We all have pursuits and quests we set for ourselves to achieve. More often than not what is important gets sucked up in clutter of priorities. It is always a joy when we spring back into focus and get things done as we had set out. That is why we have to continuously and jealously guard our focus by decluttering.
The Heart – I once shared some stories in my life with a friend and she exclaimed that it seemed straight out of the movies. Normal people have incredible and amazing stories around their lives. The interesting parts consist of people, issues and how those are tackled. a good place to start to declutter is the heart. The heart controls the emotions and responses we have towards people. When we are angry we will detach, display aggression and even act in peculiar ways that show bad attitude, arrogance and somewhat barbaric. Shah Rukh Khan playing as Rahul in the movie Chennai Express holds unto the mantra “Do not underestimate the power of a common man”. I dare say “Do not under estimate the power of the heart of a common man”. Chennai Express is a movie full of colour not only in costumes and rich pictures but a story weaved out of love. Rahul’s grandfather passes on and he promises the family that he will scatter his ashes in the Rameshwaram river. He is bound to his vow and family honour to deliver the ashes as promised then his “heart” is caught up in a love fit that has to accommodate Meena (played by Deepika Padukone) and the drama in her life. How does he manage his “heart” to pursue Meena as well as keep his focus on scattering his grandfather’s ashes in the Rameshwaram?
All of us have a purpose in life. We set out priorities and undeterred we achieve but heart-strings most of the time get into the way. There is no prescribed way of decluttering the heart. We have to purpose to keep what is important the focus and keep at bay any distractions.
The mind – having a purpose is one thing, getting it done is another. Our mind is a powerful tool that feeds off our heart. It then fuels our actions – determining the intensity of our moves, speed and puts together the steps of the call. We need our mind in the greatest shape. My friend Javas Bigambo – a Thought Leader in Governance, Democracy & Devolution ; quips “…To deny a brain sufficient supply of acquired vital information is the most atrocious of ills…” We need to exercise our mind and brain with the most vigorous of activities to get the best out of it. Read books, synthesize concepts, question things then draw points from them – it is politely said that when we use 30% of our brain then we become successful anything higher than that gives us the name “genius”. Is it possible to organize our thoughts to question, conceptualize, structure a methodology, draw contingencies, have an evaluation matrix to measure advances made.
The Spirit – we are blessed in Kenya that we have had crash courses in Law and our constitution that it is commonplace to find citizens arguing using clauses and derivative law terms. We have had good learning instances when our constitution was overhauled and the draft & ensuing document was widely debated, shared and snippets presented over and over that we can comfortably quote them. Senior lawyers, analysts and pundits alike have been quoted using Latin expressions enshrined in law studies that amicus curiae, modus operandi, obiter dictum, res judicata, inter vires among others can be used in common banter in homes and friendly conversation. In law definition and interpretations are presented in full length of the weight in the words used but more so in “the spirit” thereof. Within us we have our true intent in every move we make. Sometimes we compromise a pawn to slay a castle. The true intent here being not giving away something but to gain substantially in the loss(investment in our eyes). When we align our spirit to our heart and mind then we empower our spirit. The spirit encourages and rejuvenates us. It is gives the assurance that we are on the right course. Many use their faith and beliefs to feed their spirit. A strong spirit is a strong will which is difficult to bend.
I wish you the very best in you quest to declutter and achieve more in your pursuits.
Pictures courtesy of:
- techystalk.com
- Chennai Express adverts
- citizentv.com
Lunani Joseph 