Resonance

Category: Purpose

  • Stubborn For More: How to Channel your Energy to do Greater Things

    Our bodies were fashioned to protect us. Instinctively, all we do is towards survival. We eat, drink, sleep, walk, talk and go about our daily lives basically as a means of survival. However, there is little to no satisfaction in doing the usual stuff all the time. This is because we are more than our physiological makeup and deep within us, we want a challenge.

    The best of us never comes out without a challenge. Thus, we begin to desire greater things; greater things our brains register as a “threat” since it could ruin our survival. Our survival is our comfort zone and stepping out of our comfort zone is risky and a threat. Nonetheless, we are excited to push beyond our limits when we actually do. The more risk we take, the more excited we become.

    For instance, our fear of falling may not allow us to jump off a moving plane. When we finally do, there’s nothing compared to that kind of excitement. However, in a light of taking good risks, some of us will never jump off that plane. Never! The question now becomes, how do you break free from your comfort zone and survival mode and jump head-on into the unknown?

    Persistence is key


    Water has a very high surface tension. This is why some insects with low body mass can settle on the surface of water. In fact, that explains why some objects float on water. As humans, we can float on water if we relax our body mass on the water body. Our legs would hang and our arms would shield, keeping our torso afloat. Nonetheless, with a slight persistent application of pressure on the water body, we could swim deeper. The happy and sad part about persistence is that it is more difficult at the beginning. Good riddance. This means the beginning is the more difficult part. It also means when you become persistent in an area you shouldn’t – like drinking alcohol – since you have broken the “surface tension”, it become easier the next time to “dive deeper”. Persistence comes in two folds and that leads me to the next issue;

    Consistency over Intensity

    Consistency and Intensity are important ingredients in their own rights. As humans, we soon realize that there is no such thing as inconsistency. You’re either consistent or consistently inconsistent. Since you get to choose your pattern of consistency, why not stick to the ideal? Before you can be consistent for real, you need to understand how it doesn’t relate to intensity. Many of what we practice as consistency is intensity in disguise. Consistency is doing great things in little ways. Intensity is doing little things in great ways.

    Consistency is about the long-term. Intensity is about the short-term. No one can be consistently intensive without being intensively consistent from the start. It’s not brushing your teeth for 2 hours non-stop that will make a difference. It’s brushing it for just 2 minutes twice for about 2 years. If you focus on intensity as a beginner, you’ll break down even before the real journey begins. Long-term consistency will always triumph short-term intensity. Sadly, in the world of quick fix, consistency looks like a thing for losers.

    Just remind yourself that short-term intensity does not equal long-term results. If you get injured, if you burn out, or if you stop, all the progress up to that point does little good. The LONG-TERM success is what you’re after. Consistency is the vehicle that will help you achieve those long-term results.

    The “No Matter What” mindset

    If you’ve been around for long, you’d realize that there is always something. Something always comes up. Ironically, we think we don’t have time to do the things we deem important to us. Yet we all know that if something is important to you, you’ll make time for it. We wait forever for the right time to start when the actual reason we’ve not started is because what we want to do is really not a priority to us. On paper, it’s a priority. In practice, nothing shows that it is.

    There is a need to make firm decisions. Making decisions is the easy part. Standing by the decisions you made is the main deal. Are you going to make the main thing the main thing? Are you going to stick to plan when irrelevant matters arise? Trust me, almost everyone knows the right thing to do. Those who make the difference are those who take action and stick to it till it bears fruit.

    All things are difficult before they become easy. We get better with time. It doesn’t change the fact that it gets hard sometimes. If only you can be stubborn. Be unrelenting. Not intensely. You may break down. Practice makes perfect. Consistently, every dream becomes a reality. Are you going to keep on keeping on no matter what?

  • Dare to Dream Again: Being an Instrument for Generational Greatness

    Growing up, Alice was an epitome of a “dare to dream” persona. She wanted to try everything, be everything she could be and basically be great. Alice wanted to sing with the angels when she heard the church choir on a Sunday morning. She wanted to be an architect when she observed the Art Nouveau of building façades that evoked feelings of awe and beauty. Alice even wanted to be a philanthropist so she could help the needy in society. She never understood why people blinded their eyes to beggars on the streets.

