Keep Moving ii

In another occasion, Martin Luther King Jr. gives an inspiring speech about designing your life’s blueprint, and reminds us that whatever you do, you must always keep moving.

Transcript:

“This is the most important and crucial period of your lives, for what you do now and what you decide now at this age may well determine which way your life shall go. The question is, whether you have a proper, a solid, and a sound blueprint. I want to suggest some of the things that should be in your life’s blueprint. Number one in your life’s blueprint should be a deep belief in your own dignity, your own worth and your own some-bodiness. Don’t allow anybody to make you feel that you are nobody. Always feel that you count. Always feel that you have worth, and always feel that your life has ultimate significance.

Secondly, in your life’s blueprint, you must have as a basic principle the determination to achieve excellence in your various fields of endeavour. You’re going to be deciding as the days and the years unfold what you will do in life, what your life’s work will be. Once you discover what it will be, set out to do it and to do it well. Be a bush if you can’t be a tree. If you can’t be a highway, just be a trail. If you can’t be the sun, be a star, for it isn’t by size that you win or you fail, be the best of whatever you are.

Finally, in your life’s blueprint must be a commitment to the eternal principals of beauty, love, and justice. Well life for none of us has been a crystal stair, but we must keep moving, we must keep going. If you can’t fly, run. If you can’t run, walk. If you can’t walk, crawl, but by all means, keep moving.” 

            

I would like to plug in the story of Elephant Rope, to drive home my point: Once upon a time a man was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from their bonds but for some reason, they did not.

He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away. “Well,” trainer said, “when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”

The man was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they were.

Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something or that we cannot keep moving, simply because we failed at it once before?

Throughout our lives we go through different experiences, some are positive and some we see as negative and unpleasant. When you hang on to a negative or unpleasant experience you are constantly thinking about it. And when you constantly think about that negative event you prevent yourself from moving forward towards your life blue printe. How many pleasant memories do you recall everyday? Chances are you're like most people and you have a number of unpleasant experiences that you're holding on to, which is preventing you from moving forward.

The more you carry the worse life gets. Why? Because you've filled your mind up with negative experiences, because you continually hang on to something that doesn't allow you to move forward, in short, you're carrying useless baggage that's really slowing you down.

Think of it this way: you're on a hiking trip and along the way you keep picking up heavy objects, things that really don't serve you. After a while, these objects begin to slow you down and unless you get rid of them, you'll never complete your trip.

To let go you have to get your mind to focus on different goals and different objectives. It's not about saying: I let go of the pain from my fight with ---- and move on. That will help, but if you really want to start moving on, then you have to get your mind to focus on new things, in the process you automatically let go of the things that have been slowing you down.

You may want to read inspiring story of Shaesta Waiz https://successbreath.blogspot.com.ng/2017/07/until-your-goals-are-achieved-dont-stop.html

For emphasis, Martin Luther King Jr, declared, Life for none of us has been a crystal stair, but we must keep moving, we must keep going. If you can’t fly, run. If you can’t run, walk. If you can’t walk, crawl, but by all means, keep moving.   

Keep Moving

Keep Moving. Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving. Looking back isn’t going to help you, moving forward is the thing you have to do, even if you fall on your face, you’re still moving forward, because a man maintains his balance, poise, and sense of security only as he is moving forward.   

In a speech delivered in 1960 in Atlanta, Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote, “I would like to use as a subject for my address this day, “Keep Moving From This Mountain.” For the moment, I would like to take your minds back many, many centuries to a group of people whose exploits and adventures have long since been meaningfully deposited in the hallowed memories of succeeding generations. At a very early age in their history, these people were reduced to the bondage of physical slavery. They found themselves under the gripping yoke   of Egyptian rule. But soon a Moses appeared on the scene who was destined to lead them out of the Egypt of slavery to a bright and glowing promised land. But as soon as they got out of Egypt by crossing the Red Sea, they discovered that before they could get to the Promised Land they would have to go through a long and difficult wilderness. And after realizing this, three groups, or rather three attitudes, emerged. First group wanted to go back to Egypt: they felt that the fleshpots of Egypt were more to be desired than the ordeals of emancipation. Then you had a second group that abhored the idea of going back to Egypt and yet could not quite attain the discipline and the sacrifice to go on to Canaan. These people choose the line of least resistance. There was a third group, probably the creative minority, which said in substance, “We will go on in spite of the obstacles, in spite of the difficulty, in spite of the sacrifices that we will have to make.”

In every movement toward freedom and fulfilment. We find these three groups. But this day, I am concerned mainly with the second group, the individuals who didn’t want to go back to Egypt necessarily and yet didn’t want to go on to the Promised Land, the individuals who choose the line of least resistance.

As Moses sought to lead his people on, he discovered that there were those among them who would occasionally become emotionally and sentimentally attached to a particular spot so that they wanted to stay there and remain stationary at that point. One day when Moses confronted this problem, he wrote in the book of Deuteronomy, the first chapter and the fifth verse: “You have been in this mountain long enough, turn ye and go on your journey, move on to the mount of the Amorites.” This was a message of God through Moses. And whenever God speaks he says go forward, saying in substance that you must never become bogged down in mountains and situations that will impede your progress. You must never become complacently adjusted to unobtained goals; you have been in this mountain long enough, “turn ye and take your journey.”

