THE DRY LAND

THE DRY LAND
I used to think the Nile River flowed through only Egypt but later learnt that it is much deeper and further than that. It flows through as many countries such as Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, just to name a few... Imagine if such a great river as this were to dry up...

The thought of a river drying up came when I felt like I had nothing to write for my blog. A feeling of anxiety tried to creep in because I began to wonder what would happen if all of a sudden, writing ceased to 'flow through me'. This sort of 'dryness' however led me to a few realisations I may not have stumbled upon any other way.

Why do we do what we do?
Sometimes, when we start something new, we are so excited about it because we actually love what we are doing,. It feels fulfilling until the word 'CANNOT'  seems to outweigh our ability. There is a fine line between doing what we do because we love to, and because others are expecting something from us so we have to come up with something no matter what.
Each of us have a gift unique to us no matter how many people seem to know how to do the same things we thought we only were good at. What matters is how best we each stand out in what we do and how much love we do it with.

I liken our gifts and talents to a river because just as a river nourishes whichever plants and soil are in its course, so can our gifts and talents bless others, even when we seem to feel dried up. A time of dryness does not necessarily mean a time of lack or idleness.

Imagine our Akosombo Dam for instance.. Time and again we hear that the water level of water has reduced, hence power shortage. This situation however could spur us on as a nation to be innovative enough to come up with different sources of energy and put these sources to work. Sometimes, for a country like ours to come to such a realisation, we need to experience some dryness (like the shortage of water in the dam).

Or even our dry season (which seems quite harsh this time around). It is in this season that things catch fire easily at the least 'provocation'. Likewise, our dryness could be a time to attract new lessons depending on our willingness to learn from our situation and to also share with others. In our 'dryness' we could spread the light the most because we are forced to be cracked open (much like our skin in this dry weather) to be filled with new knowledge. It is all based on our attitude however.
In being led into a time of renewal, there is a thin line between 'learning from others' and 'plagiarism'. We need to distinguish between learning from others and writing our own story. At times in trying to be like others, we lose our originality. It would shock you the number of people who actually liked you when you were yourself than when you tried to change to be like someone else. We each have a story to write with our lives, with different shades of ink and paper.

Just as I thought the Nile only run through Egypt, I did not know at first just how much our gifts can affect more people than we think. Your talent, creativity, gifts, ideas, could reach beyond your mind into someone's life, if only you put it into action.

The mistake we often make is that we try to sustain our 'river' on our own...but just as a river fills up when there is constant rain, we also need to allow ourselves to be renewed by the rain of advice from the right kind of people and also trying to learn more from others' experiences. Above all, we cannot fully function without the touch of the main Rain, GOD. When He gives us gifts and we give them back to Him, we end up growing in ways we never thought possible.

THE DRY LAND is not a place to stay in for long.. But whilst we are there, let us make the most of it.

You may have an idea you have been wanting to put into action for some time now. I humbly suggest the best day to start planting this idea ... TODAY. The day could seem dry, but who knows, you just might get enough rain for that idea to flourish.