Sunday, June 3, 2012

Ready, Set, Go!


The beginning of anything is the single most important step of any process. If your beginning isn’t stable, chances are, things aren’t going to be stable. Envision any structural building, they all must have a strong, solid foundation before walls or ceilings can be erected. Now envision the ground that the foundation is laid upon, it’s sturdy, not shaky. Ask a builder would he/she build a house on a beach, in a swamp, or on an incline? Now I want you to look at a tree or any plant that bears a fruit, if the roots (which aren’t visible most times) aren’t planted on fertile ground under the appropriate conditions, it will die and bring forth no life.

Now I want you to take a close look at how you live and think about some paramount or significant triumphs and failures in your life that you've experienced, do you notice a trend? I’ve noticed that for a lot of us, we tend to overlook the basics when it comes to starting a task, something new, or developing some sort of a game plan when it comes to living. Just as the old adage says, all good things must come to an end; so must there be a beginning. In fact, the very first words of the Bible are “in the beginning …” God begins his living word with “In the beginning” that speaks volumes to me. If you want to be successful, if you want to understand the nature of things, go back to the BEGINNING. It’s funny how we can expect things to work themselves out or work in our favor when the beginning was rooted in quicksand. It puzzles me how people can talk about a situation or claim to be praying about a situation and don’t want to tell you the truth about how it all began. We seem to avoid the uncomfortable truth of most situations. People tend to accuse me of being cynical and insensitive at times when I introduce the truth into the equation when we talk about beginnings. I’ve seen single mothers struggle with their children but don’t want to acknowledge the fact that they choose to bring into the world a bastard child. I’ve seen wives struggle with their marriages but don’t want to acknowledge the fact that they got involved with their husbands when they were attached to another woman when they begin their relationship. I’ve seen people struggle with their jobs but fail to realize that they schemed and caused others to lose their jobs in order to get to the position that they are at now. I’ve seen people struggle financially and can’t seem to get out of debt but won’t acknowledge the fact that as soon they seem to get a little bit of money they choose to invest it frivolously on things that lose value as soon as you purchase them.

But on the other hand, I sit and smile when I hear people talk about the triumphs they are experiencing when they decided to step out on “faith” when embarking in something new.  When you begin things faithfully and in good graces, you tend to reap good rewards. It really isn’t that hard, the only thing it requires you to do is to think and be conscious of your actions. Plant yourself on fertile ground then sow a seed, give it water, give it some sun and watch it root strongly.  Take the time to BUILD your foundation the right way, take the time to invest wisely instead of trying to make do with the spoils of bad decisions. Folks waste too much time trying to right wrongs, you can NOT do that! Acknowledge your wrongs and start over. Think about it, you can cook spoiled food but it won’t taste good and it more than likely will make you very sick.  

Get your START right; here’s to new beginnings.

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