Too Rigid?
I started writing this piece on Saturday, September 24, 2022 at 10:21pm. After sitting comfortably for two weeks in my draft, I’m pushing it out into my stories before procrastination sneaks in. I initially wanted to put it out as a thread on Twitter b̶u̶t̶ ̶m̶e̶r̶c̶y̶ ̶s̶a̶i̶d̶ ̶n̶o̶ but I’m making it a blog post instead. So, let’s have it.
I’m writing this for everyone but particularly for young people like myself. I’ve realized that as a young person seeking growth, it is important not to have rigid mindsets that can in one way or another limit the growth for which I seek.
I’ll explain with three examples.
When I started out in the university, I did not understand why people read in the night. I saw reading in the night as absurd. I honestly did not understand why people would go to school and stay all out in the cold just to read. I did not consider myself to be a night person and I used it as an excuse not to read in the night. In my words, can’t be me shaa. So what happened? My grades suffered for it. I wasn’t reading effectively during the day and I was sleeping throughout the night.
It took an Uncle of mine to convince me that I needed to utilize both night and day to read. I had to learn it the hard way but I finally learnt how to read in the night and maximize that period. So what happened to my I am not a night person yen yen? Did I suddenly become a night person overnight?
No.
My mindset simply limited me. I could actually be a early bird or a night owl depending on what the situation called for and I had no reason to limit myself to a particular time or season of the day before I could read because the results I sought for and still presently seek for do not care whether I’m a day or night person.
Second example. When I started out in my Christian faith, I wondered why people really prayed so much. I saw prayer as stressful and energy consuming. I knew The Message Bible asked us to pray hard and long but did it really have to be hard and long? Some 15 minutes prayer and I was already tired. I almost went to the point of avoiding prayer meetings talmabout they were doing too much there.
My only limitation to a solid prayer life was a pre-conceived mindset about prayer. I saw it as a burden instead of a form of intimacy. It took learning and understanding for me to see prayer as not only intimacy with God but as total dependence on Him. Only then could I really pray effectively.
Lastly, I dislike(d) Lagos. Commercial hub? Yes. Beautiful city? Yes. But the hustle and bustle? The long hours of traffic? The from time to time craze? It was mentally draining for me just by thinking about it. This video below is a vivid example of how I felt about Lagos and why it’s important to have flexible mindsets.
https://twitter.com/_AbrahamAb/status/1575833277016915969?t=C7TmCKY6b-SHcPpIiBiqyg&s=19
I travelled to Lagos for the first time this year and I had a near horrible experience. It took my cousin and a total stranger to bail me out before I barely made it to the train station for my trip. However, when I started applying for job opportunities, a large percentage of them were located in Lagos which meant I would have to relocate to Lagos if hired. Well, let’s just say I’m beginning to like Lagos by fire by choice
Mindsets are not bad but rigid mindsets that do not allow for growth or flexibility are not very much helpful. The distance between your present state and what you have set out to do and achieve is the positivity or negativity you have created in your mind. Bar mindsets on ethics and core values, I believe pre-conceived mindsets about life and happenings should be flexible enough for change.
Regardless of the rigid mindsets you may have or carry, what you should do is know when to be flexible enough to change or discard those mindsets.
That it did not work for Person A does not mean it will not work for you. That Person B says a place is unfruitful does not mean Person C is not prospering in that same place. The real question to ask is “is this mindset limiting my growth?” because your mindset is your biggest asset to taking territories.
Till another time,
Love and Light.
