Preparedness – 2

Rejoice not over me O my enemy for though I am down now, I will yet rise again

This is a continuation of the learning and development stages that occurred in the life of Joseph. Previously, I had talked about his redundancy at home which caused his intrinsic talents to be hidden and unused. For more of that please navigate back to Preparedness – 1. Otherwise, you can read along as I move to the next P-junctions of Joseph’s life. Remember, the link is Deolu and you can have a deep insight into what each of these Ps represent and their application to life. From Padanaram, Joseph ended up in the pit when he went to see his brothers.

Pit – Loneliness

Joseph’s brothers conspired to kill him when he went to see to their welfare. The source of the deep hatred were his dreams which seemed to indicate that they’d serve or worship him sometime in life. This wasn’t helped as I wrote in my previous post by his father’s excessive doting on him. It only increased their jealousy and reduced his productivity.

Isn’t it those who are afraid of what we might become who always want to kill our dreams? Haven’t you noticed that habitual dream killers are those who are not dreaming at all? Isn’t it common to find that the ones who should be closest to you and who should help nurture your dreams are those who literally discourage you from dreaming again and actualizing those dreams?

After passionate intervention by his eldest brother, they decided to keep him in a pit for a while as they deliberated on what next step of action to take. Joseph was all alone in the dark, smelly pit. The lesson I learned here was the lesson of being alone. If you have a dream and seek to live to fulfill that dream, there’ll be times when you’ll be alone. Those are the times when all the faculties of your being synergize to make you an unstoppable moving force. On the flip side, those are also times when you can begin to consider thrashing your dreams. The time of being alone is the time of reflection and deep thinking. It is in the pit that you begin to analyze “what’s the worst that could happen?” “What if my brothers killed me or left me here to die, would that negate my dream”?

If I am broke, does that mean I can’t ever be wealthy again? If my family’s poor and my education about to be truncated, those it mean I can’t get an education again? If I have been cursed by my parents or loved ones, does it mean I can’t be blessed again? If I have failed consistently, does it mean I can’t succeed and lead my peers? If I have had a toxic relationship, can I not have a soothing one?

I imagine Joseph negotiating for his life with his brothers but I don’t think he would have negotiated his dream. After all, he didn’t create himself and before he was created, his life had a purpose. His dreams were only given him a picture of his purpose. He wouldn’t sacrifice his future for his present. Would we? Haven’t you given up on your dream because you seem to be lonely on that road? Most successful people have had to deal with loneliness because it’s in their lonely state that creative ideas are birthed. It is then that they truly draw deep on what is on their inside to produce outstanding results on the outside.

Note that the pit was also an underground place. When you are in the pit, you feel very low and put down. You are tempted to think it can’t get any better. You forget that the area covered by the pit is insignificant to the area that is above the pit. Rather than keep your head and strategise to get yourself out of the pit, you worry about dying in it if no one gets you out quickly. This is where a lot of us bury our dreams. This is where we cease to believe they could ever have happened at all. Rather, this is where we should be strong.

Joseph’s short span in the pit was to enable him understand that leader-ship was a lonely vessel. It prepared him to take his stand against wrong and intimidation later in his career. It eliminated an inferiority complex but sprouted a desire to survive against the odds. Don’t despise lonely moments especially if closely related to your dreams or career. They are usually defining moments and there in the pit, your character is moulded.