Читать книгу Raising Champions: Coaching Children Into Responsible Adulthood (Spiritual Edition) - Rufus Jr. Curry Jr. - Страница 3

“Decide who you want to be and what you want to do for the world that God has blessed you to be born into.”

Rufus Curry, Jr.

And God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

Genesis 1:26-27

Who are you? Who? (of a person) of what character, origin, position, importance, etc.: Who does he or she think he or she is?

Question: Who are you?

Answer: I am [insert your name].

Wrong! That is your name. It was given to you, usually by the man and woman who were responsible for the conception (sexual interaction) portion of creating your physical body.

Answer: I am a [male/female].

Wrong! That is the sexual gender designation that is assigned to you by virtue of your biological configuration, scientifically represented by the chromosomes symbols XY for males and XX for female. The presence of a penis and testicles or vagina and ovaries combined with the potential power to produce sperm or eggs is not who you are; it is part of the power of physical reproduction/creation that you are responsible for.

Answer: I am a [mother, father, student, or coach].

Wrong! That is what you do as a daily function or vocation at this present period in your life. You have the ability to do many things, especially the things you set your mind to.

According to the Bible, man is an intentional creation. Man is not a mistake or the result of a scientific experiment gone foul. Man is not an accidental byproduct or was man stumbled upon in the Heavenly Host’s attempt to create “something” else. Man is not like Penicillin, Coca Cola, tire rubber, a microwave, the chocolate chip cookie, the pacemaker, Post-it® Notes, a Popsicle, plastic or the potato chip. Great thought was given concerning humans (“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”) and clear instructions were given about how Man and Woman would be constructed. The manner in which the Creator expected man to function was clearly laid out as well—“And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth”.

So, according to my research, we/humans are a very impressive entity. Let us look deeper into the gifts and abilities that were assigned, programmed, incorporated and hard-wired into the spiritual and physical mechanisms of man and woman. This examination will require you to literally open your mind wider in order to embark on this introspective journey for you to discover who you were truly designed and empowered to be.

Nature is fundamentally the same as it has been since the beginning of time. There are many species of flora, fauna and animals that were living and moving about the face of the earth which are not among the living today. There are also many plants and animals that are alive on present day earth that did not exist during the early days of the planet. Be it due to the ebb and flow of nature itself or man’s hand being stretched forth and exercising his God-ordained power of dominion to the benefit or detriment of our environment. The fundamental laws of nature have not changed. The laws of nature more commonly known as the laws that control time, space, gravity, electricity and creation are still the same. But, we have learned to explore the boundaries of natural law to a great extent and learn that there is more to the laws than we originally believed.

The law that we are focusing on is the law of creation. This is a simple, true and straightforward law. Everything in nature creates after its own kind. Flowers create flowers, yaks create yaks, grass creates grass, and men and women create boys and girls who grow up to be men and women. Yes, due to scientific and technological advances, the growth of human intellect, and good- old-know-how, man has been enabled to influence or manipulate the process of creation. But, the law of creation is still intact without any fundamental changes. Nothing can create anything that is not like itself. Yes, there are things that exist in our present natural environment that did not exist before; like multicolored roses, Ligers (male lion and female tiger) and Tigons (male tiger and female lion) but these things only exist because they have come about within the confines of the rule of creation. Humans affectionately call these different products “Mutts” and scientists call them hybrids, but they are still in line with the law of creation and have broken no rules. What we have is the purest expression of man obeying his God-given directive to exercise dominion over the earth. We have taken control of the Earth and bent it to our desire. The results of our acting on our desires have produced mixed results. Some good and some bad and I am sure God is not pleased with some of them.

The thing that I am driving at is the fact that according to ancient scripture, man and woman were created in the image and likeness of God. No, we should not be arrogant enough to imply that we are God, but we do have attributes and qualities that give us ranking order over the beast of the earth. God is the spirit in every molecule in existence, including our bodies.

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father”

John 14:12

We must step up and take our rightful place in nature. Our reassessment of who we are, and how we are supposed to conduct ourselves with our divine set of skills is needed in order for us to reach our divine potential. As Siedah Garret and Glen Ballard lyrically described the crux of the human issue in the song they wrote for pop superstar Michael Jackson, “The Man in the Mirror.” This song clearly examines our struggle to see ourselves as we were divinely created and equipped to be. Humans have relinquished their divine power to anyone or anything other than themselves. Contrary to what we believe, we are not designed to function like leaves that have fallen off of a tree and are tossed to and fro by the wind. Our lives have been handed to us to be lived deliberately, not accidentally or haphazardly. On purpose, with purpose, is how we are to live our days on earth.

In my estimation, we surrender control over our lives because we don’t want the responsibility for the end result. If our lives turn out great, then we will step forward and receive the kudos and awards that come from living a successful life. On the other hand, if the great experiment called our life turns out poorly, lackluster or sub par, someone else must take the blame and we don’t want it to be us. The truth is, a successful, well-lived life takes a great deal of work.

When we look at successful people: parents, role models in our community, teachers, school sports teams, marching band participants, those in leadership positions, or someone going off to college and living their dreams, some of us think that all of that success was dropped into their laps. One hundred percent of the time, the individual you are observing has positioned themselves intentionally or they have opened a door for themselves as a result of some other action and now they find themselves face-to-face with an opportunity and they have seized it. Sometimes it appears that successful people are where they are due to the fact that they have pulled themselves up by their own bootstraps or they achieved success all by themselves. Nobody achieves success by themselves. Even Michael Jordan had a coach.

