble your heart because you are unique enough to be different and to attract opposition.
At times, denial is proof that you want to change the situation.
Usually if you want to bring change, there will be a few people who will support you.
Some deny you because they fear taking risks.
Secondly, they are timid that if your plan crumbles, they will be identified with you when you turn into a laughing stock.
Thirdly, some are afraid of you becoming great.
Hatred
The most defining moment in life is when people will hate you simply because of who you are.
Enemies are important because they push you to aim high.
Whether you like it or not there are people that will be your enemies even though you love them with the pure love.
At times it is the enemy who will tell you the truth, point blank more than your friend who may be flattering you with lies or chocolate-coated words to impress you.
The person that might betray you is one who is closest, because they might give you a false kiss but at the same time lie to you. That is betrayal!
The enemy test is painful like a medical injection but at the same time as important as the medicine in the injection for treatment.
Jonah Nyoni is a corporate trainer, leadership expert and author of the book A Call to Leadership Agility. X: @jonahnyoni. WhatsApp: +263 772 581 918.