Whispers from a Sage by Martin Andrean Gicheha,

Judging by the many stories that I have listened to, it seems many people hated school. School was not fun for them. Contrary to this however, many...


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Judging by the many stories that I have listened to, it seems many people hated school. School was not fun for them. Contrary to this however, many people like learning new things and adding to their knowledge bank.

My opinion is, that the most boring aspect about schooling was that we were taught WHAT to think rather than HOW to think. So if you failed to remember what the teacher said, you failed. The whole difference is: in schooling you attend lessons to gain knowledge where as in life, knowledge attends to you, to get lessons.  In life, we meet people who are wise and experienced. People who whisper insights and reflections which contribute to making your perspective(s) sharper.

I met this amazing man who whispered into my life some of the deepest words ever. Let me share the five things he taught me:

  1. You are never a millionaire if the only thing your money touched were your pockets.  

Chasing the paper and making lots of it should never be your reason for living; how you use the money you receive, is where your focus should be. Desire to leave a legacy on how you changed people’s lives through the resources you have; this way, you live as long as your impact lasts. There are people who died many years ago and yet, they remain in the minds of people many years after their death. Others died the previous weeks and yet we hardly remember them.

  1. People do not change because of criticism given to them but rather, because of positive alternative solutions offered.

There are some people who are ignorant and there is nothing you can do to change their mindset. Indeed, criticizing such people gets you no where and may turn in fact, get them to opt for far more foolish strategies. The only help you can give to them is by providing them with a shining perspective and showing them the right thing to do. Unfortunately,  we are a generation quick to give criticism but rarely do we offer a solution. If you are not offering help to a man in a mess, opening your mouth becomes part of the mess. Is it not the case that in a dark room, you do not curse the darkness but you instead, switch the lights on!

  1. If you put your mind to it and your hands off it, that is fantasy. If you put your hands on it and your mind off it, that’s mediocrity.

Your mind offers you perspectives; your hands give it momentum. There are those who rush into things without putting any thought to the outcome  making the situation worse. Then there are those who put thought in to things but are then too scared to take a leap of faith. The world is struggling and wailing because of these two groups; they should consider partnering or else the world will be full of fantasy and mediocrity.

  1. Feelings are not instructions to be followed but opinions to be considered.

Most of the time, our emotions convince us that they are cooking something good for our appetite and they offer us recipes in terms of feelings. Some people think that these feelings are to be followed keenly and they end up making many mistakes. There are things your emotions think that you urgently need now although the truth is, you do not need them even in a decade. Do not chase your feelings like goals; treat them as opinions that can pass over your head.       

  1. In life we have beautiful faces and beautiful souls – one is all over while the other is over all.

Do not desire to be only beautiful on the outside, yearn also to emit splendor from inside.  Be a person who is selfless in living and people will always see beauty in you. Be the mother Theresa in misery, the Martin Luther king in oppression, and the Nelson Mandela in segregation among others. 

 

   

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