RIVER SERIES (FINAL PART)

Evaporation is a natural occurrence and to a normal river, it is negligible but for a river that has forgotten its source, evaporation becomes a major problem…. water molecules leave the surface of the river…. So the river goes dry more quickly. When the sun (something that is generally seen as good) comes out, the rate of evaporation increases, and that spells more bad news for this river. Doing good becomes a difficulty for this river. Every time someone takes a drink, the river plunges into deeper darkness…..

YOU: You may argue that in your case there is no evaporation…..but everyday, you have to give something…… to your kids….to your family, to work…. physically, emotionally, materially…. (Name it)… and they do not really care if you are on top performance or below par…. You always have to deliver whether you get fed or not.
I wonder why some people never feel happy about doing good. I use to think they are inherently bad…. But now I have a new line of thinking… they probably have no source… what they have is all they’ve got and they know it.

“What makes me is not what I have, but who I am. When what I have is gone, what is left is who I am”
– Ibukun Onitiju

For these people, when what they have is gone, they are nobodies again.
From my stand point, I’ll agree with Kahlil Gibran when he said

“Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need”.

We all have needs and we all need help. There is always that little extra that we can do with.
Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.
– Sir Winston Churchill.

Science tells us that everything around us is in motion. It is not very obvious because you are moving along with it. The day you decide to stop, you will not only stop, you’ll be moving backwards

“He who moves not forward goes backward”
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

If you embrace the reality of who you are and frequently get in touch with those things…. People…..events…e.t.c that gives us the required push to stay alive and active,
If you adopt the mindset of the living, and revoke the temptation of the dead,

“If every day is an awakening, you will never grow old. You will just keep growing.”
Gail Sheehy

At this point, I would have ended up joggling your intellect about those things that you classify as being your source. But are they really your source?...... Or better put, are they worth being your source in life?

Your identifiable sources as you may think… may be taken away from you. Your knowledgeable grandfather will one day pass away…. Your ever present mother that can re-write the words of Maya Angelou can be taken away from you…..the lovely chain that gives you inspiration can disappear without warning…..

I remember a few months ago, one of my mentors died and that came as a big blow to who I see myself to be. Did I die with him? ..... No I did not…..but I had to re-visit my source to keep focused. Therefore, what exactly is worthy of being your source in life?


In his words, Bill Beattie said
“The aim of education should be to teach us rather how to think, than what to think - rather to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for ourselves, than to load the memory with thoughts of other men.”
So I say: Your True source lies in your ability to identify what is needed for your progress at any one time. The will to die not (I don’t mean physical death) should be stronger than any other thing.
To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe. - Marilyn vos Savant

Remember “As long as there is life, there is Hope”….. Progress that is.

Question: What is my source?
Answer: The will to stay alive. (Active)
It should be yours also……