Forget your new year resolution

Written by Nana Kwame Owusu-Afriyie.

“But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. (NIV) Isaiah 40:31

We are in a new year and it feels like it is only yesterday that we entered 2017, but believe it or not, January has already come to an end. For most of us, we are still in the hibernation mood and we are wondering how come we have not even started working on our new year resolutions. In such a time like this, I find the words of Richard Williams, aka Prince Ea, an American spoken word artist timely for our upliftment:

"One of my favourite stories is about a man. And this man is walking down the path and finds an egg; an eagle’s egg. He takes this egg and puts it into the nest of a backyard hen. Pretty soon the eagle hatches with the chicks and grows up with them. Now all his life that eagle did what the chickens did. He would poke around in the dirt looking for worms and insects to eat. He would fly a few feet into the air like chickens do. He’d cluck around. As time passed that eagle grew very old and one day he saw something above him. This thing, it glided gracefully and majestically through the clouds.

“What’s that?” The eagle asked.

“Oh, that? That’s an eagle.” One chicken responds.

“He is the king of all birds. The Master of the skies. But we, belong to the ground because we are just chickens. Don’t worry about him. You’ll never be that.”

And that eagle lived and died a chicken because that is what he thought he was.

This New Year is time to take flight. You and I both know that you don’t belong to where you are right now. You don’t belong with some of the people you’re around right now. You’ve got no business doing what you’re doing right now. You’re being a chicken when you were born an eagle.

So now the question is: How long’s it gonna take to make the decision? To make the shift? And show some courage. Show some character. That word character is funny. You know character is the ability to carry out a resolution long after the excitement of the moment has passed. I’m gonna say that again because some of y’all mighty’ve missed: character is the ability to carry out a resolution long after the excitement of the moment has passed.

Are you gonna say you wanna do something? Do it for two weeks and then quit? Like you did last year? Like you did the year before last? You say you wanna lose weight. Get in shape. Get your business off the ground. Get closer to God. And then turn around and party. Get lit. Drink alcohol. Eat like crap and continue to live below who you were created to be. Thereby committing the greatest sin known to man? No, no, no, no, no, no. I’m not religious. I’m not religious. But I’m gonna take you to church. Watch this! You see the word sin comes from the Greek word SIN used in archery. It means to miss your mark. The greatest sin in life is to miss your mark. To not be who you were created to be. To be a chicken instead of an eagle.

I don’t know if you guys remember, uuuuh growing up the story of Icarus. You know, a lot of people remember Icarus being this guy who had his wings made out of wax. His father cautioned him not to fly too high or the sun will melt his wings and what happened? It was Icarus’ arrogance that caused to fly too high. The sun melted his wings, boom! He fell to the earth dead. But that’s not the full story. No, no, no, you didn't not know there was more to it? You see, Icarus’s father also cautioned him against flying too low. He said don’t fly too close to the sea or your weight will cause you to plummet to the water. See, we all know not to be too arrogant. Well, most of us. But how many of us know not to be too humble? Too meek? Too timid? Too shy? Too safe?

It is said that the greatest tragedy in life is not that people aim too high and miss. It is that people aim too low and hit. I see a lot of people on Facebook, everywhere instagram talking about the friend zone. “Haha” laughing, he’s in the friend zone. Look, the hover hand. But I don’t see too many people making jokes about the other zone: The comfort zone. Ain’t no memes about that. Ain’t no jokes. You know why? Because a lot of y’all are in there. Well, in this new year let’s step out of our comfort zone. Fortune favors the bold. And it is the cave that you fear. The cave that you fear that will hold the treasure that you desire. Forget a new year’s resolution. Forget it. Let’s make a new life resolution to be fully and authentically YOU. I don’t know what dream you have. But I can guarantee you, there’s somebody in hospital right now praying, begging God to have the opportunity that you have right now. Don’t blow it! It is time. It is time to go from mediocre to meteoric. It is time to go from being counted out to being counted on. It is time to fly like the Eagle you are. Or do you wanna continue to cluck with the chickens? "

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