    Nothing hindered her dreams. She wanted to be so great. She dreamed freely and fully, but as she grew her reality of the world began to fade. Her reality wasn’t all flowery and colourful, it was full of dreads and limitations. With time, she had lost her sense of positive imagination. She never dared to dream anymore. It was never the right time to make a life-changing decision. She never lost sight of any obstacle, any hindrance, any existing problem that blocked an open door in her life.

    Alice now saw people who were positive as childish, ignorant and blind-sighted. She believed that it was more matured to consider both sides in every situation but the negativity bias of the human mind made her weigh the possible negative outcomes more without realizing. Motivational speakers were unrealistic to her and even absurd most of the time.


    With time, she no longer believed in the supernatural or the miraculous. Too logical and “metrics-minded” to play the card of luck or grace. Until she walked herself into a quarter-life crisis. Now she desperately needed something life-changing. Eager but too depressed to take action. She knew all the decisions to make but lacked the drive. She was drained. Consistently. She now doesn’t see herself as a “generational-anything”.

    You may not realize but perhaps, you may be living life like Alice did and walking right into Alice’s pit. What is your excuse? You see all those logical meaningful reasons you make up when someone pictures you as the greatest there will ever be? They are excuses. Nothing but excuses. People who changed history greatly were “normal” people, like you and me. So what is your excuse?

    You don’t need to be “special” to be great but it does take something special to realize you’re great: the audacity to dream in spite of the current realities

    Daniel Good

    To become great, realize you’re great. You’re born great. Greatness is within you. Greatness is not a mountain to be climbed or a medal to be won. Before great people climbed that mountain, won that race or left a legacy, they already believed they were great. Not everyone who believes in themselves becomes great but there’s no one who became great without believing in themselves. Therefore, greatness is not an attainment. It’s self-actualization.

    Sometimes as older people, we kill the dreams of younger people. We don’t want them to be too hopeful or keep their hopes high. They want to be the greatest there has ever been. Instead of riding on their hopes to aim high ourselves, we cloud their mindset with our negativity-bias reality. Just because we’ve seen more of how the world works doesn’t mean we’re right to do that. Do you even believe that “nothing is impossible” anymore?


    Do you want to dare yourself to dream like a child again? In the last days, the Bible says that old men will dream dreams. Maybe that’s you. Your mindset is “old”. Your way of going about things is “old”. You’re still stuck in the past of how things work and how things are supposed to be. Lack of initiative, no innovation but it’s not too late for you. It is time to blow your mind. Bombard your mindset with impossibilities made possible. There and then will see the spark of greatness ignite in you.

    I love you ❤️

  • Who Am I? How Am I Really Like & Why Am I Like That?

    Who am I? A relevant question that anyone can ask themselves, no matter their age. It’s a question that can leave you frustrated, however, if you don’t search for the answer early on in life. Inasmuch as it’s an unending well of discovery, – some of your actions much later in life will still continue to shock you – understanding just an iota of solid truth concerning your identity can be life-fulfilling.

    Since You Are Who You Are and You Are Who You Are Not, removing the impurities of identity confusion is equally important. Who you are is not manufactured. It already exists. It is only discovered. Your identity unfolds before your eyes and resonates within you as you journey through life. What we fail to realize is that we are like all other people, like some other people and like no other person. Let’s dive in.

    We Are Like All Other People

    How am I like? I am like everyone else. Differences spring from similarities. Look around you, it’s the order of nature. Different children coming from the same womb, different rivers flowing from the same source, different plants sprouting from the same ground. In fact, everything can be traced all the way back to having the same source. Our identity is no different. We are first of all like everyone else before we can be like no one else. In the broader picture, we are like each other. We all have the same basic needs and instincts. There are several instances where human behaviour is so predictable that basically everyone will behave the same or in a similar manner in a given circumstance, given the same conditions.

