If wishes were horses

Being an avid movie fanatic I noticed something interesting about most Christmas movies, or just movies which normally show around the festive season or silly season as some call it. Mostly the storyline revolves around someone or “someones” who wishes their life was different in better way from what it currently is, mostly the main character will be looking for more money hence more possessions or to be more good-looking and sexy as these are the yardsticks we have used to measure our success in life, or a better spouse/partner or even family. But after their wish is granted you find them unhappy with the new scenario leading to them wanting to undo the wish so they could have their old life back. I am sure if we were to be honest with ourselves we would also agree that sometimes we also find ourselves having such wishes, wishing that our lives can be transformed at the click of a button or the waving of a magic wand to become better and maybe more or less exciting. But what exactly is the better life that we all strive for, I wondered, as I watched one after another such movie, and is it really worth the pain and effort. Is it to be better than the next person as the saying goes, to keep up with the Joneses, or is it to have more of everything we have now? I do not have an answer but if anything, I have learnt that bigger is not necessarily better, and neither is more, so instead of striving for bigger and more I personally believe we should be looking for quality of life. Quality of life is simply the knowledge that your inner person is at peace and knowing that you have people you love and who love you in return. As sociology says man is a gregarious animal, meaning he is a social being, one cannot exist entirely without fulfilling relationships. This off course does not mean we should abandon ourselves entirely to pursuing quality at the expense of quantity but it simply means we must learn to reach a balance in our lives. One must learn to pursue betterment of their lives both in quality and quantity; otherwise we will always be striving to be like the next person, not knowing how their lives are to them. The grass is always greener on the other side till you get there and see the water bill as people say, and all that glitters is not gold. In other words what might look attractive and appealing from a distance might actually be a cloak covering a lot of discontent or loneliness once you get closer. So instead of spending sleepless night in pursuit of what we think is the better thing we need to take time and count the cost, that is we need to question if it is to our best interests or to our detriment. Because most of the time we get caught up in chasing something without even realising that what we have is actually the best we can have at that moment. And I am sure most will agree that no-one likes the kind of success that leaves you with a bitter taste in your mouth, success outwardly yet inwardly you are empty.

He gives grace for every assignment

As I dragged myself to bed way past my bedtime, I couldn’t help but grumble inside on why is there so much to do and only 24hours in a day, I’m sure a lot of us who are parents, spouses and hold a job will agree with me that sometimes it just seems like there isn’t enough time in the day for everything we are to do. But as I pondered on that something struck me, the fact that it is in those 24hours that we are expected to do all we have for the day, and if we miss the day then tomorrow starts on a clean slate, so what you lost yesterday cannot be recovered. I heard one preacher saying life happens in cycles or seasons, that is everything in life that happens is part of a cycle, so if you miss your timing in the cycle life will have to go full cycle before you can get that chance again. So in those 24 hours that we each get as each day dawns there is enough time to fulfil the purpose God has for us for that day, what I mean is your life purpose can be divided into bite-sized portions called ‘a day’, so in each day one has the potential to fulfil the part of one’s purpose that can fit into those 24hours one has. On the flip side it means if you miss doing what you need to do in the 24hours you have today, tomorrow you have double the job to fulfil, and if it’s too much you will find that you will be trailing behind in your fulfilment of your life’s purpose. Fortunately it’s not a competition as each of us has a unique purpose which is peculiar to each and every single one of us, so if you miss a day there is no outside pressure as only you can do what you have to do the way you do it. The only pressure would be from within, the knowledge that you could be far in what you were born to do but because of procrastination or outside influences you find yourself still at starting point. God however is gracious and gives us second, third and so forth chances as we fall and miss the mark, sometimes going in the wrong direction altogether, He stays close to us and encourages us to get up and back on track as His purposes in us are eternal.