Thursday, October 8, 2020

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.



 












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