If a person is enjoying the sweet fruits of their labor for an extended period of time, it is usually because they are working for the opportunity and it is a benefit they are enjoying as a result of honoring and respecting their God-given gifts. If they stumbled upon the opportunity, they either have to wake up and recognize it for what it is, or they are doomed to be a flash-in-the-pan. They also risk the chance of squandering their gifts because they are not prepared to take full advantage of the opportunity that is staring them in the face.

Work is a given when it comes to achieving your dreams. If dreams-come-true were handouts, everybody in the world would be millionaires and living on what most people believe is “Easy Street.” Work is the qualifier and the disqualifier for those of us who dare to march forward in the interest of living an awesome life at the highest level. The United States track and field Olympian, Mike Powell, set the current world’s record for the long jump, with a leap of 8.95 m or 29 Ft 4 ½ inches in the 1991, Tokyo Olympics. The previous long jump world’s record of 8.90 meters or 29 Ft. 2 ½ inches was held by U.S. track and field Olympian, Bob Beamon (1968 Mexico City Olympics). Bob Beamon’s world record stood for twenty-two years before that warm summer night in Tokyo, when all of the work that Mike Powell put in, paid off...in the form of the leap of his life. Thousands of men had attempted to cut away at that previous record. Many came close, but only Mike Powell was granted access to the gold medal stand with the new world record in tow. Preparing yourself for the opportunity that you have been dreaming of requires the focus of an industrial strength laser beam. Believe it or not, you have what it takes to focus and get the job you dream of, done.

If we only knew, our presence here on earth as a living being is all the testimony we need to confirm our own personal winning pedigree. Each living being is the winner of a race that began with more than one million contestants. That is correct. The night your father and mother came together, he released over one million sperm cells and you beat more than one million sperm cells to the egg your mother held in her womb. You swam that night because your life literally depended on it. Each of us is a winner from conception. Each of us came into the world as the result of winning our first race. Think about it. How were you able to be the strongest one out of over one million sperm cells and now you find yourself in a place you presently do not like? You lost that winning feeling and over time you have allowed yourself to become reprogrammed into the thinking of someone who does not deserve to win; settling for second place, or even loser. Never! That kind of thinking is not of God. Fact!

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth (plant in soil), that shall he also reap (harvest or gather to himself)”

Galatians 6:7

Sowing the seeds of your desire (want) and passion may involve some hard work. But, the work that you must endure in the interest of bringing your dreams to manifestation is a pleasure, compared to just toiling for money. There is a distinct difference between the passion-soaked work that must be done for your heart’s desires and the mind numbing work (toil) that is done in a compulsory or mechanical fashion in the interest of just making a dollar.

When there is no true passion for what you are doing, it is possible for your drive, morale and focus to die off, which can cause you to produce substandard work or products. Now, I am not going to sit here and attempt to fool you into thinking that the act of pursuing your lifelong passion is or will be a life of total mindless bliss. I do know however, that the hardships you encounter in the process of pursuing your life’s calling usually inspire you to step up your game and work with your creative properties to engineer solutions to rid you of what appears to be an obstacle and create success for the world and yourself.

You must ensure that you are working in the correct field of interest. The best way to ensure that this happens is to follow your mind and heart, without selfish intent. When your mind is anchored (following God’s philosophy) with the strength that allows you to be who you truly are, a unique individual, who is unlike anyone else in the universe, then you allow yourself to become the one who will prevail against all odds. You may have behaviors in common with some other person, but trust me . . . you are as unique as your fingerprints. Your mission is not to be better than the next man, woman, boy or girl—it is to be the best [insert your name here] you can be.

You can’t be anyone else and they can’t be you. If you are trying to run fast to compete on the track team, your most consistent and menacing foe is not the runner from the opposing team . . . it is time and yourself. The stopwatch and your personal best is the gauge which is the measuring stick for you to become the best you, you can ever be. On any given day, anyone can win; that is why they run the races. Are you doing what you need to do to make your performance the best on the track the day you run your race? If not, change your idea of what your destiny will be, create a vision or select a destination, lift your aspirations and move out in the direction of your life’s calling. It has been calling you most of your life - your passion.

Your goal is not to just make money. No! Don’t misunderstand me; there is nothing wrong with making money. The framework I recommend that you use to employ your talent (gift or passion) should be to hang your passion on a skeleton constructed of service. That service is directed toward your fellow human beings.

Raw power shows itself in the ability to act in a moment’s notice when you see something that needs to be corrected or done. If you were walking down the street and came upon a person lying down on the sidewalk, having what appears to be a heart attack, your ability to assess the situation quickly and correctly, and then apply proper first aid or cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) would be considered “POWER.” You have the power to potentially influence the lifespan of another human’s existence. Contrast this with not knowing how to administer CPR, needing to run to a phone or for help, then waiting for a medical professional to arrive—a weak position.

Time is of the essence when it comes to making changes in the lives of other human beings and our own lives. Sometimes your help will consist of sitting quietly and listening, offering words of encouragement, sympathy, empathy or even a helping hand. Although neither of these actions are CPR or money, they provide aid just the same. Work to amass your power, whatever it may be, so when you are called to help, the ones in need of your help don’t have to wait for you to run and get help . . . you have the power to help in your hands.