Today we get to the middle of our journey towards our true north. For years I’ve looked forward to stopping at Mtito Andei whenever we travel to the coast. We stop just to stretch and use the bathroom but it feels more than that. The excitement is always palpable. It’s been a while since we did it thanks to the SGR. The next stop is usually at the Voi Caltex petrol station. I almost smell the sea from there. The tea and mandazi are a must-have irrespective of the time of day. Just like the road trips, we appreciate our life’s journey more when we stop and look back from where we have come from. That makes us appreciate the journey and motivates us to keep going.
At this point, I hope you have recognized your passion or some semblance of it. It takes self-awareness to clearly identify what you love and are good at. It can give you hints as to what would be a good fit to activate your gift. I recently interviewed Arthur Mwai on our halftime webinar on the 26th of September. His gift is in cooking but his career was in the hospitality industry. He started and ran nightclubs, got good jobs in large hotels, and even in statehouse serving president Mwai Kibaki. But his passion remained cooking even though he didn’t use it directly. I noticed that he was always close to his passion but not exactly in it.
He hit rock bottom last year and that forced him to take a long hard look in the mirror. We have to do that at some point folks. If the mirror breaks, it breaks kwani. it became clear that the kitchen is the place he loves the most. He now supplies people with some deadly dishes from his kitchen at home. His passion is cooking and the right fit is in the kitchen. Not managing a kitchen in a club or hotel. Aligning his passion with its context has given Arthur peace and fulfillment that one can only understand by experiencing it.
If there was ever a time to have some faith and believe in miracles, it is during life transitions. This pandemic has enhanced the need for us to reconnect with a higher being. It’s like the whole world is at halftime. It’s been a stark reminder that we are not as in control as we’d like to be. We have felt vulnerable, helpless, weak, and at the mercy of this invisible enemy. I wish we could wash away those scary emotions with soap or sanitizer and get back in control. In times of crisis, what do you believe in?
As we seek our unique assignment on earth it would help to do that with the awareness and acceptance that some things will remain outside our control. Let go and let God is a common statement. It sounds much easier said than done but is worth considering. I have battled and celebrated with that reality often. It was more intense at the two major crossroads of my life so far. In the year 2000 and 2014. Battled in the sense that when things appeared to be going the way I wanted plans changed abruptly and I’m left disillusioned. Other times an opportunity would appear dressed in overalls. It looks like hard labor and nothing else yet it is the open door I was looking for. All in all, when I look back I see a lot of God accidents as I like to call them. I have believed in miracles even without being aware of it sometimes.
I would say believe in miracles but remain practical. Or as one of my favorite books says, “work like it depends on you but pray like it depends on God”. I’m currently trying to do this. With the world slowly creeping back to normal, my business is beginning to pick up. Work is coming in and I have to do it, even though id rather focus on the coaching and other projects that have gained some momentum over the last few months. So why am I giving attention to my tent business? because man must eat. That’s being practical. Hunger has no moratorium like the ones we are getting from the banks on our loans.
Sometimes in life, we have to do stuff we don’t enjoy to meet a need. Having said that I will need to find a way of my business running without being sucked back in to manage it. I can’t allow that to happen. I’ve worked too hard to pivot since march. So what balance can you strike folks? what can you delegate? what should you focus on?
Even as we grow our faith (and expect miracles) I find that we have to fall in love deliberately with our passions and desires. When I was starting my tent business back in 2000 I fell so deeply for the idea of starting the business. I fell for it such that if it didn’t work out and I failed then I’d only fail forward. I was desperate enough to move from fantasizing about starting a business to acting on making it a reality. I only had options. To make it or make it.
Truly when you are committed to something the universe does make space for you. It took a coaching session recently to remind me of this. I had become complacent over the years and that’s contributed to me being stuck as far as exiting my business is concerned. Believe in miracles but get desperate enough to live them.
Seek out your true north with both your heart and mind open. What you’re looking for could come from the most unlikely of sources. And that’s my definition of miracles. Oh, and a miracle is another confirmation that you’re on the right track towards your true north.
Inbox me if you’d like to chat further on lucas@lucasmaranga.com.
I love this article. I believe in miracles, like the song goes.
Self awareness does sometimes seem like a package out in the ocean that I need to collect and once open i should go ‘wow! I finally got it. One minute I think am aware until am doing a job or a thing that does not excite me.
I like what you said ” look at the mirror hard and long, if it breaks, it breaks.
Am finally reading the book ” Half-time” and what stands out for me clearly is we cannot live out our second half as we did our first half. We must identify what we need to put in our box. And if it means breaking a few mirrors on the way, so be it!
Here is to broken mirrors!!!
Miracles? Luck? Ah yes, the need for luck… as defined by the crossroads between opportunity and preparation.
If the mirror breaks, it breaks kwani…… or from the song “Man (person) in the Mirror” by Michael Jackson..the way forward will be very exciting…..here we come!