Do Not Forget Your Childhood Tricks

We make effort to grow and develop.

When we grow up we tend to forget the tricks that help us to grow to the level we find ourselves. Perhaps, it is because the tricks are not learnt. We were not born crawling, walking, talking, jumping, etc. When we were learning to crawl we never bothered who was looking at us. We stretched forward but we found ourselves lying down instead of crawling. Yet we did not bother whether we failed at the first, second or third attempt. We did not stop until we started crawling, crawling fast and mastered the art of crawling.

Walking is not different, we made several attempts before starting walking.  First, we learned to stand and fought against the law of gravity. We rose up and fell on the ground. In all these, we did not bother who was look at us; we did not compare ourselves with anyone. After overcoming the law of gravity, we learned to walk. Carrying our legs was not an easy task. We fell several times before we could walk.

Effort activates potential

When we grow up, we start to bother about who are looking at us, we compare ourselves with others and judge ourselves harshly. We are now afraid to leave our comfort zone and try new things. The rule of growth and development is this: make effort. We make effort to grow and develop. Without effort we remain stagnant. Potential is unfulfilled without effort; it is with effort that potential is actualised. In other words, effort activates potential.
 
However, enemies of effort are fear of failure, fear of criticism, self-judgement and comparison with others. We begin to say I cannot do this, I cannot do that. Remember you did not start to walk because you believed you could walk. You started to walk because you made effort. You made effort because you did not fear failure or criticism. You made effort because you did not judge yourself or compare yourself with other. If you want to continue to grow and develop, you have to give up self-judgement and comparison. You have to give up fear of failure and criticism.

If we do not make effort, we waste our potential

 
Our joy should be that we make effort, we do our best, not success. If we make effort without success, our potential is not wasted. It is still the same if we succeed; we explore our potential. If we do not make effort, we waste our potential and will leave behind bad legacy. We also short-change the world; we deny the world of the treasure God deposited in us. Therefore, let us make effort.
 
Fr. Andrew Olowomuke