Cos They Lived

I remember my English teacher did say “Never start a sentence with ‘because’. And so I started my title with ‘cos’ (lol). On a serious note, it is almost a given that to make considerable impact in your generation, you’d have to break with tradition in some way. It is a pleasant paradox that in keeping with the tradition of leaders and innovators, you’d have to break with the tradition of “how we have always done it”. Stereotypes are meant to be improved upon; yesterday’s innovation is today’s convention. Certain individuals decided to do “business unusual” and for that, the world was better for it. The late Steve Jobs of Apple called them the crazy ones, the rebels, the people who see differently. These are the people that radically revolutionize whole industries and societies by veering off the tracks of tradition; and taking us into a new world of possibility. They dare to mine life’s hidden treasures and explore the regions the majority dread to tread.

In the sarcastic words of Christopher Plummer (Captain Von Trapp) in the classic film, Sound of Music, “Activity suggests a life of purpose.”  And that is so true. It is not about being busy; what are you busy about? Time management really is about purpose management, not simply filling up the hours with routine activities that achieve no results. And I wonder, how many of us would have performed in line with purpose if we could view God’s marking scheme for every area of our lives.  

Certain people’s lives were so purposeful that even their days of trouble and incarceration were meaningful to the advancement of humanity. Their job losses bore the fruit of great companies, their experience with hunger produced charitable foundations. Mandela’s incarceration resulted in South Africa’s freedom from the apartheid system, John Bunyan’s time in prison, the bestselling book, “Pilgrim’s Progress”. The attack on Malala Yusoufzai, the teenage Pakistani, young girl who was shot in the head for writing against the injustices of the Taliban and the need for the  girl-child to be educated, yielded ample global attention for the advancement of that cause.

Innovation, freedom and the ability to influence lives is directly related to the degree to which we are capable of breaking away from the status quo of tradition. That acceptable way of doing things, the way we have always done it or the safest path to walk. It means standing apart from the crowd of popular opinion and a convenient, ordinary, good life to standing alone to stand tall and becoming a tree under which others are refreshed providing fruit that the masses may benefit by; and providing seed for the dreamers, the crazy ones, the rebels of tomorrow. I pray that your life would not be about non - impactful activity but one in which even your trying times would make a purposeful and inspiring statement even for generations to come.

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