Jeff sat at his desk in the State government ministry where he works staring into space. He has just been given by Tony “a dress down” for the way he has been living his life. Tony had berated him saying, “Look at your life Jeff; have you given it a good thought. For eight years you have been at that desk as a clerk after your Secondary School Certificate. The little money you have been earning you had spent very unwisely on frivolities. Every year you have made a promise of moving ahead to earn yourself a degree, but all had been nothing but empty promises”. Jeff knew that has indeed been a hard truth from Tony that he truly needed. He knew that the way his life has turned out is not the way he would have wished it. He knew that something has to be done very fast if his life is not to end up the way he would not even want to think about. Life is a product. It is a product of choices made, the use of time, opportunities and resources. It is a product of attitude, actions and attentions. It can be a product of diligence and hard work; of circumstances of birth and upbringing; it may be a product of relationships. It can be a product of dreams and visions. Very many inputs can contribute to the way your life turns out. One of the most important inputs of life however is your thinking pattern. “For as a man thinks in his heart so is he”.
Every good product starts from the mind of the designer. He thinks about the purpose of the product. He thinks about the need the product is to meet. He thinks about the quality of the product. He thinks about the right raw materials in the right quantity that will produce the right quality. He thinks about the acceptability and the impact of the product in the marketplace. He thinks about the category of the potential buyers. He thinks about the cost and profitability.
Your life is your product and the world is your marketplace. The acceptability and success of your life in the marketplace is up to you. If this is so, you need to give a good thought to the purpose and quality of your life. There is the need for you to think about pushing up the value of your life in the marketplace. In every environment you find yourself (your place of work, in your family, in your church etc.) how much are you valued or is your presence rarely noticeable? Are you making any impact?
Do you desire a transformation in the way your life is at the moment? Your life can become transformed as you renew the way you think. To renew is to make new again, to repair. You need to set about the process of changing your thought pattern that has not done you much good in the past. Clean up your thoughts by taking care of what you read, watch and listen to. Seek relevant information that will positively impact on the way you think and act. Set your mind on those things that can add value to your life. Become more proactive and less reactive in the way you think. Choose to think ahead and you will definitely stay ahead.
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8 NIV)
Good Thinking, Good Life.