    As individuals, we fancy the idea that we are special. There’s nobody like us. We are different, in our own world, in our own lane. Then we face a situation that makes us realize we are not that special. We are not as fanciful as we thought we were. The truth is, we are special, just like everybody else. “Special” doesn’t mean you’re different and everyone else is the same. Everyone is special. Everyone is unique, individually. How can you be special if everyone is also special? Doesn’t that put everyone on the same stage again and defy the meaning of the word? Well, only if you judged your uniqueness by comparing yourself to others.

    Scientifically, how we are like everyone else is our biogenic nature. Neurophysiologically, all humans are the same. We all want the same basic things in life, from the hardest criminal to the most innocent civilian; to minimize pain and maximize pleasure. Our choices and decisions towards this goal and what pain and pleasure means to us individually is what creates the differences. Metaphorically speaking, we all have the same book but we are all not on the same page. We all need love, attention, appreciation, affection, and everything else on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. However, what it looks like to us and how we want it defers from one individual to the other.

    Who Am I? Am I Who I Really Am or Who I Think I Am?

    We Are Like Some Other People

    How am I like? I am like some other people. How we are like some other people is our sociogenic nature or second nature. It is more about how we relate with others. The socio-cultural aspect of ourselves. It’s about your habits, attitudes, temperaments, preferences and behaviors; how we are, where we live and how we were brought up. Whether we admit it or not, there’s a way females behave that cut across board. There’s a way blacks behave. A way evangelicals behave. You may not notice because you are a part of it, but others you’re observing from the outside see it clearly. It starts from a broader grouping like perhaps how an entire nation behaves, all the way down to how a family behaves.

    Your individuality and ability to conform cannot be separated. They go hand-in-hand, just like how your soul draws your body and spirit together. We are social beings. We were designed to belong. Our sense of belonging is so central to our wellbeing that feelings of belonging influence an individual’s identity and the extent to which they feel accepted, valued and able to take on a role in society. Once in a while, the universe brings us into contact with people who are likeminded, who share the same mindsets and have the same weird ideologies. These encounters can live us in shock. We thought we were the only ones who believe that or disbelieved that, liked or disliked that. But here we are, with a “stranger” who holds the same virtues, values and opinions emphatically.

    Have you ever met someone you instantly connected to? After meeting the person for one or two times, something clicks. You definitely know for sure that that’s the kind of person you need to be rolling with in your life. You can try this experiment. Go to a place where you don’t know anyone and stay there for a while – another country, another school, another city. After a considerable amount of time, your circle will still be a reflection of the kind of person you are. All your close friends are like you in some way. As a matter of fact, this is a well-known concept and I can’t stress enough on it. The people you have around you are a representation of who you are.

    This is a good enough reason to surround yourself with good people. Just like how you live an imprint of your DNA on anything you touch, our identities rub off on each other. Others are rubbed so hard that they pick up another’s identity as theirs. One terrible mistake people tend to make is that they pick the idiosyncratic nature of their role model or the person they look up to. See, you’re allowed to be like someone else, but not to the point of losing your unique nature. It’s natural to admire and aspire to be like how someone is like. But don’t lose your originality and try to be someone’s counterfeit copy.

    Who Am I? What Is My True Identity & Where Is It Found?

    We Are Like No Other Person

    How am I like? I am like no one else. One funny thing about humans is how we so easily complicate simple matters. When it’s right side up, we tend to turn it upside down. This is no different. People can argue about how they are different from everyone else when you talk about they being like everyone else. When it finally comes to how they are different from everyone else, they tend to struggle to know their own unique style and lifestyle. I think this is because everything in life is intertwined and it’s difficult to separate conjoined things. Thus, not everyone discovers how they are different from everybody else. We don’t even know why we do the things we do, sociogenically.

    Your uniqueness is tied to the intention of your design. That is, we are not just a bunch of personality traits. There is that inner being that draws people to you. That makes people love you. Sooner or later, everything you need externally will find you. Destiny will find you. Your path will find you. Purpose will find you. Your circle will find you. But it’s up to you to realize that this is it. If you don’t know what you’re looking for, you wouldn’t know whether you’ve found it or not. Finding yourself and what resonates with you is a matter looking for the roots rather than the fruits. What is underneath what is underneath? It is about finding the source of the river, not the river itself. If you find the source, you can connect to the ecosystem of Life everlasting.

