The Path to Mastery in Life
I often say that my younger brother is the most shameless person in our household.
I remember a story that happened more 15 years ago.
He was still a child and had just lost his two front teeth.
As a passage of rite, grown family members and neighbors would tease the kids with a local song that translated into, “even the bird said I won’t eat food from a man with window teeth”
I hated that song as a child and was one of the kids who cried when it was sung for me.
My younger brother at the same age when he heard the song, found a drum to play and danced to its rhythm.
It made teasing him no fun for the adults.
So through out the time his teeth had not grown, he had a very peaceful season compared to I who was uneasy about exposing my teeth and always cried when I heard the song.
Note to adults: Some kids are sensitive, don’t be mean!
I’ve recently had a surge in engagement and it scares me.
Compared to other writers, the numbers don’t hold a candle, yet it’s significant to me and has made me shy away from medium and writing these past few days.
I was scared I couldn’t keep it up.
Scared that I would fail those who have followed or subscribed to read my write ups.
Why Do we Fear
We fear things we do not understand.
We fear things we feel are bigger than us.
We fear things we feel have harmed us before.
We fear what threatens our identity and existence.
We fear what we are yet to master.
Fear is Part of life.
Life is full of Debts that Must be Paid
While the above statement doesn’t sound very nice, this is life.
There is a time to laugh and a time to cry
A time to sow and a time to uproot
A time to be born and a time to die
As many are the gifts of life, so are its debts.
Yet with each debt that we settle, our life becomes fuller.
This life is balanced.
I don’t believe in luck, some things may be predestined, still I believe more in choices.
The choices you make in this journey called life, that’s what matters.
At every step or turn in life, you have a choice to go forward or turn around.
There is this story in the Bible about a Man called Job.
His, is a story of adversity, poetically written in 42 chapters.
What strikes me the most about this story are the words Job declared from the beginning of his troubles.
He said, “the thing I fear the most has befallen me”
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from his story, it is that we need to learn to have no fear.
Becoming a Master
It makes sense that we fear what we are yet to master.
For this is the essence of living — To gain mastery over things and situations and over ourselves.
At every point in time, there comes a challenge that seems to dwarf us, and when you master, it has no hold over you. And then a bigger challenge comes our way — the cycle continues.
We have to keep improving till we reach perfection.
What must happen for you to grow into whom you were destined to become must happen.
You must confront it. Or it will always be a hidden demon.
In this case, “the best defense really is a good offense.”
Fear is only crippling when we keep it hidden.
You must expose it.
My mom was my first French teacher, both in the home and at school. She had one opening line in all of her lessons. “Don’t be afraid of mispronouncing the words, if you don’t say it out, I can’t correct you and you can’t learn French.”
Fear is your cue to promotion — it is the path we must take to advance in life.
Those without fear have nothing to hold them back.
Mastery over your character, mastery in relationships, mastery in writing, mastery at executing projects, if you ever feel stagnant in life go back to what you have run away from, is there fear residing anywhere in your heart?
Embrace, Confront and Expose your Fears — They are leading you on the Path to Becoming a Master.
Hello, I’m Nguper. I write about life lessons, faith and philosophy. I also write a weekly health newsletter @halexhearty. Subscribe and let’s connect.
