TERRA INGOGNITA

 Hey there!

How are you doing? How has your week been so far?  

Welcome to today’s gist. 

I heard this story and I thought to share. A little boy went with his mother to see a movie at the Cinema; while they were seated, a lady came in and sat next to the boy. The boy, scared of this stranger next to him, inched close to his mother: in fact, he moved so close that he was literally pressed to her body, and that was how he stayed for the duration of the movie. Now, that shouldn’t be a problem except for the fact that his mother had worn a spiky sweater out that day, so in pressing himself against his mother’s body, this little boy was pressing himself against the spikes on the sweater she wore. This strange woman didn’t look dangerous, didn’t show any interest in the boy or his mother but out of fear of this perfectly harmless woman, the little boy stayed pressed to the spikes on his mother’s sweater the whole time! 

Sometimes we’re that little boy –so scared of the unknown that we decide to remain with the familiar, even when the familiar is unhealthy or hurts us. This behavior manifests in many ways: staying in an unhealthy relationship, refusing to take opportunities because the terrain they lead us to is unfamiliar, sticking to a particular pattern of doing things even when the current situation warrants us to try new strategies…. We’re so focused on not being hurt or harmed by what we do not know, that we stay in familiar, and sometimes unhealthy, situations. 

I’m not saying you should become flimsy and always moving on to the next thing, what I’m saying is that we should become unafraid of change that we welcome it and embrace all the good that it has to offer us. So when the opportunity presents itself to do better with our lives, we should utilize it despite the fear we may feel while undertaking the endeavour. I’ve heard that courage isn’t the lack of fear, it is acting despite the fear we feel. 

Don’t let the fear of the unfamiliar keep you stuck to the unhealthy familiar, be willing to chart a new course. May God give us the courage we need to release ourselves from the spikes we’ve held for so long. 

Till next week!

Love,

Achenyo.