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A Beautiful Life
On the weekend that marks the brand's second year anniversary, we take a look at what it means to be here at your service.
Introduction:
The beauty of life is found in the meaning of it, otherwise we can't possibly say that something that comes with all these heartache, pain, distress and sometimes confusion is beautiful.
Yet here we are doing so, because indeed it is.
I say this in agreement with the lyrics of the song “A beautiful Life” by William M Golden, of which today's topic and entire discussion has been inspired by.
He wrote:
“Each day I'll do a golden deed,
By helping those who are in need;
My life on earth is but a span,
And so I'll do the best I can, (the best I can)”
As simple as this is, we can think along these lines to agree with him that a beautiful life is indeed one lived each day trying our best.
Whether it's one hundred percent (100%) on the day, or days we have only fourty percent (40%) of ourselves to give; just knowing that we've at least tried to give our all makes life beautiful.
Welcome my friend!
Indeed, it's good to be back here with you to share this time together in another thoughtful conversation.
Truly, you're a big reason I can say that life is beautiful because it's such an honour to have you be a part of this journey since the first day, till now, two (2) years later.
To see that you've allowed me this space in your life to share these beautiful moments together in deep conversations is something I'd never take for granted.
It indeed shows your love, trust and acceptance and I hope to reciprocate this by embracing the responsibilities that come with it.
This is what has helped me get through the days when it's been much more difficult to be here due to illness, a tight schedule or other such factors.
These are the days that I've leaned on you the most for strength and support so that I showed up regardless because I knew you'd do the same; and we never let each other down.
Thank you my friend!
I'm here because you are.
Discussion:
For most of us, the perception of a beautiful life would surely lean towards comfort and luxury as in living like Kings and Queens.
It'll involve accomplishments; to be acknowledged and respected for what we've done or the things we know.
It may also mean the best meals, wine, sex and all that stuff that are seemingly satisfying.
It's with this perception that we go all out in search of this beautiful life because: we deserve it, it'll make us feel proud of ourselves, would bring us acceptance or intimidate our ‘haters’.
Yet all these may not necessarily mean a beautiful life.
■ Seeking The Beautiful Life
Writing is something I've done often since childhood because I really enjoyed it but at no point did it ever cross my mind that it'll be something to make a livelihood from.
This is essentially because I didn't ever think of it as being the gateway to the beautiful life I had envisaged based on those perceptions.
So when I got busy in the chase for everything I thought would bring me money, happiness and success, my writing became a casualty since I didn't have enough time for it.
This was a huge mistake because unknown to me I had in that process abandoned my purpose, which is to use this gift to pass on to others words of love, encouragement, wisdom and truth.
The consequence of this was struggle; as I laboured hard to be who I desperately wanted to be instead of easing into who I'm supposed to be and the beautiful life that should accompany it.
This was until 23rd June, 2022 when I got back to actively writing again, deciding to use this brand as a platform to reach more people.
■ A Change In Perception
The return to writing didn't come as a planned decision but was born out of divine encounter when everything crashed before my very eyes leaving me feeling like a complete failure.
I just couldn't find out where or how to find this beautiful life and if anything, this was a proper mess, below everything one would be proud of.
This could not be it.
I knew I wanted more and could be more but how?
So as I sat there confused, the words flowed again and they were such powerful words that gave me hope.
However, more than anything, for the first time in my life I realized that the most important things I had were God and my writing, since they were the only ones that would always remain with me in all circumstances. (No disrespect to loved ones)
This was an awakening.
A change in perception that pointed me to the fact that the beautiful life I sought might just be found in these two (2) most important things.
■ The Courage To Change Course
It took quite a while from realizing I needed to do more with this gift to actually giving in and returning to writing full time these two (2) years.
This is because it's not easy to change from all the dreams and expectations we've built around our original misconceptions.
How do we suddenly stop chasing all the love, power, money, recognition and so on to simply accept living one day at a time?
Is that really an awakening or a mere lack of ambition and switch to mediocrity?
Would we fail or succeed?
How do we explain these decisions to others without sounding stupid?
So many questions, yet we never really find the answers until we find the courage to follow our hearts.
Every step of the way, the progress made answers some of these questions, putting some of our fears and doubts aside; yet it's never easy to take that first step.
The ‘risk’ of abandoning everything to make that walk in a direction that you can't see the path but have a vision of the destination requires faith in God.
This is what emboldens us to now go after our purpose no longer satisfied with any other thing.
■ Finding Beauty In Life
Maybe there's no beautiful life, but we all can find beauty in life.
We may think we want money, fame, power and success but all we just want is the feeling of knowing that we matter.
That we're not in this space by chance and that our existence is intentional.
This is the beauty of discovering and following the path of our purpose so that to us a beautiful life will now begin to mean:
▪︎ Peace Of Mind
A life in distress and anxiety can't be beautiful which is why God gives us his peace that passes all understanding.
This means that although our circumstances may be tough and unchanged, we can live through them with hope, satisfied by the knowledge that God is aware of them.
This is what gives us the strength to persevere until he eventually leads us out of our storms coming out better than we got into them.
▪︎ Impact
Taking us back to the featured song, the writer put out these words; “Each day I'll do a golden deed,
By helping those who are in need;”
This is the essence of our existence.
When we play roles that make life easier for those around us we make our impact felt.
When we show up for others, what we say to them is that “you matter, and worth it” this is a message that serves everyone well.
When we give up ourselves in service to others by taking up responsibilities in society, we begin to find beauty in being dedicated to the greater cause of making the world a better place.
▪︎ Contentment
A beautiful life is a contented life not because it doesn't want more but because it's satisfied with what it already has, even as it awaits more.
To know that only time and effort separates us from everything we want to be, is a good reason to focus on our own journey and progress instead of comparing ourselves with others.
▪︎ Abundance
Contentment makes us grateful which is the magnet for abundance.
When we live with the intention of making an impact rather than amassing wealth we find ourselves with so much more than we need having realized how little we actually need.
As we get paid for the services we provide we begin to have the resources to not just take care of ourselves but those around us.
This is the ultimate fulfillment as we no longer live for ourselves alone.
Summary:
Dear friend, everything that we go out there to chase has already been freely given to us by God.
Ironically, we tell him to keep it and watch us go get it ourselves, only to find out that we can't.
Whether we have good jobs, money, comfort and everything we may think makes life beautiful, there's this void only the presence of God can fill in our lives.
We know it, because we feel it, regardless of how much we want to shove it aside; so maybe it's time to lay it all down.
What about those of us that have nothing?
Truth is, we may yet have everything.
By simply letting God into our lives we move from chasing the beautiful life to actually seeing the beauty of life in the simple things.
One of which is being here with you my friend; let's do this for many years to come.
Master Apprentice.