I believe the cost of
awareness is responsibility.
To be aware is one
thing, for the awareness to have any considerable impact in our lives it’s
another thing. Most people are aware of what they ought to do, but few do it.
If only up to about 3 percent of any society or population would practice what
they know, there would be immense greatness. Unfortunately, all these we know
is not having any impact on our lives because we are not paying the cost;
taking responsibility. Living what we profess; walking the talk.
It’s very much easy to
let the whole world know how much we know, but how ready are we to practice
that which we know. It doesn’t really matter how much you know if all that is
not helping in any way.
One of my greatest
wonder working with people is how few people really take responsibility for what
they know. I personally know how much hard it is to pay the price and act on
what you know. I like the analogy of the leader and the follower in us. Each of
us has the two. Some may call it the good and the bad, the saint, and the evil
that is in continuous battle in us. The good or the leader in us knows that
which we ought to do. The leader in us have plans on how we can do that which
we ought to do. But the follower in us has its own ideas, plans. The leader in
us knows how to mend the key relationships in us, but the follower in us has
other ideas about this. Some of us continuously feed the follower, who slowly
overpowers the leader in us. Or we find ourselves in continuous battle as we
have not decided on who we are going to give full authority in our lives. We
move back and forth.
One of my greatest
battles which I’m still in is mending the relationships with my family members;
step-father, and siblings. The leader in me knows I need to mend these
relationships. My wife has been a good one on this. Continuously challenging me
to act on things that will make my relationships with my sibling better than it
is now. Unfortunately, due to my own fear of conflict, fear of confrontation,
feeling of inadequacy, wishing that things would magically address themselves,
not having what to sometimes say, things have remained as they are. This is in
turn, affecting me in ways I don't like. As I write this article, it’s clear in
my head that unless I take responsibility and do what I know I need to do, this
important relationship will not change if not get worse. I may choose to pray
over it, but unless I act by the grace of God, which he makes abundant, all the
prayers I make will just be that; prayers.
In AYLF, we continue
to urge everyone we interact with is to take responsibility and do something
about their lives. Translate what they know into action. One of our senior
friends like using the acronym NATO; No Action Talk Only. He says we need to
stop NATO. Do something about our situations and those around us. We spend a
lot of time in small group conversations in AYLF, but without individual and
group responsibility to act on what we know, it’s all a waste of time. Most people misunderstand us thinking we are just Talk Only. In those talks, our goal is to flesh out
what each of us is dealing with and hopefully nail down what we each need to
act on and then go and act on them. This is not about programs; as much as we
have a few programs on that. It’s about having responsible young people willing
to lead their lives and those around them. Those who are committed to
empowering the leader in them; not the follower in them. Those willing to acknowledge
their struggles and do something about them as they provide leadership to those
around them. It’s in doing something that we bear fruits.
Which area of your
life do you need to empower the leader in you? Where do you need to pay the
cost of responsibility? The good book, in many cases, calls upon us to translate
what we know into fruits.
If this resonates with
you, take responsibility for what you already know. Look for a small community
of friends who you can learn to do this together with. Being accountable to a few and practicing with
a few. It's about building a community of friends to share each other's journey
of empowering the leader in you. You
have to be deeply committed to each other and desire to see each other grow in
this journey. You have to create a support, encouragement, and accountability platform
for each other. The community has to be as small as possible so that there is
active engagement by all involved.
Find a community
around you and see if these conversations make sense to you.
By Gabriel Achayo
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