Forgotten Dairies
Blanks?! About turn, left, right, move forward -By Swandy Banta
If you feel like you’re completely stuck in life right now with nowhere to go, realize you are lying to yourself. You have imprisoned yourself in your own mind by telling self-defeating stories — stories about what your life should be like, what should or should not have happened, and so on and so forth. By doing this you’ve created a tiny space in your mind and you’ve begun to believe you are actually living in it. And that space often than not is BLANK!
Today was one of those days when i just didn’t know what to write about. My mind was blank, no inspiration, no experiences to to glean from.
Maybe it’s because a bag of rice is now 23000, or VAT has been increased.. maybe it’s even because the government of the day is about to rebuild toll gates (taxes everywhere).
Again maybe it’s because I love the rains and they’re leaving. Maybe, just maybe it’s also because Nigeria turned 59 this week (plenty issues on ground).
Maybe I’m sad because the military is telling us to pray if we know what’s good for us because they’re loosing the battle against Boko Haram, bandits and kidnappers.
Maybe it’s also because I read this morning that the Nigerian naira is one of the weakest currencies in Africa (Chai diaris God Ooooo)
Sigh!
Life is full of blanks. That brief interphase when you just can’t place your hands on why you feel the way you feel. You loose the zeal to pursue your dreams. Sometimes you wonder if it’s even worth all the effort.
I have realized over time that when we get to that blank intersection in life it’s actually a moment where you’re about to take a new direction. Blank moments are great opportunities for stock taking, learning, unlearning and relearning.
Surprisingly blank moments are also prospective regression seasons. These moments if dryness come with a great temptation to forget about our dreams, goals and aspirations. I have faced the greatest temptations to abandon my dreams and vision in severe desert moments of which looking back all I have is gratitude that I didn’t give in to the strong urge at the time.
I’d like to share a few tips with us on overcoming moments of dryness or “the blanks”
1. Whenever you begin to feel a sense of indifference towards the endeavors you know to be true about your purpose, just know that there’s a problem. This in itself is the very crucial because you can’t solve a problem you are unaware of.
2. Once you realize that you are in the blanks. Can’t place a finger on it and don’t even know how to go about it, just talk to someone. It is always important to have that one person in your life that is your go-to person who understands you sometimes more than you understand yourself
3. You need to get up and get out of the empty space created by your subconscious reactions to the complexities of life.
4. Get your journal. Take mental notes of your emotions and write to self about the situation and then take a step further to write resolutions on the way forward. Map out your immediate plan of action for reconnection to your destined journey
5. Maybe it’s time to do something relaxing. Visit a friend, go to the movies, hang out a bit or do some other fun stuff as a bridge to the next level devoid of blanks
Finally, accept my assurance that you are not the first or only person who has been in dark empty places. The journey of life is full of such detours. Think for a moment.
Some of the people who would have made the greatest discoveries lost out in getting their names written in gold because when they got to the dungeon of blanks they caved in and took the wrong turn.
What if Thomas Edison had given up on his light bulb experiment?
What if Soichiro Honda had given up in his bid to invent the Piston and later the Honda car? Or you think Henry Ford never fell into the dungeon of the blanks? Or Dr. Ben Carson didn’t get blank at points in life? Carson was blank for the period when he was the dumbest kid in his class. But he got out of the blanks and later went on to become the first neurosurgeon to separate conjoined twins. I guess what I’m trying to say is that you can never avoid the blanks.
The blank, empty dark place is most times the last room before the bright sunlight you so desperately yearn for. Maybe then we should be grateful to God for the blanks…BECAUSE you are NOT BLANK. You are alive in a vast world with infinite destinations. Take a moment to remind yourself of this. Go outside. Look at the sky and the clouds. THIS is the space in which you really live. Breathe it in. Then look at your current situation again. You are destined to move…left, right and forward!
