WHOSE STANDARD
Samuel Johnson,a poet,lexicograp
her and essayist once said
''Almost everyman wastes part of
his lif e in attempts to dis
play qualities he does not possess
and to gain applause which he
cannot keep''. And this are very
true of men. We all at one time or
the other find ourselves in this
kind of situation,but the worst of
it is making it part and pesue of
our life,of our daily living. We are
living in such a world where
whatever we dream of,whatever
we aspire to be are what other
have being and not what we
ourselves can become. We never
thought we could be anybetter.
We never take time to set our
own goal and fix our future
puzzle.
Most peoples lives have been
wasted in their quest to be
someone there arnt mearnt to
be.We try changing ourselves,we
even change our goals.We
compare ourselves to others,and
often endup judging ourselves.
Bob Gas once said '' too often our
actions are dictated,not by a
sense of purpose,but a need to
please. We care so much about
what certain people think,that
with every step,we look over our
shoulder to see whether they're
smiling or frowning''.
Hmmm,obvious,is nt it? We let
them define us,we let them
handle the steering while we seat
at the rear.
Your lecturer said ''no one would
ever get A'' so you let go.Your
parent says you are of no
importance,ther efore you give
up. Your friends says 'you are
such a loser',so you admit.
Newspaper,resea rchers says
''the chances of getting a Job is
thin,but only if you are
connceted'',so you lost hope. And
on and on like that. Hello, Jesus
once walked in your shoes! You
know what they told him? ''Is not
this the carpenter's son?. But He
did proof to them that He is more
than that. He set the standard. So
must you..Yinka Obalakin once
said '' I tasted poverty,and I
vowed not to COME ANY CLOSE to
it again''.Thats it!. Listen,its not
about what they say,not abt what
you do,its abt what you are
capable of doing,capable of
becoming if you can only set your
own standard.
A true story has it that older man
decided to jog around the local
high school football field. As he
huffed and puffed along,the team
was in practice.
The players soon started running
sprints up and down the field.
The man told himself, "I'll just
keep running until they quit." So
he ran. And they ran. And he ran
some more. And they kept
running. And he kept running
until he could finally run no more.
He stopped in exhaustion. One of
the players, equally exhausted,
approached him and said, "Boy,
I'm glad you finally stopped,
Mister. Coach told us we had to
keep running wind sprints as
long as the old guy was jogging!"
He was watching them. They
were watching him. He was
letting them set his standard.
They allowed him to set theirs.
My question is this: Who is setting
the standard for you? Who are
you keeping pace with ?
Set high standards and you can
live an immeasurably full and
worthwhile life. For only when
you reach for the best that is
within yourself,will you
experience great living.
Writer.
Sayo Ademola