Sleeping is one of my favourite things to do. It helps me recharge and forget about the troubles of this world. But I don’t only sleep to restore my sanity and energy. I could achieve that and much more through meditation, which I highly recommend. The truth is that when I have unanswered questions in this world, my mind somehow compensates by entertaining and enlightening me with a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily when I sleep. To put it in simple terms, I sleep so I can dream.
Well, I had a dream two nights ago, and I won’t go into details because I’m trying to write shorter articles. What you need to know is that the dream featured me as the protagonist and a friend as a supporting actor. He’s one of the ambitious ones, which I’m sure you already guessed because he wouldn’t be my friend if he didn’t want anything from life. Which reminds me, who are your friends? what do they want from life? are they working towards their dreams? do they even have dreams?
Okay, I’m sorry, enough of the hounding, sometimes I get carried away. Now, the dream was action-packed, and I wish you were there. It was more like a movie filming, and I was the lead. I was fighting/working like crazy, but like every superhero, I got tired, and so I came out to see the progress we had made. On arriving outside the set, I met my friend there, and I complained about how tired I was, pointing out that we still had a lot to do. At that point, he said, “Guy, why are you complaining. You should be happy that you’re the lead”. That is when I woke up, probably because the dream had served its purpose. I woke up knowing that profound statement had a deeper meaning than just a piece of advice from my friend.
While pondering, I realised that there are people that are not playing the lead roles in their lives or the world. For some, it could be that their parents or relatives have taken the liberty of directing the affairs of their lives. For others, they’ve let money, and other material things influence most of the critical decisions they make. I’m not going to talk about any of these people, at least not right now.
I want to talk to the people that are tired from playing lead roles in their lives and the world in general. There’s this Bible passage that says “To whom much is given, much is required” Luke 12: 48. Have you ever wondered why you always feel like the weight of the world is literally on your shoulders? Like you’re running out of time to fulfil your purpose? Like you’re wasting away doing less than what you’re meant to do? Well, welcome to the group, my name is Aniekan, and we’re more alike than you think. We are lead actors in this world, and the beautiful world we want to create depends on us.
On a more serious note, here are three things you should know about playing the lead in your life and the world.
1) You’ll have more responsibility. The concept of responsibility is illustrated in the parable of the master and the servants. That one where a master about to travel, gives his servants different portions of gifts/talents. Have you ever asked yourself what it took the first servant to turn his five talents to ten?. Yes, I know each servant was given according to his ability but rather than complain about receiving more work than the other servants, he endured and did his best. No matter how many gifts you receive(d) from the master, it is your responsibility to ensure that the world benefits from it. That is your mission as a lead actor, should you choose to accept. To take the lead, you first of all have to recognise what and how much you have.
2) The bigger the responsibility, the bigger the reward. This is a no brainer, and I could illustrate this using anything, but you’re smart, so you get what I’m trying to say. Do you want a lot of money? Is it respect or impact? Is it living a comfortable life? Everything lies in your gift, and if you don’t open it, you’ll never know what rewards you’re going to get, after all “Who knows what’s in a gift, until it’s been unwrapped”. Unwrap your gifts or responsibilities, and you’ll reap rewards eyes haven’t seen.
3) The last thing you should know is that it is hard. Taking the lead is hard, but do you want to know what else is hard? Not achieving anything worthwhile in life. Imagine reading this article, knowing what you know, and you still decide to let material things or other people make the leading decisions in your life. Ten, twenty, thirty or forty years pass and you’re still living a mediocre life because you’re scared to take charge or because you’re afraid of enduring the pain of responsible living. The agony of regret is greater than the discomfort of working hard.
If you’re wondering how to start, find that thing you’re gifted at. Don’t tell me you don’t have any because we all came here with gifts. If you can’t see it, shoot me an email at theaniekanumana@gmail.com, and we’ll sort it out together. I’m sharing mine with you, don’t you think it’s unfair to me, you and the rest of the world that you’re not expressing yourself and giving back. Find your gift, and you will take the lead.
