The Beginning – lessons from trash

As we grow older there are times when we must face how we define ourselves. We question our goals, achievements, dreams and our journey to attain them. Yet most times we never stop to look at and appreciate what we have achieved. As a 21 years old male, my journey is just starting.

In the past few months I feel as though I did a lot of my growing up, more than I had to at any other period in life. I faced more issues and decisions that have really opened me up to scrutiny of my peers and superiors. I have had to reconsider my priorities as well as my definition of who I am as an individual; and just when I thought “I can’t do this.” I realised that I really don’t have that luxury. I have goals and aspirations. I, like everyone else, want to be extraordinary. I’m only different because I had the guts to start.

Make room – preparing for growth

In my experiences I find that the key to growing is to make room for the growth. Yes, you read correctly. We approach the present with ‘baggage’ that has our feet nailed to the floor. We want to move ahead yet we have the same friends who are intent on staying where they are (their choice) but they also demand that you remain stagnant as well. Don’t misunderstand, I am not saying that you should forsake your friends or your ‘roots’; I simply mean that the persons who you keep in your life should be adding value to your life. They should be people who strengthen you just as you strengthen them because being in a one-sided relationship is exactly what neither party wants.

Also, you have persons who try to move on but carry baggage. I compare this to travelling with your trash. You neglect to put the trash in the bins you pass as you journey. Initially, you hurry along because you want to reach your destination to dump it and you are very aware of it, after all, it stinks! But as you pass bins and dumps you still clutch your trash until the foul odour no longer bothers you and you simply start accepting it as a burden to bear as you journey. BUT you fail to realise that by now the odour clings to you and YOU STINK. With that foul odour people avoid you. You miss opportunities and your hands are still full of garbage/refuse/trash.

If you dump the trash in your bin, not hide it, it leaves your hands free to seize the opportunities and the day. The foul odour would not drive people away because you did not hold on to the trash unnecessarily so it would not have been able to permeate and pollute your substance. That is the same approach I propose for your baggage. Solve them, come to terms with them and dump them, where applicable, but don’t let it mean you falling victim to becoming a victim. Don’t let your bad experiences, your anger, your hurts and other negatives subtract from the quality of your journey, the quality of your interactions and your opportunities. Deal with it and let it go, it is refreshing.

Once you decide to take the first step the wheels are in motion, it’s just for you to ‘seize the day’.