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Page 6 December 2007 The AC Phoenix This Is Our Time By John Raye I have long admired Nelson, Mandela, the leg endary South African freedom fighter who spent 27 years in prison tor a crime he never committed. As the world’s most famous political prisoner, Mandela was a “cause man”, the kind you hardly jq|.,p| p^yg ever find anywhere these days. He believed in a cause and his belief was so through and so com plete that he was willing to pay anything and everything for the liberation of that cause, even if it meant his own death. I often wonder how he managed to keep from losing his mind during those 27 years. Why did he not go stark raving mad! How did he stay sane? Why didn't he just give up? How could a man go into prison as a lowly, ordinary inmate, and then later emerge as the President of a whole country. Did he have magic? Evidently, Mandela possessed some kind of power, some strange knowledge unavailable, perhaps, to us ordinary mortals. It’s pretty clear to me that the man knew something that we didn’t know. However, I do have one valid explanation that shows why and how he was freed from prison, how and why he walked out of prison into the pres idency of his own country. The answer is obvious. He was, and remains, a man of destiny. He had little choice in the matter. It was just his time. Nothing else makes sense because time and circum stance happens to all of us. - What I am advancing here requires you to stretch a bit... to step, walk and examine a path or road less traveled. In other words, think outside the box, and involve yourself in an exercise unfamiliar to most ordinary folk, Mandela’s freedom came because he tapped into a power source unknown to most people, yet this same power is available to everyone. That power is the same power that causes the sun to rise , the moon to shine, the tides to come in and out, the rain to fall and the wind to blow. It’s the same power that makes thunder and lightening such an awesome specta cle. This is the power of divine or absolute authority, the power to create or destroy. Now, poverty may be our second cousin, but our situation, while grim and extremely volatile and fragmented, is neither hopeless nor helpless. We have many valuable resources at our disposal. Self-validation, of course, is one of our greatest resources. No man is free until he has established a freedom concept in his own mind. No jail or prison, no condition or circumstance can long hold back or contain a man who invokes his own authority and who is, by birth, self-determined. A mind fixed on freedom cannot be denied. Power transmitted from one mind to another complementary mind becomes contagious and unstoppable. When two or more minds converge at the same moment, a third mind, unknovyn and invisible, makes its presence known. We may refer to this third, unknown mind, as the master mind, the mind that knows all, sees all, does all, and is never idle, unresponsive, nor unproductive. Everyone has access to this third mind. However, not everyone will acknowledge the existence of such an authority, and indeed, most will never realize that such an authority, power or force, is already embedded In the DNA of every human being Just because one has power, and is in possession of deep, fundamental knowledge does not mean it will be used. Power, like knowledge, has no meaning unless applied. And when we do not apply what we know, it simply means we do not know it, or better still; do not believe we know what we know. And not knowing, they say, is the greatest sin. You Are Worthy From scripture, we learn that a “laborer is worthy of his hire”. It is right and proper to be justly compensated for a mission completed or a job well done. However, far to many of us deny, depreciate or underestimate the talents and gifts we’ve been blessed with... so stop acting like you are not worthy, or that you are not qualified, or that you “just got lucky”. If you honestly know what you are doing, then act like iti There is no need to apologize for success or for your good fortune. Give thanks; be grateful for what you have and expect morel Playing small or acting insignificant does not add value to that which you are, or to what you are doing. Being your authentic self sets the stage for self-validation and self-acceptance.Thus,the best way to please other peo ple is to first please yourself, and it is a known fact that people will always treat you the way you treat yourself. For emotional well-being and psychological maturity, it is always important to acknowledge the divinity within you. No need to pretend otherwise. We were given this information years ago by the legendary, Chicago-based entrepreneur, S.B. Fuller, who achieved fame and fortune by selling beauty and hair care products door-to-door in neighborhoods across America. Known as the godfather of Black entrepreneurship. Fuller was a champi on of self-determination, and allowed neither circumstance nor condition, to hinder his progress. Despite his upbringing in abject poverty, the lack of for mal education, and a rigid, airtight, and sometimes violent and deadly seg regation system. Fuller never lost or compromised his integrity. “Every individual is born”, he taught, “with a spark of divinity,.,but it is up to the individual to fan that spark”, he said. Believe Ir Yourself Fuller’s success as a self-made millionaire can be traced directly back to a healthy and well-developed, self-concept. Though poverty-stricken in the physical, he was, nevertheless, a lion in the spiritual. He was stout-hearted and believed, unapologetically, in himself, the real key to his amazing suc cess and pioneering efforts in door-to-door selling. It is the magic of believing that can make the impossible, possible. If you believe, sincerely believe, that you can accomplish or do a certain thing, the how-to-do it will be revealed to you. But the difficulty with this concept is that sincere belief, for many people, is short-lived and difficulty to maintain. We live in a macro-wave society where instant gratification, got-to-have-it now, is the rule, not the exception. Success, however, that is real and lasting success, is not like preparing a bowl of instant grits or instant potatoes. If you did not plant, then you should not expect to harvest. The same holds true for investments. Investments are not free, they all cost something. You wouldn’t go into a bank and ask for a withdrawal if you had not made any deposits! Would you? Of course not! You get back, what you give out; this is, as we all know, or should know, is universal law, the one law that can never be circumvented. Belief is the key to self-actualization. It is the cornerstone of all success and also, I might add, to all failurejiack of belief). Everything is made possi ble for the man who truly believes in himself. Your Most Valuable Asset Man is so endowed that he is able to control every element, with the exception of the element of time, nature’s most valuable resource. Time is a finite resource. It cannot be stored, saved or extracted from other sources. It is the one great resource that man, despite his formidable intellect, has never, and will never be able to conqueror, control or master. Time and circumstance awaits us all. Our days are numbered. This does not mean we should rush, panic or despair over what we have done or become anxious about what remains to be done. It is good to embrace the theology advanced by the Apostle Paul who told us in no uncertain terms to, “be anxious about nothing”. You have no business expressing frustrations over things beyond your control. Furthermore, there is no need to despair or express prolonged grief or anxiety when a friend or love one makes his or her transition from this good earth. There comes a time when the bell tolls for everyone, the poor, the high and mighty alike; in this space there are no exemptions, no fancy loopholes. In the distance, a final curtain call awaits each of us. People who have reached a certain age of emotional maturity do not waste time con cerning themselves with the inevitable. All of us, rich and poor alike, must leave here. What matters most is how we make use of the time allotted to us. And what we leave behind. If you are living a purpose-driven life, then there is no need to concern yourself with what you did or didn’t do. Anxiety cannot lay claim to a mission- centered or purpose-driven individual. Living with purpose is how you live and enjoy your best life now. Such liv ing is the apex of true freedom. When purpose is made known, there is no need to make excuses of search for alibis. When you walk into your purpose, when you live with your purpose and when you are sustained and surrounded by supreme joy, even in the midst of serious adversity, you will know for sure, that your time has come. Take a moment to look around. Take note of the people who occupy the space where you reside. Are their lives not different since they met you? Did you change them, or did they change you? Who changed who doesn’t really matter. What matters most is that real change took place, and the world is made better because of your purpose- driven examples. Good things happens to people who do good things for others; which is why your best days are still ahead. Its harvest time folks, and your gifts are about to make room for you. All because, like Mandela, your time has cornel —John Raye, a cancer survivor, is the author of “Dreamtime; Finding Success In America” and “Cancer Don’t Live Here Anymore”. He lives in Kernersville, NC and can be reached at rayeandrosie@aol.com or (336)782-8383.
The AC Phoenix News (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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Dec. 1, 2007, edition 1
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