I will always revisit the scenario of people on the deathbed. There are two types. The first are those who are scared to death. No pun intended. They are frantic and fight death will all they have got, like a man fighting bees. They have not attained the spiritual level that I am talking about. This cuts across all religions and non-religions. However, that moment is a teller. It is a serious moment. It is a moment of truth.

“I am ready to die, not because life sucks, but because it is better out there than here. Nevertheless, I am having a blast right here, and should death delay, I will continue having this blast!”

Yet we have the second group. They are so peaceful. They are so cool, calm and collected. They tend to say, “It is OK, I am naked before you death but I am ready, prepared and unafraid”.

 “It is OK, I am naked before you death but I am ready, prepared and unafraid”.

 

To Excel is day by day

Probably talking about death can throw you off balance. I am not talking about the end of life, but I am talking about the day to day living, achieving, excelling and making things happen. One of my favorite visionaries is Paul the Apostle. Without being clouded by religious dogma, that man is historically authenticated to have single handedly “Turned cities and towns upside down” wherever he went. Do you know what he said?

I die daily

—Paul the Apostle

That is a seriously loaded statement. It could mean one or all of the following:

• Surrender: Coming to the level of realizing that although you are in charge of your destiny, you are not God. Therefore, you play in your space and do your part and let God do his. You do not try to play God.
• Pouring out everything: This means that each day, you “live every moment leaving nothing to chance”. As Myles Munroe used to say, “You die empty”. This means that if you physically died today, you are like the second guy who is OK with your returns and therefore not afraid of death.
• Staying disciplined for a higher calling: This means that you “crucify” your basic longings and stay disciplined in order to achieve a higher purpose in life. You do not have to be super-spiritual to have this done. Yet discipline is one of the master skills of success
• Being Carefree: This is what I am looking for. It is the ultimate result of “dying daily”. When you attain this state, you are no longer afraid of the outcome. Whether death or life, you are OK.

Here again is what Paul said.

“Alive, I’m Christ’s messenger; dead, I’m his bounty. Life versus even more life! I can’t lose. 

As long as I’m alive in this body, there is good work for me to do. If I had to choose right now, I hardly know which I’d choose.

Hard choice! The desire to break camp here and be with Christ is powerful. Some days I can think of nothing better

But most days, because of what you are going through, I am sure that it’s better for me to stick it out here.

So I plan to be around awhile, companion to you as your growth and joy in this life of trusting God continues”

—Paul the Apostle (Philippians 1:21-25).

Anybody Home?

Seriously, I am looking for someone who can say the above words. In essence,

“I am ready to die, not because life sucks, but because it is better out there than here. Nevertheless, I am having a blast right here, and should death delay, I will continue having this blast!”

Wow! Double wow.

So how does it look like being carefree?

1. Absolute Certainty

This is a big trait of great visionary leaders. Regardless of whatever situations they face, they have an absolute certainty that they will come out at the top. They have a knowledge that the course they have taken will prevail. It doesn’t meant that they do not foresee trouble and challenges. They take it in yes, but they know it will be done.

[ictt-tweet-blockquote] Great visionaries have absolute certainty that in the end, it will turn out fine [/ictt-tweet-blockquote]

2. Detached

A carefree person is like that boy who has been jobless for months. He has seen how tough it is. What he was scared of he has already gone through. He is no longer scared of being jobless. He knows how it feels. Therefore as he steps into the interview room, he has no time for putting on a mask and trying to “please” the panel. He is real. He knows the result of the interview is binary. Either he will get the job or he won’t. The boy is so calm and OK with either eventuality. He is detached. It does not mean he does not care. He is just sure that his life, all of it, will not be dictated by one interview if he failed it! By the way, such people are attractive to the interviewing panel.

[ictt-tweet-inline] Being detached releases the authenticity that very many people are looking for in you [/ictt-tweet-inline]

3. Unconscious performance

The unconsciously competence individual is not a worry freak. They ooze confidence in their ability to perform. They also know that where they cannot perform they would be able to get the required help in time. So they will not spend time agonizing over a difficult thing. Either they tackle it or they seek help and get it done.

[ictt-tweet-blockquote] Great visionaries will tackle it head on or immediately seek help to get it done [/ictt-tweet-blockquote]

4. Unafraid

Perhaps this is the greatest trait of the “carefree”. They are unafraid of either eventuality. That is what Paul was alluding to when he said, let death come, I am OK. Let death delay, I am still OK. [ictt-tweet-inline]Carefree people know that at the end of the day, they will stand as winners.[/ictt-tweet-inline]

But how do you get to that level of being carefree?

This has already been alluded to. Remember the boy who was detached in the interview above? It is because he already faced the consequences of not having a job. He is therefore immune so to speak. He has been inoculated.

In the Eyes of the Storm

Apostle Paul gives us a further hint:

(I can’t believe I’m saying these things. It’s crazy to talk this way! But I started, and I’m going to finish.) I’ve worked much harder, been jailed more often, beaten up more times than I can count, and at death’s door time after time.

I’ve been flogged five times with the Jews’ thirty-nine lashes, beaten by Roman rods three times, pummelled with rocks once. I’ve been shipwrecked three times, and immersed in the open sea for a night and a day.

In hard traveling year in and year out, I’ve had to ford rivers, fend off robbers, struggle with friends, struggle with foes. I’ve been at risk in the city, at risk in the country, endangered by desert sun and sea storm, and betrayed by those I thought were my brothers.

I’ve known drudgery and hard labor, many a long and lonely night without sleep, many a missed meal, blasted by the cold, naked to the weather.

And that’s not the half of it, when you throw in the daily pressures and anxieties of all the churches.

—Apostle Paul (2Corinthians 11:23-28)

Carefree people have been in the eye of the storm and have survived. They have seen all the trouble thrown at them while in passionate pursuit of their purpose.

They have stood up and moved on, not any bit fettered by the opposition. They have seen their worst fears, gone through them and conquered…and that is why they are successful. In short, dare to go all out and play full out for your purpose. “Feel the fear and do it anyway”. That is how you become carefree, and that is how you succeed.