    Isn’t it amazing that for all people who have ever lived, are alive and will ever live, there is only one YOU? There is nobody like you and there’ll never be anyone like you. That’s true authenticity; a kind of perfection that can only be divinely orchestrated. Yes, you may have the same nose as your parents, the same handwriting as a stranger or even the same interest as a friend, but you’re unique and there’s none like you. No one comes close to being you. They can be like you, you can be like them, but you’re holy, consecrated, set apart, unique. There is none like you. None can be compared to you. There’s only one kind of you, beautifully and wonderfully made. Empathically, you have a unique fingerprint like everyone else does, and you leave an imprint like no one else can.

  • Who Am I? Am I Who I Really Am or Who I Think I Am?

    Who am I? Who are you? What are you? Do you know?

    The bride gracefully walked down the aisle in absolute eloquence. There were tears in his eyes as he stole glances at his bride. He couldn’t believe that this day would ever come. Now it’s here. At the altar, they stared into each other’s eyes. They were so much in love: Everything felt so surreal. Nothing could possibly go wrong. It was an atmosphere of ecstatic love. Everyone could see two people getting married but in reality, they were six. Who the bridegroom is, who the bridegroom thinks he is, who the bride thinks the bridegroom is, who the bride is, who the bride thinks she is and who the bridegroom thinks she is.

    Who are you? No, I’m not asking of your name. Who are you? No, I’m not asking of your position. Who are you? No, I didn’t ask what your nationality was. Who are you? No, I didn’t ask what species you belong to. Who are you? No, I didn’t ask what your beliefs are. So you see? “Who am I?” is a question you should be in no hurry to answer. It’s a question that should leave you in deep thought.

    This is the reality of life. If who you are met who you think you are, the two wouldn’t recognize each other. Who others think you are is a different ballgame altogether. We know for sure that who others think we are is obviously different from who we are. But it will shock you to know that who you are is not even who you think you are. It takes a lifetime to fully discover who we really are. At a particular time where you think you’ve actually figured out who you are, you are going to do something that will shock you. It will shake the foundations of the built-up image you have of yourself. Then you’ll question yourself subconsciously for the one-millionth time, “so who am I?”

    Who you are is equally as important as who you think you are. If you know how the universe works, you’ll understand that you’re already who you are. Everything that makes you who you are meant to be is already inside you. Do you understand? Just like the I Am, you are. You Are Who You Are. Who you are is not in the future or in the past. It is yesterday, today and forever.

    Moreover, You Are also Who You Are Not. It is equally important. Not just in the sense that you’re not a liar, thief or murderer. Come to the understanding that you cannot be everything. Some things are just not meant for you. You can only be great in your lane. If you don’t find your lane, you can really struggle. As a matter of fact, Albert Einstein said it better, “Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid”.

    So if who I am never changes like the “I Am That I Am”, why am I different from who I was in the past? It’s because we live from who we think are, not who we are. That is why who we think we are is equally as important as who we are. It is who you think you are that keeps changing. If you think you’re a failure just because you failed a couple of times, don’t be surprised if you live the life of a failure. The fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree.

    Your goal is to make sure that “who you think you are” is as close to “who you really are” as much as possible. I’m not saying be narcissistic and overlook toxic areas of your life. Do not see yourself bigger than you really are. Rather see yourself become bigger than who you think you are. After all, who you think you are and who you really are will never be the same. We all have blind spots. Some aspects of our lives can be hidden from us for a very long time.

    This is one of the major reasons why people continue to live in the past; they’ve not been able to figure out their reactions and triggers. It’s like we can only understand ourselves when we look back. Our mind uses the past to understand the future. It looks like it’s the only way to understand yourself. Yet, it also means who you think you are is not up-to-date. It’s always stuck in the past. You are who you are right now.