In a real sense, each of us today is in a wilderness moving toward some promised land of freedom and fulfilment. In every age and every generation men have envisioned some promised land:

Plato envisioned it in his republic as a time when justice would reign throughout society and philosophers would become kings and kings philosophers.

Karl Marx envisioned it as a classless society in which the proletariat would finally conquer the reign of the bourgeoisie; out of that idea came the slogan, “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need.”

Bellamy, in Looking Backward, thought of it as a day when the inequalities of monopoly capitalism would pass away. Society would exist on the basis of evenness of economic output.

Christianity envisioned it as the kingdom of God, a time when the will of God will reign supreme, and brotherhood, love, and right relationships will be the order of society. 

In every age and every generation men have dreamed of some promised land of fulfillment of freedom. Whether it was the right promised land or not, they dreamed of it. But in moving from some Egypt of slavery, whether in the intellectual, cultural or moral realm, toward some promised land, there is always the same temptation. Individuals will get bogged down in a particular mountain in a particular spot, and thereby become the victims of stagnant complacency. 

To Be Continued ……

Let Go And Let God

In 2015 I was to write exam on Friday, Tuesday of the same week my school fees was not ready, I exploit every possible means to no avail. I simply let go and let God and it works, by the Friday morning #75,000 was just coming in from different places, it is called miracle somewhere. Let go and let God, It sound more Christianise than not, though the first time I heard of the hashtag, I don’t really understand what it means, in fact I applied the principle severally without knowing, I had to referred to Bob Proctor but I love the phrase “Let go and let God” because it sounds so simple. But there are times when we aren’t clear what it is we’re supposed to let go of. And there are other times we want to let go, we try to let go—and it just doesn’t happen. Why?

Sometimes there’s a difference in what we want to give up and what we need to release. We might be holding tightly to something we think of as good, like better health for a loved one or changed our circumstance. And though it’s never wrong to desire good things, there are times when we have to let go of what we think is best.

Other times we grip tightly to assumptions about the way life “should” be. We think things ought to be easier or life shouldn’t be so hard. Sometimes what we must give up are our preconceived notions of how life is supposed to work.

But in every case, what “Let go and let God” comes down to is this: We need to let go of our own will and allowed the super-natural force or spirit or God takes over. Listen to Jesus prayed: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). We need to let go and let God do what God wills. This submission will lead to peace and joy, even when the way is difficult. There is purpose for your pain and a reason for struggles and some reward for your faithfulness …. Don’t give up. 

Realistically, how many of us actually do this “without” trying to fix the situation ourselves? I would estimate a very low percentage. Learning to “let go” and “let God” is not as easy as it sounds, however, Consider, for example, the biblical story of David and Goliath, which surely must rank as one of the greatest testaments ever written on the subject of faith. As you will recall, Goliath, the giant of Gath, came into the Israelite camp boasting pompously and taunting the Israelites to select a man to do battle with him. The Israelites, naturally, were terrified and, not surprisingly, none of them leaped forward to accept the challenge.

Sometime later, however, when Goliath returned to reiterate his challenge, David, an Israelite youth, overheard the giant’s obnoxious boasting and he stepped forward to pick up the gauntlet. Finally, after much pleading before his elders for the dubious honour of facing Goliath in battle, the youth was accorded the great “privilege” of going forth to do battle. The elders insisted, that David clothe himself in heavy protective armour. They also gave him a sword with which to smite his powerful adversary. But David said, “I am not used to these things, I cannot fight with these handicaps. These are not my weapons. I have other weapons with which to fight the giant.” So he stripped himself of all his armour, and went into battle with no weapon other than a simple slingshot and a few pebbles which he had gathered from the nearby brook. When the giant leader of the Philistines, protected as he was with armour from head to toe, armed with mighty weapons and preceded by his shield-bearer, saw the unarmed, unprotected Israelite youth approaching, he was infuriated. He said to David, “Come to me and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air and to the beasts of the field.” Young David, however, never want to be intimidated, answered the giant saying, “Thou comest to me with a sword and with a spear, and with a shield, but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel whom thou has defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hands.” While the giant Goliath placed his faith in physical objects like armor, swords and shields, David placed his solely in an unseen God. The result—the young Israelite shepherd defeated his far mightier foe! With nothing, save a single stone from his sling, David struck Goliath, and the giant fell lifeless to the ground.

By accepting the principle “Let Go And Let God”, and believing that whatever must happen for you to reach your goal, will happen—like David—you too will successfully conquer the “giant” in your life. You see, the trouble with those of us who fail to achieve what we desire, is not that we lack the ability to do so, but that we lack the faith implicit in the “Let Go And Let God” principle, which indicates whatever is necessary for us to reach our goal will indeed occur.

Clarence Smithison has this indefinable spark which makes him one of the most remarkable
individuals “if a person will let go and let God (i.e. have faith that whatever must happen for him to achieve his goal, will indeed occur), all things become possible”. Dr. Wernher von Braun conclude: “There would not be a single great accomplishment in the history of mankind without faith ... Any person who strives to accomplish something needs a degree of faith in himself and when he takes on a challenge that requires more and more moral strength than he can muster, he needs faith in God.”

While you ruminate on that, Benson Adima remains your your-in-house Motivational Speaker and Corporate M.C. with +1238137003868 you could reach me from anywhere in the world.