Thursday, 28 November 2013

Wrong Turns in Life: Intro - where do we Part?

IS IT POSSIBLE TO KNOW WHEN OR WHERE WE TOOK A WRONG TURN IN LIFE?

PART 1: Introduction
I came back home, Tanzania, after being away for nearly 12 years; naturally I began to look for 'old' friends, enquired of their whereabouts and eventually met some of them. I soon realized that some have done extremely well for themselves, some extremely bad and a whole bunch in-between, not so good not so bad.

I began to wonder what made the distinction – could it be IQ, destiny (divine predestination), good/bad luck, starting off from dis/advantaged position?

What is it that caused one colleague to become a well-off international businessman and the other end up killed by mob justice after he was caught stealing used clothes? We all sat under the same classroom, same teachers, more or less similar background and parenting? Where did we part – some to excellence and some to mediocrity, failure and obscurity?

I believe it has something to do with the opportunities that we either take or don't take in life; I am not, by all means, suggesting that we should all have same results in life but I am persuaded that we all have the potential to become great and successful in whatever we are meant to do in life…and I don't use the term 'meant to do' lightly.

The Most wise King of Israel said, "the race is not to the swift, nor the battle for the strong nor riches to the brilliant but time and chance is given to them all…", Eccl 9:11 KJV italics and emphasis mine.

We all get 'time' and 'opportunity' given freely to us…the difference is in how we use the time and opportunities at our disposal.  It all lies in being able to discover what we are meant to do and do it at the time we were meant to do them. . .timing is everything.

While others wasted time and opportunities that lingered freely around them, the group that did very well maximised every moment (time and opportunity) that life presented. The group in-between settled for average, mediocre venture while the previous thought and ventured big.

It is not enough to know WHAT one is meant to do, you have to know HOW you are meant to do it and equally important WHEN. Take time to study YOUR What, How and When and you will do well no matter what life present to you as setbacks and challenges.

In Tanzania grapes are grown in Dodoma – where our sweet and proudly Tanzania produce Dodoma Wine is made, it has something to do with geographical climate of the area, grow them anywhere else in Tanzania and you waste your resources. But even in Dodoma, unless you want to employ more resources for irrigation etc, you will have to know when to put the seed on the ground, prune produce at the right time and pick them at the right moment otherwise they will not be suitable for wine making.

If one owns a farm in Dodoma, one has the opportunity to grow grapes; when the right climate comes another opportunity is presented, time to prune is another opportunity to maximise produce. All these opportunities present themselves to farmer in Dodoma for him to maximise harvest and thus success as a farmer.

I am told that Dodoma land is also suitable for peanuts farming; and here is a kicker, one acre of grapes yields almost 50 times in profit compared to peanuts. However, most farmers in Dodoma ventures in peanuts, WHY? 
1. This is what they know best, 
2. It costs less in initial investment and, 
3. Peanuts farming has a low risk of loss of failure should the weather fail.

If you were a humble farmer with two acres of land in Dodoma, Tanzania with little or no financial capital…which path would you take? Peanuts or Grapes? Why?

Think of every opportunity as a path (pathway), footpath that takes you from one place in life to another. Every path leads to a destination; the challenge is in knowing which path (opportunity) to take and when to take it.

You choose a path by DECISIONS you make (or don't make) in life. Every day we make small decisions that eventually compounds to a destination. Think of something as trivial as the choice of meal, drink, smoke, friend etc they all lead DOWN to a path…but is this a path you are meant to TREAD?

I know a lot of people who understand the need to know which path to take they visit séances, witch doctors, fortune tellers, prophets, fast and pray in order to get 'wisdom' on which path will lead them to health, happiness, wealth and long – good life.

If you take a wrong turn into a path not 'meant' for you, you will pay a high price to achieve the same result as a person who took the right turn. You can grow grapes in Dodoma out of season, but you will have to pay for irrigation likewise you could get same profit farming peanuts as grapes in Dodoma but you will have to cultivate bigger area.

I am persuaded that the three top most critical paths that needs care and insight on their hows and whens prior to taking them are career choice, life partner and geographical location (where you live).

Others within these major choices are:
v  Career: self-employed, employed, entrepreneur or combination?
v  Partner: who to marry and when…timing is as important as the choice itself!
v  Location: when, which city to live and work in, which virtual city to trade in

*Next, Part 2: WHEN are you more likely to take wrong turn?*
¬
I believe in prosperity for I believe in God, for He gives me power to get wealth” © TJ Kyara

In His Service

//Tim J Kyara
Husband||Father||Teacher||ePastor||Engineer||Mentor
Teacher of the Word: www.light2mypath.blogspot.com 
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