    Even so, today I want you to sit down and write 25 sentences about what you think about yourself. Choose 5 people close to you who give you honest feedback and ask them to tell you 5 different ways of how you’re like. Compare it to who you think you are and see if you’re on the same page. This will give you a fair idea of how you portray yourself and how others perceive you. In addition, you can also ask them how you ought to be from their point of view. Sometimes we limit ourselves as a form of humility when it’s actually pride. Honest feedback can remove blind spots and break down those walls.

    How you live your life is not shaped by who you are, it is shaped by who you think you are. Embrace it and use it to your advantage.

    I love you ❤️

  • God’s Best Model

    Every creator’s fingerprint is evidentially left on his creation. Everything God created manifests His Glory. Every living thing teaches one thing or another about God. God is seen in all He created. His creation was made in His likeness, but guess who is His best model? You guessed right! We are His masterpiece.

    Jesus said you shall be witnesses unto me, not witnesses unto the world. Witnessing is not just evangelism. It is a legal term.

    In the law court, when I choose a witness to support my stance, the person is a witness unto me. What does the witness do? He comes as an evidence that what I actually say is real and true. The world will believe if we live the life we promise they’d have if they believe in Christ.

    We are a living evidence to the Kingdom of God. We are called to live the Kingdom life. You can only teach what you’ve experienced. You can give only what you have. You can impact what has been impacted on you. Walk the talk. Even children follow your example, not your advice. If you truly believe what you confess to be, then it must reflect in your life.

    We’re a living epistle of Christ. This is the life. Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Let’s be true models to the world.

    I love you ❤️

  • A Good Example of a Bad Example

    Life is a paradox and so is truth. The only person who can step on your feet is the one closest to you. The only constant is change. The truth is, we can’t avoid all the mishaps in life even if we made all the right choices. Every choice we make, regardless of the motive, has both good and bad repercussions.

    There IS right and wrong. But they are not necessarily at both extremes. There is actually a thin line between them. In our world today, it is increasingly becoming difficult for people to define right and wrong. What was generally considered to be wrong 50 years ago can easily become an acceptable norm 5 years from now. Maybe that’s the problem. Maybe right and wrong are not meant to be defined. Maybe they are meant to define themselves.

    We are not powerful enough to control the balance of ups and downs, highs and lows or even foreknow if the good will outweigh the bad in any decision we make. However, we are powerful enough to choose right over wrong and good over bad with our limited discretion.

    Most often than not, the decision is not necessarily between right and wrong. It’s between good and best. But wait, what if we make the wrong decisions because we cannot foretell which one would be a better decision in retrospect?

    Assuredly, the more bad decisions we make the better the chances of making the right decisions in future. We make good decisions from the experiences we gained, and we gained those experiences from making bad decisions. Failure can surely lead to success. Nothing and no one can be utterly useless. If anything at all, it can be used as a good example of a bad example.

    We are all not perfect, not because perfection doesn’t exist, but because we are too imperfect to understand how paradoxical true perfection is. Nature is perfect because of its many imperfections. Even bull shit fertilizes the soil.

    At the end of the day, we are well able to appreciate the effects of our decisions and know for sure if we made the right decisions or the wrong one in retrospect. But even with the wrong decisions we made, there is no need to regret. “For we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

    Don’t be afraid to be wrong. Be rather cautious of thinking you’re always right, because you definitely shouldn’t be. So live life, being rest assured in the fact that God can take our mess and make it His masterpiece.

    I love you ❤️

  • Can You Feel That Connection?

    Have you ever met someone in your life that you feel you’ve known all your life? Have you ever felt so close to someone though you don’t really know them so you’re willing to know them? Have you ever felt the same about someone for so long a time that you know for sure that it’s something real? One word explains it all; connection.

    There are more connections in the human body than there are stars in the galaxy.

    It’s certainly magical to establish a connection with someone but sometimes it’s just difficult, especially with someone you are “supposed to” get along with. This is because connection is mutual. It ought to fit, just as a plug fits in a socket. It doesn’t have to make all the sense in the world. In fact, it needs no words to explain it because there’s none.

    There are some people that we’re gonna meet in the future that we wish we had met earlier. There are some people that we’re gonna meet that we’d feel we’ve known them all our lives, because the interconnectedness is so strong. What we must know about connection is that connection is energy. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but translates from one form to another.

