On every side, we receive and return cheery greetings… Happy New Year! This is filled with honest wishes for a better and brighter 365 days. It is imperative that if we have any hope for a better future, if we have any good intentions, let us begin today to put them into effect. May we resolve to live in such a way that each day of this New Year will be a fresh beginning for a better and truer life. Let not the temptation to dwell upon past unhappiness or failure which avails us nothing and begets nothing but grief preoccupy our minds. The naked truth is that no human being has got or can ever get through life without failure and mistakes.
Failure itself is one of the most painful sufferings we experience within the human condition. In the everydayness of our lives, we are confronted with the term fear of failure in its multi-faceted nature. There have been, and will still be, fear of various kinds and degrees in our lives. Be that as it may, this must not in any way discourage us, for those who believe they are truly beaten are beaten. Winners, they say, never quit. They keep on trying.
However, the bitter truth is that the fear of failure has ended more dreams than many can imagine. Some people are even afraid to embark on any project and to think big simply because they are frozen in the paralysing grip of fear, especially that of failure. The question is: should this be the right approach and attitude? Of course not!
On the contrary, when we study the life history of any successful person, we realise to our amazement a string of failures, rejections, disappointments that infiltrated his/her life before there was a celebration of triumph. It should seriously be noted that there is nothing wrong with a bit of failure. As long as one is not overcome, consumed or paralysed by it. Thus, the wise saying that success is failure turned upside down. Life, if it is going to be abundant, must have plenty of hills and valleys. It must have plenty of sunshine and tough weather. It must be packed with days of danger and apprehension. Little wonder some great minds observed that troubles oftentimes are instruments by which God fashions us for greater and better things.
Our successes are conditioned by the amount of risk we are ready to take, because biggest successes, they say, are preceded by the greatest heartburns. The big fish, no doubt, is never caught in shallow waters. You have to go into the open sea for it. You cannot make omelette without breaking eggs; it’s as simple, yet as profound, as that. Any successful person has a legacy of persistence, dedication and a refusal to be stymied by the fear of failure. It was their resolve to stare down the fear of failure and overcome it. It goes without saying that determination is of striking importance in any and all human endeavour. The most important thing is to make a start. Added to this, you must have the vision, mission and a sense of purpose.
In this, we note that the most successful in any line of human enterprise – business, science, art, politics – has a vision, a dream, mission, before they could grasp reality. Success entails the ability to see the growth of future years, plan for it, work for it, before it can materialise. Truly, it pays to nurture active imagination. If anyone wishes to accomplish anything this year, they must have purpose and ideas.
A writer once said that the man who does the world best, the man who helps mankind onward and upward, is the man who dreams of helpfulness, progress and improvement, and gets them materialised. Planning is very important in the achievement of success. It ends with execution of the plan. Planlessness and painlessness are the friends of failure. Throughout history there is no gain without pain.
To be successful, we must be prepared to plan our way to success and be ready to endure pains. Nothing good comes easy. The amount we are ready to put in is the amount we should expect in return. No one gets more than he/she has put in. Ideas are just ideas unless they are transformed into reality by unshaken determination. Therefore, do not wave aside any good idea that keeps on coming to you to execute for your own good and the good of humanity this New Year. This is a tip of the iceberg in the journey to the fulfilment of your destiny, and betterment of humanity. It may not be significant anyway, but we must not forget that starting small is starting right. God, our creator, makes greatness out of nothing, for a big tree cannot be without the little seed.
In furtherance, we should cultivate a winning attitude. The Holy Bible says: as a man thinketh in his heart, so he is. It is the same as saying you are what you think you are. The real thing is you are not greater than your own dreams. We should never accept that we cannot achieve success this new year and at any time in our life and anywhere.
This new year, let us wish nothing that will make the world poorer, or do nothing that will bring pain or privation to our fellow men. Let us not be discouraged if the way is uphill, and travelling is slow, so long as we are rising. This New Year, may our slogan be; no retreat, no surrender!
SEBASTIAN-LIVINUS OKWARAOHA
Okwaraoha writes from Lagos.
