It takes "U"- Part 1

It takes “U” - Part 1

The credit for this post goes to my role model, my boss, my friend, my encourager, a consummate entrepreneur, an astute blogger, an enthralling motivational speaker and an astute networker; Mr Isaac Adesuyi Oluyi. By going around with him to some of his speaking engagements, he has figuratively speaking, burned into my mind the illustration that informed this post. It’s such a simple illustration; the difference between the words ‘mourning’ and ‘morning’.

The words ‘mourning’ and ‘morning’ are two words which are pronounced alike but with very different meanings. What differentiates these two words is the letter ‘u’. Take the letter ‘u’ out of 'mourning' and you have ‘morning’. There is a profound lesson to be drawn from this illustration. As my boss would say, ‘morning’ denotes hope, and for me, brightness also while mourning denotes gloom. But to move from mourning to morning, it takes ‘u’. This means every one of us is responsible for our lives and we cannot continue to blame others or wait on others in order to experience the bright side of life.

I listened to a speaker who said the word ‘circumstance’ comes from two Latin words which mean the circle in which you are standing. And if you are not comfortable with the circle in which you are standing all you need to do is to walk out. So quit complaining about that circumstance in which you find yourself. Do something about it. Walk out of that circle or turn the circle around. Just do something about the circle because your life is in your hands. I started writing this piece yesterday but I couldn’t finish it. Later in the day, I was driving on the highway when a car hit my car from behind.

The first thing that flashed through my mind after the crash was ‘money to repair the car’. The people who came around advised the two of us to go and repair our cars. I accepted even though I was hit from behind. At that point I had various options available to me: either to start griping about the situation or to take actions toward repairing the car. I could either decide to drown myself in self-pity or refuse to allow my mood to be dampened. But because I have come to realise that it is not what happens to you that matters but how you respond to what happens to you, I decided that my spirit would not be dampened and with the assistance of my inspirational boss, I took the car to the panel beater.

Blaming others as the reason why we find ourselves in whatever unpalatable situation we are in is just an excuse to remain in such situation. I could blame various people as being responsible for the crash but doing that would not have resulted in anything positive. So I decided to respond to the situation at hand instead of reacting to it. To move from mourning to morning, it takes you and no one else. This means you must do something about that situation you are complaining about. It takes you to move from a state of despondency to a state of optimism. It takes you to move from a state of hopelessness to a state of hope. It takes you to move from a state of helplessness to a state of abundance. It takes you to move from a state of lack to a state of abundance. It takes you to move from failure to success. It takes you and only you!