    Our energy fields react differently with people we have connection with. Thus, we connect with different people differently. Sometimes we’re not able to understand our connection with some people and we think we don’t like them. But once we make the mutual connection, our perceptions change and we experience a new reality together with them.

    Connection can therefore go beyond space and time since it’s energy. You can connect more with someone in 3 months more than someone you’ve known for 3 years. You may not see someone for 3 years but still feel the strong connection you have with them. Some connections however need time, but once symbiosis is established, it can last a lifetime.

    Why is it important to know what connects us? Because what connects us is the binding agent of our relationship. So go out there and connect. Connect with God. Connect with your innermost self. Connect with nature. Connect with family. Connect with friends. Connect with the world.

    I love you ❤️

  • Exploring the Kingdom

    Exploring the Kingdom

    Man has a natural inherent and incumbent desire to increase. Our brain has been modeled in such a way that it gets tired of stagnation, doldrums and boredom. So the next time someone complains that something is “one-way”, realise that we have the natural desire to increase in everything we do.

    Embrace this natural and pure desire and use to explore the goodness of God inside of you, inside of nature and inside of the Kingdom. When Jesus said “seek ye first the Kingdom…”, He wasn’t talking about something you do just once. The word “seek” is the Greek word zeeteite which means desire, enquire, marinate, discover.

    Jesus was saying discover the many things in the Kingdom; righteousness, peace, joy, prosperity, wisdom, riches, power, blessings, authority, honor, glory, revelations, miracles, signs, wonders, manifestations, success, strength, laughter, happiness and many many more. There’s always more in the Kingdom. Abundance. Increase. Growth. Development. Infinite. Unending. Everlasting. Eternal.

    A. A. Allen, who God used to perform many creative and dramatic miracles in his day, said and i paraphrase; don’t be afraid to go as far as impossible with God. No Christian has walked with God as far as God wants us to.

    When we discover, marinate, seek His Kingdom within you (Luke 17:21) and His Righteousness which is you (2 Corinthians 5:21); allllllllllllllll these things shall be added unto us.

    Tune your inherent desire to the Kingdom, and the things of the Kingdom which the world seeks shall naturally be yours.

  • Do You Have A Life?

    Do You Have A Life?

    Everyone will die but not everyone has lived. By that, I don’t mean that there are more people to be born, but that there are some existing who are not living. Is it possible to exist and not be fully alive?

    Priorities

    A sign that you probably don’t have a life is when you’re always going with the flow of events that suddenly pop up. People who have a life have priorities. They understand the idea that time is a precious commodity and that it should be allocated to matters that are deemed important and/or relevant at the time.

    People who are going nowhere want you to go with them. Be careful of people who rather parasite on people’s lives. They feel okay in their mess as long as they have someone in the same soup as them.

    Balance

    Productivity and busyness are not alike, they are opposites. The most productive people are not those who brush off almost everything because they have “priorities”, deadlines or tight schedules. It is actually those whose priorities and schedule are pretty much balanced.

    Once in a while, they may even go in their way to brush off their tight schedules and go with the flow of events. No matter what you make your life, it will eat you up if you don’t balance it with other priorities. Be flexible!

    Identity

    Life is basically about purpose. So whenever we’re sluggishly going through life though we’re partying every weekend, getting high every moment and getting laid every time, we still feel unsatisfied on the inside and we actually do not have a life because we can’t get our heads around the meaning and purpose for our doings.

    If we do not have a deep sense of meaning, we distract ourselves with pleasure.

    Daniel Good

    Remember, a purposeless life – no matter how fun it seems – is encapsulated with depression. Make sure your life isn’t centred around a job you can be fired from or friends you can lose.

    Life is an art. Every mistake is a new style. There are no rigid rules yet there are certain aspects that must be ancillary to the life we live. These aspects are meant to complement our lives rather than be it.

    Be mindful what you invest your life into. If it’s a job or position or relationship you can lose, don’t make it your life. Trust me. It will leave you devastated when it’s all gone. Invest your life in your identity; something you’ll always be no matter what, something that can never be taken away from you because it’s basically what you are. Live from within!