Posts tagged “prose

The Adamic Sleep

Posted on 03/01/2013

Ebi Komo (My Dad ;))

brothersjExcept something is wrong, falling asleep is inevitable and a good night of peaceful sleep is good for everybody. Those so gifted can sleep, dream and recollect what they dreamt with degree of clarity and in some cases able to attach reasonable importance/relevance and in some cases derive meaningful interpretations from their dreams. As with most things, some dream repeated and disjointed dreams of masquerades without faces or forms every time without the possibility of even a dream merchant to proffer a clue of what they dreamt. Yet there are some like Nebuchadnezzar who upon waking up from what they know was restless nights of sleep, they completely forget what the nightmare was all about and in milder cases some doubt whether they dream at all.

There is yet another kind of sleep, the induced type that is activated to paralyze the patient from interfering in a needed operation. There is also the sleep walking who never know they are sleeping but are active, some go to the extreme of cooking a whole meal and consuming it and then return to sleep to wake up to wonder who the visitor that attended their kitchen. The human mind is mysterious as well as it is mischievous; if mischief is visited at another, it is common but if the mind plays on itself, it is the beginning of trouble if it is not understood and if it escalates. If a patient suddenly goes to sleep without warning and find part of his body missing or altered when he awakes, the patient would be confuse if others do not tell him what really happened. In this case, it is the more you look the less you see.

The work of an artist is recognized by those who had taken the time to study other works of the artist to identify the signature within the work. Hence art enthusiasts are able to pinpoint the works of their favorite artists amongst others. The Bible said God created man and man was alone. The Creator who knew what man was supposed to be knew he was alone and he needed a human companion to cure him of his loneliness. To cure him of this loneliness, God put Adam to sleep and did the needed operation. Being the resourceful God that He is, and to create the needed affinity He took a part of Adam to form another being fairer with features far different. (Curiosity does not kill cats only; it is difficult to be inquisitive from afar). When Adam came to, he was confronted with what was missing and the woo that escaped his drowsy lips became the goal of his pursuit for completeness as well as companionship.

A few observation of this may be beneficial to parents as well as young adults. Adam was alone and he did not know what was missing. When Adam woke up from his sleep, he did not wake up to see giraffes and hippopotamuses but to one fine lovely baby that stole what he thought was his heart. No, she did not steal it, God took it and gave it to a girl, and no it was not his heart but just his ribs and yes, men do exaggerate pain and loss of all kinds!  Go ahead and blame Adam. Where you fall asleep is very important and it is important to have the guards in place while you are sleeping because you never know what turns up when you wake from sleep.

There we have sons and daughters in a place and they are fast growing up but the adage that ‘how you make your bed is how you sleep on it’ escapes us. There will be a nap time but the beds are not made so we lie down where ever sleep overtakes us and we wonder why the crimped necks and unholy gifts find when we wake up. We desire particular sons and daughters in laws but there is none in sight but we make no conscious efforts to send them to schools/places with remote possibility in the morning when they get up from their sleep, yet the parental pipe dreams continue.

I will not forget a particular school mate that said, although my parents could barely afford it and I hardly qualified to be admitted, they sent me to this school where I have the potential of meeting the man of my dreams. Both sexes dream but one group controls what they dream about and work towards it while the other group seems to hibernate in thoughtless bliss until a hammer hits them awake to realize a missing part that they go pursuing to recover and be complete. It is clear why men seem to be behind always in this game of catch up and why sleepy Adam needs lots of help.

You Didn’t Fail

Posted on 26/06/2012

– Written by Billy

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

This is an excerpt from one of President Theodore Roosevelt’s most famous speeches titled “Citizenship in a Republic.”  Since the first time that I’ve read this quote, I’ve made it a priority to apply these words, popularly known today as “The Man in the Arena,” in all aspects of my life.  I recently thought about these words again after watching Balitmore Ravens’ head coach, John Harbaugh, passionately recite these words after a big victory.  Although Coach Harbaugh was joking in reciting this quote, no one can ignore how powerful these words really are.

There comes a time when we have to put fear, hesitation, doubt, and distractions aside to pursue a goal.  To step out and start at a goal may appear to be daunting at first, but we have to see the benefits in taking the initiative to push forward to make a goal a reality.

You might succeed.  Hey, you might even do better than you ever imagined.  Alternatively, there may be times where you will not achieve what was planned.  But this is not failure.

Rather among so many other valuable accomplishments,

  1. You learned something about yourself;
  2. You opened doors to new opportunities;
  3. You did not let life pass you by;
  4. You built character;
  5. You overcame insecurity, fear, and doubt;
  6. You might have helped someone along the way;
  7. You probably even inspired someone;
  8. You might have met someone who could help you purse the next goal.

No matter the outcome, you have so much more to offer than those who chose to sit on the sidelines.  There’s so much to gain and learn, but you have to be active to find anything of significant value.