On January 1st, 2019 I decided to call the good Lord’s bluff. I sat Him down at the coast where we were both facing the sea. Don’t ask me how he looks; I just believed he will show up (by lending me his ear) if I ask him to. I decided to call this year ‘Defining.’ Another description of defining to me is, this is the year of the bamboo. The Bamboo tree grows underground for five years after it’s planted. It only breaks ground after the five years and grows rapidly (I heard 4cm daily) and continuously for the rest of its life.
The bamboo tree is now my favorite tree as it represents where I am at in my life. March is my birthday month and I will be exactly halfway in my fortified 40s. Like the bamboo tree, I choose to believe that my growing underground is about to come to an end. Now it’s clear that the feeling of being busy and having nothing tangible to show for over those last 4 years is because I’ve been growing chini ya maji.
This added to my excitement about the prospects that 2019 has. In my chat with Sir God on New Year’s Eve, we agreed that by March 31st the bamboo that is my life will have broken ground. I’m not sure how or what that will look like. All I know is I’ve waited long enough in this space that when we finally break ground I will surely know. Now we are about three weeks to our deadline and I have become increasingly busy with areas of my life becoming activated. As I shared last week, we are launching the Halftime Institute with our first cohort (few slots remaining folks – please sign up). I am deep in organizing the Magical Kenya Open Golf Championship which is the biggest golfing event in sub-Saharan Africa, plus two other personal initiatives that are coming to life. All this is happening in March.
Could this increased busyness be a sign of bamboo breaking ground by our agreed deadline? I’m waiting anxiously. I have prayed for a long time to be shown my new calling. Now I just have to resist manufacturing the answer to the prayer. That’s the hard part, but with time it has become easier letting go and trusting that stuff will work out. I have now reduced my daily dose of anxiety from 10ml three times a day to 5ml twice a day he-he.
I think this is my busy and hectic season but the new second half version. Like compared to those peak seasons of my first half, this is the same but with more purpose and meaning. The main differentiator is I’m interacting with many folks and trying to build them and add to them and not just relating with them transactionally. This could be because my settings have been adjusted more to interdependence than independence.
I’m tired but physically only. And that’s a clear indicator that I’m loving the space I am in. I’m now watching the next three weeks like a movie wearing those 3D glasses to see how they unfold. I don’t know where we will be, come April 1st, but I choose to believe things will sort themselves out.
Folks, maybe it’s a good thing to have a personal deadline on a matter that’s important to you and see how that unfolds. Maybe that psychological pressure will force things to work out somehow in your favor. And if not all our desires are met by the due date we set, let’s look inwards. Perhaps we are the ones who will have changed for the better.
Lucas you have asked, you have believed now it’s time to receive!