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Don’t carry your dreams and vision to the grave

By Gbenga Adebambo
21 December 2019   |   2:27 am
No individual has any right to come into the world and go out of it without leaving behind him/her distinct and legitimate reasons for having passed through it. A millionaire is not the person that has a million naira; it is the person who has touched a million lives.

No individual has any right to come into the world and go out of it without leaving behind him/her distinct and legitimate reasons for having passed through it. A millionaire is not the person that has a million naira; it is the person who has touched a million lives.

Albert Schweitzer said: “The tragedy of life is not that we die, but what dies inside a man while he lives.” Every man is pregnant with something. There is something inside of you that the whole world is waiting for. The Bible says in John 7:38: “Out of your belly will flow the rivers of living water.” There is something in you that must flow to others. You are a carrier of God’s blessing. Don’t carry your vision into the grave.

John Pemberton was pregnant with a magic drink and invented Coca Cola in May 1886 in Atlanta, Georgia in the United States. Thomas Edison was pregnant with the light bulb. Adolf and Rudolf Dassler were pregnant with Adidas. Alexander Graham Bell was pregnant with the telephone. Mark Zuckerberg was pregnant with Facebook. Bill Gate was pregnant with Microsoft. Leonardo Da Vinci was pregnant with the ‘Mona Lisa.’

Colonel Harland Sanders was pregnant with Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). George and Laszlo Biro were pregnant with the idea of the first ballpoint pen called ‘Biro.’ Alexander Fleming was pregnant with the revolutionary drug, Penicillin. Chinua Achebe was pregnant with ‘Things Fall Apart,’ the most widely read book in modern African literature. Dmitry Mendeleev was pregnant with the Periodic Table, a table that later revolutionise the study of Chemistry.

Some people are pregnant with books, some with messages, some with songs, some with ideas and innovations, some with cures for various illnesses, some with architectural designs. The question to ask yourself is: What am I pregnant with? It is so poignant and pathetic to know that that some people still carry what was meant to bless the world into the grave.

That was why Les Brown said: “The graveyard is the richest place on earth, because it is here that you will find all the hopes and dreams that were never fulfilled, the books that were never written, the songs that were never sung, the inventions that were never shared, the cures that were never discovered, all because someone was too afraid to take that first step or determined to carry out their dream.”

What form of vision do you carry within you? Until you birth your vision, you owe the world a debt. In 1938, two Hungarian brothers- George Biro and Laszlo Biro- invented the ballpoint pen. Their invention was able to reduce cost, control the flow of ink and save paper. Before their invention, it was a Herculean task writing on both sides of papers. The young brothers saw the whole world languishing with feathers and ink on one side and traditional ink refills at the other end and they made sure they left a change behind. They gave the world the cheapest and fastest pen.

Most people live their lives to leave an indelible mark, but George and Laszlo left an “Indelible Ink.” In honour of a life that brought change, the first ballpoint pen was named “Biro” after the two wonder brothers. The two brothers blessed the world with “Biro,” the question is: What are you going to bless the world with? The whole world is waiting for you. Everyday, all over the world, before sunset, the name ‘Biro’ must have been mentioned a billion times.

There are five salient truths that vision carriers must guard themselves with in order to birth their vision.Your Vision Will Attract Enemies (Vision Killers)The enemy wouldn’t be attacking you if something very valuable were not inside of you. Thieves don’t break into empty houses. I have come to realise that a man cannot discern his enemy until he discerns his purpose and vision.

Myles Munroe said: “When you discover purpose, you also discover your enemy.” You don’t really know who your enemies are until you discover your vision. Your vision reveals your enemy. When God gives a man vision, the devil gives him an enemy. The biblical Nehemiah had a vision to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, but the devil raised Sanballat and Tobiah to frustrate him. For Samson, it was Delilah; for Alexander the Great, it was his strange habit.

Your vision threatens your enemy. The easiest way to know your enemy is to discern the people that are constantly threatened by your vision.
There Are People God Has Assigned To Help Your Vision (Destiny Helpers)Just as there are ‘vision killers,’ there are also ‘vision helpers.’ One of the signs that your vision is from God is that it will require the input of others. If your vision can only be accomplished by you alone, then it is small.

One of the great inventors that ever lived is Thomas Alva Edison, the man who invented the light bulb. Unknown to many, he had a team of 61 men, with a vision of one minor invention every 10 days and one major invention every six months. There is nothing that frustrates a vision more than the lack of people.

You Are Never Too Old To Conceive And Birth A Vision
Colonel Sanders, at the age of 65, made a difference with his chicken recipe. He was relatively unknown at 65, but became a world famous and outstanding American at 75.

As he was sitting on his porch in Corbin, Kentucky one morning, the mailman came up the walk and handed him his first social security check. At 65, broke and defeated, he looked at the check and said: “My government is going to give me $105 a month so I can eke out an existence. Surely there is something I can do for myself and other people.”

The thought of his mother’s special recipe for fried chicken came to his mind. It was a particular formula he considered somewhat special. He decided to try to sell franchises for marketing his fried chicken. After being turned down by scores of restaurants, he sold his first franchise in Salt Lake City. And it was an instantaneous hit. Ten years later, at age 75, he sold his rights in the company and was employed as a goodwill ambassador for the new organisation. We don’t stop having vision because we have grown old; we grow ‘old’ because we don’t have vision.

The Bigger The Vision, The Longer It Will Take To Birth It
I have come to observe that the bigger the vision, the longer the gestation period. It takes a rabbit 31 days (a month) to carry pregnancy; it takes a dog between 58 and 68 days (two months) to carry pregnancy; it takes a pig 114 days (three months, three weeks and three days) to carry pregnancy; it takes a woman nine months to carry pregnancy; it takes a donkey between 11 and 14 months to carry pregnancy and it takes an elephant 22 months (approximately two years) to carry pregnancy.

Comparing a rabbit and an elephant, with respect to their gestation period doesn’t make sense, because they carry different things. We must never compare ourselves with others, because the size and depth of our vision differs.

You Cannot Birth What You Cannot Conceive
In order to birth it, you have to first conceive it. Everything you are seeing today was first conceived in the mind of someone. As long as your mind can conceive it, you are capable of birthing it. Napoleon Hill said: “Cherish your visions and dreams, as they are the children of your soul, the blueprint of your ultimate achievements.”

Stop living a casual life and start living intentionally. What idea has God given you to nurture? What novel initiative are you meant to bless the world with? Don’t allow that vision to die inside of you. Maya Angelou said: “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” Live your life with the consciousness that you carry what the world is waiting for. The Bible says in Romans 8:19 that the whole world is waiting earnestly for the manifestation of the sons of God.

Jimmy Carter, a former US President, said: “I have one life and one chance to make it count for something. My faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I can, for as long as I can with whatever I have to try to make a difference.” Don’t be a ‘waste’ in your generation. You were born to birth a vision; justify your existence.

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