SPARE ME YOUR GLORY BUT TELL ME YOUR STORY

It has been a while since I last set foot in a mathematics class. Nonetheless, I can still remember my mathematics teacher insisting to see the process through which each student used in arriving at his or her answer. In other words, we had to demonstrate the process through which the answer was realized otherwise, you were considered to have cheated.
The fact that I was highly allergic to mathematics and I still am made me to never master calculus, algebra and most if not all mathematic topics. All the same, the greatest analogical lesson I learned from mathematics is that; in life, a process is more if not equally important than the destination. In other words, it's humanly impossible to arrive at a destination having not gone through a process.
Unfortunately, the present day young generation have developed an extremely unrealistic mindset which tells them that you can wish yourself to an opulent destiny without a smidgen work input. To them I say, "If wishes were horses, beggars would surely ride."  
In my dire quest to figure out why myriad youngsters of the 21st century are so eager to lead unwarranted lavish lifestyles, I didn't have to look further than their present day number one tool of motivation or so you'd think. This tool is nothing else but the internet. In this day and age, the internet has become the forth item in the cluster of basic needs.
Even though it's inarguably true that internet technology has made the world a global village by enhancing entrepreneurship methodologies and easing communication means by replacing traditional means of communication with instant ones, I am not lost of the fact that internet technology has likewise fostered utopianism among the young generation inhibiting their ability to think that; success in life entails a progressive process rather than a mere wishful thinking. In other words; thinking is free but implementing your thoughts is demanding. 

If you are still not certain how internet technology has continued to mislead the young generation to ideal thinking that render them to utopia, here is a perfect example. In their improbable claims that their lavish lifestyles is a great way of inspiring their fellow youngsters, most  affluent youths are continuously posting their daily lifestyle on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and the like. In other words, they are living their entire lives on different social media platforms.
Even if we give them a benefit of doubt and buy to their claim that posting photos of their opulent living and uploading videos of the same is purely a way of inspiring their fellow youngsters, what they are either ignorant about or don't know at all is; in matters success, the story (process) is much more inspirational than the glory. (achievements) In other words, sharing the process of your progressive stuggles that landed you to a successful lifestyle inspires me and makes me resilient in comparison to showing me how successful you are. If you are candid about being inspirational, it's worth noting that; the journey towards your success is more important than your success. While your process towards your success inspires me, your success in absentia of the process intimidates me and makes me suspicious.
On the other hand, youngsters who fail to relate well or distinguish between real and ideal posts and videos portraying opulent lifestyles from their peers tend to develop social media depression. Before you stress your mind about social media posts or videos portraying lavish lifestyles, it's very imperative to know that most of these people are either leading ideal lives of show-off while others upload videos on YouTube for lucrative purposes.
While using social media platforms for  purposes of staying connected or airing your veiws on matters of interest is perfectly okay, engaging in what I call social media surveillance, which is; browsing social media platforms to compare yourself with your peers renders you to feelings of stress, anxiety and the like. At first it seems like a harmless silent social media stalking but in the lapse of time it leads to dissatisfaction and eventually to symptoms of depression.
In this day and age, almost every one seems to have this social media persona. Once a social media user creates a perfect image of himself or herself, it becomes difficult to break away from the hype and share about the struggles he or she might be going through in life thus the need to understand that; all that glitters isn't gold.

With this knowledge well encrypted on your fingertips, kindly stop beating up yourself out of lavish ideal lifestyles of your social media friends or role models. Using social media platforms to size up your accomplishments against others will eventually render you to social media depression just like the saying; 'Comparison is the thief of joy.'

REDEFINING SUCCESS

I grew up during the days when success was associated with going to school to pursue one among the four careers namely; a teacher, a physician, a pilot or an engineer. These four professionals were deemed to be the abolition of generational destitution in any family collectively.
To substantiate my parent's claims that education was indeed the key to a blight successful future was Henry Maboki's swahili song (someni vijana) that had hijacked the crowning of the village rooster as the wakeup alarm every school day morning. At one point, the familiarity of this song had become a nuisance to me goading me to truancy.
If you have been wondering where the rain started beating us when it comes to the decades old misconception of what success is all about, look no further than the careers our parents perceived as lucrative and coerced us into pursuing them regardless of your inability. It didn't matter how talented you were in sports, how innovative you were, whether you were adept self made tech guru in the entire village or the best concerto soloist in the church choir, if your future ambitions weren't within the confines of a teacher, a physician, a pilot or an engineer, your expertise was  promptly rendered futile.
Today more than ever before, the delusion of decades ago on the definition of success as accumulation of money and material possessions has propagated to both millennials and generation Z and it seems as if it's here to stay if no immediate measures are taken to demystify this spurious belief. 

In this day and age, this biased misconception has become a total detriment across all age groups without any solution at sight whatsoever. 
To make matters worse, the already
deluded generation on the definition of success as the accumulation of material possessions has been fooled twice that;  becoming an affluent person isn't a matter of riches accumulation only, it also entails accumulating riches at a young age. This deceit has not only fostered opulence gluttony, it has likewise obliterated morality by promoting corruption in different entities in a dire need to feed the greed of instant gratification.
In a 2016 study that was conducted in East African Institute of Aga Khan University comprising 1,854 youths aged between 18-35 years, 50% said that it doesn't matter how they attain riches, corruption included as long as they won't end up in jail. In addition to that, 35% said they would give or take bribes. This study clearly shows the vast integrity anomalies prevalent among the present day young generation with a smidgen hope of a successful future if any.
Contrary to the old English saying that; life starts at forty, words like late bloomers doesn't exist among the vocabularies of the present day young generation. This is a generation that wants to graduate from school on Monday get a job on Tuesday, own an edifice in an affluent neighborhood on Wednesday, buy a limousine on Thursday, throw a lavish nuptial party on Friday and jet-off to an island for a blissful and utopic honeymoon over the weekend. No wonder the adaptation of their popular acronym; YOLO (You Only Live Once) and a phrase like; I would rather cry in a Mercedes Benz than be blissful on a bicycle.
Having been around for over four decades now, I am well versed that; success is neither dependent upon the major you pursue in school nor the riches you accumulate thus the saying; the poorest man is he whose only riches is money.
Just like the biblical words inked in the gospel of John 8:32, 'And you will know the truth and it will set you free,' my intent is to demystify the decades old misconception that ties success with monetary possessions. SUCCESS IS THE OUTCOME OF A STUDIOUS PLAN, AN ADROIT PROCESS, A RESOLUTE PRINCIPLE AND ACHIEVED SELF-ACTUALIZATION PURPOSE. Needless to say, the fact that 64% of the world population never find their purpose in life makes it easier to believe that success is purely monetary based. In a simplistic elucidation, success is nothing but;  PURPOSE FULFILLED.