Tuesday, May 23, 2017
PUSH BEYOND THE BOUNDARIES
It is human’s desire to be unique, to achieve more, to have
their names in the books of achievers. But reaching destiny is not that easy.
Unfortunately, we have the desire to love doing the easy things hence we
achieve nothing unique. Our problem is that we have the habit of doing the same
things and expect different results.
Motivational and inspirational speaker Michael Jackson was
right, ‘your past matters nothing. What matters is what makes you different and
that is what will stand out for your future.’
It is only when we overstretch ourselves beyond the expected
norms that we achieve. It is imperative to note that the society we live in
does not allow us to stand out, to push beyond the boundaries; it wants us to
fit in. It is not amazing therefore that most people are average as they have
to be confined within the boundaries of societal thinking.
People that have made it in life have stretched boundaries,
have been crazy, have been unstoppable and have defied the limits of impossibility.
Consider the life of a courageous Malawian girl whose name is Scalder Louis.
Louis says: ‘in 2004 I was convinced that I could start
accountancy studies. The challenge however was that the closest accountancy
college was almost 300 kilometers away. I really needed a qualification in
accountancy and I had to get started. I enrolled with the Malawi College of
Accountancy for weekend classes. I had to leave Ching’anda by boat every Friday
for Sengabay, a two hours lake cruise distance then from there connect on
minibus to Blantyre. Sunday afternoon I had to travel back to Ching’anda.
People said that what I was doing was not right but I kept on.”
That was indeed taking a bigger risk. Cruising through the
storms on Lake Malawi and being in a minibus for hours was something most of us
could not do. But Mark Zuckerberg was right: ‘the biggest risk is not taking
any risk….in a world that is changing really quickly, the only strategy that is
guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.’
As if that was not more than a hill to climb, another
seemingly insurmountable challenge emerged. Louis explains: ‘On 25th
of April that same year my world turned upside down, a minibus accident
occurred as I was travelling from Blantyre to Sengabay to catch a boat to
Ching’anda. When the accident happened I didn’t know what exactly had happened
in me. I couldn’t feel my legs. I asked if I had my legs. I was eventually
moved from Mlambe hospital to Queen Elizabeth Central hospital. I was there for
months and I was still with hope that one day I would feel my legs. I
eventually stayed for months at Beit Cure and also got rehabilitated at Kachere
Rehabilitation Centre for months.’
The bigger story is that Scalder Louis never gave up. Having
suffered spinal cord injuries and confined to a wheelchair was no excuse for
her to fail achieving her dream. She ended up being the first wheelchair
confined student to enroll at PACT college. Scalder Louis is now a qualified
accountant and comfortably works as Finance Manager for World Vision.
Achieving dreams demand that we push and push as Scalder
Louis did. The spinal cord injury was a silent message to her that it was
impossible for her to achieve her dream. She defied that and kept on.
Impossible is nothing, the great Muhammad Ali said. Impossible is just a big
word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they
have been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is
not a fact. It is an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It is a dare. Impossible
is potential. Impossible is temporary.
No matter the situation you are in, the challenges you are
encountering, hang to the wise words of Zig Ziglar: ‘you were born to win, but
to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win.’ If
Scalder Louis defied the impossible, you can also make it. She is a mortal
being just like you are. Stretch yourself beyond the limits then you will
achieve the impossible.
