There is a queer feature in all of us that robs us of
the best God has in store for our lives – our ability to adapt to unfavorable situations. On the one side our adaptive features help us to survive difficult
times. The father of modern-day evolution, Charles Darwin stated that, “It is
not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can
best manage change.” I agree with this statement. To survive you must learn to adapt, to acclimatize, to familiarize, to
conform. You must learn to act like the Romans while in Rome.
Unfortunately survival is the best you will
continually get out of an adaptive life. If you would live life to the fullest
you must take a step further. You must learn to get ahead of mere conformity to
creating the changes of the favorable situation you want to experience.
A full life is full with exciting experiences. It is
motivated with visions, goals and a skillfully defined purpose. This is a far
cry from what most of us experience. We are used
to changes made – howbeit without empathy – by the government. We cry and
shout, protest and accept a milder version of the same oppression. We are
trained in schools to not be different.
“Fit in!” we are commanded, “you are not the first and neither will you be the
last.” Any wonder we are so hopelessly – and non-uniquely – the same? We are Zebras
in a flock of Zebras.
I conclude with this lovely poem by Mokokoma
Mokhonoana culled from his book, The Confessions of a
Misfit. It summarizes my thought line for this article.
Somebody
is born.
Somebody
goes to school.
Somebody
learns to conform.
Somebody
types a CV.
Somebody
gets a job.
Somebody
follows orders.
Somebody
gets a golden watch.
And
then, eventually,
Somebody
dies.
And, a nobody is buried...
And, a nobody is buried...
…
…
I read this article to encourage myself.
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