Embracing your current chapter

Transformation with Mildred

Most of my siblings and I, grew up with a strong passion for novels. When my immediate elder brother and I were in our adolescent years, our love for reading began to strongly compete with the love to hang out with our respective friends.

My brother was quick to devise a plan. He would let me read a book first and when I finished, he would ask me the exact page where the story began to get interesting so that he starts from there.

As he put it, he did not want to waste time going through the “boring stuff”, when what he really enjoyed was the action part. What an idea! I figured out I did not have to read the “boring” initial stuff either. I would skip through the pages looking for that point where the action really begins. We became experts in this.

Although it served us a great deal of time, it did not take us much time to realise that the books we were reading this way were no longer interesting. The stories were just not cohesive or comprehensible enough. The reason was very plain; the preliminary stuff, although boring for us, was crucial in the unfolding of the story, for the whole book to be an exciting read.

Are you at that stage in life where you just wish you could put things on fast forward to get straight to where you want?

Maybe it is the position you currently hold at your work station, at church or in your social group that seems so boring.

Maybe it is to do with your income, or talent. Yes, it is always good to aspire to be at a higher place and to have more than you have right now, but it is also crucial to note that success is a gradual process. The stage you are at right now is a crucial connection to a higher stage you will be at in the future. Think of the pyramid or get-rich-quick schemes; the success you realise through short cuts will not have a solid foundation and is neither fulfilling nor ultimately dependable. It can topple down any time.

Agreed, you have something great within you. But for it to be realised it needs to be moulded perfectly. Do not abort God’s plan for your life because of impatience. The day one conceives is not the day they give birth no matter how badly they want a child. There has to be time for the foetus to grow and to mature inside the womb, while outside, preparations are being made for the baby’s arrival.

The talent within you also needs to be worked on with patience for it to grow to its full blossom so that it can be launched successfully. The experience you are gaining in that particular position, is important in your ultimate success. Take time to grow and to develop. Allow yourself to go through the “boring” phases, be patient with yourself even as you experience failure… it is a necessary process for you.

Pregnancy is synonymous with a lot of discomfort, but that can never be a reason for opting for a premature delivery.

You simply have to go through the process.

Here is the magic line: If your future self will be thankful for it, then go through it!

Only then will more avenues open for you to move further. What I know with utter certainty is that, you can only connect the dots backwards. One day, when you have travelled the distance, you’ll look back and you will understand each and everything that happened and its reason for happening, which was for your greatest good.

In your down time, you may:

Identify areas for improvement and work on them,

Develop coping mechanisms to navigate uncertain and difficult situations,

Expand your social circle,

Develop new skills,

Develop healthy habits, such as regular exercise and balanced eating,

Prioritise stress-reduction techniques.

Focus on the positive aspects of your life and express appreciation, etc.

By focusing on some of these areas, you can turn a slow period in your life into an opportunity for growth, learning and development. Remember to embrace your current chapter and to live it fully, for the sake of your greatness that is surely coming.

Mildred Mutize is a transformational writer and speaker contactable on [email protected]/ call/WhatsApp +263773637284.