OF PONDS, STONES AND WATER

I have been staying at my brother’s house in Nairobi Soutch C. Nice place. One of the things about South C and Nairobi in general is the rate at which new and magnificent buildings are springing up. I had a chat with my sister in law yesterday, and made an observation that in few years time, it would be a whole new and different landscape in South C.

Outside of where I am staying, there are several buildings under construction. There is what looks like a pond of stagnant and dirty water, obviously a by product of the construction that is going on. Naturally, I got to reflect and paint pictures and analogies with life. That is one of my fortes these days, analysing things deeper than they look to the casual observer.

Think about it, how many transitions do people normally go through? I would say this, several transitions they are that start as early as child birth. From the safety of the womb for nine months, to the nursing hands of a loving couple; from homeschool to school; from primary school to High School; from High School to college; from College to work; marriage; family and so on. This is the general ‘line of best fit’ for transitions.

However, I have come to learn that life transitions are not all that predictable…there are moments in life that you cannot basically explain the next logical step.

The most important question of all to ask is this: How best can a Visionary go through these transitions, especially the ones that he or she feels totally not in control of? This, ladies and gentlemen, is the million dollar question. In fact, this is the definition of life. Someone said that life is what happens when you are busy making other plans. Oh! how so true! The most successful amongst the best of us are those who have mastered the mental techniques to set in operation before, during and after a transition.

Today’s post is about SYSTEMS, about RHYTHM. Consider this quote: “In the struggle between the stone and the water, in time, the water wins.” – Chinese Proverb. Why is this so? Because, the stone is STAGNANT, but the water either keeps dropping on the stone or flowing over it.

Any organization worth its salt has well oiled SYSTEMS that make it run. I have come to learn that the very first thing that I need to do is to have a VISION. Systems are built around a Vision. I have found it prudent to have your vision well before an ‘unpredictable’ transition comes. This way, you keep a FLOW of activities intact whether we come against a season that would otherwise render us stagnant. This way, we tend to keep the fire burning, or keep the vision going, and in the end we manage our transition well.

FEAR is a major distract-er as well as a destruct-or in times of unpredictable transition. In our very first post we talked about overcoming fear. We talked about the fact that being stagnant and doing nothing reinforces the fear. The main remedy was suggested in surrounding oneself with activity. How best would it be that the activity you find yourself in in your moment of transition is an activity that contributes to the overall vision of your Life Signature?

Remember, you are either IN a transition, FROM a transition or GOING into a transition, since the only permanent thing in life is CHANGE.

 Before a transition, find a vision you can dedicate your life to and build systems around it.
 In a Transition, keep the flow of the systems in place and open your senses to LEARN as much as possible.
 FROM a transition ACCELERATE your vision with the nuggets that you received while in the season.

Over to you.