This is part 2 of 2 article which I try to explain why it is actually difficult to get to a point of being seen in light of values, as being valuable or possessing value and also highlights why most South Africans, blacks especially, fall into the trap of fighting for the “limited path” or dreams that “condition our thinking” to a certain limit “a slavery state of the mind like” – “Equality, transformation, Economic freedom etc.” In the following articles I tried explaining some concepts that lead to this kind of thinking, and such articles can be read here:
Mental slavery article can be read here.
Part 1 of mental prosperity also available here.
In this part, I present the problem of the self – the great deception, sometimes we project and try find happiness in things, material, wealth but never truly attain such, and we remain miserable. This is because the very essence of prosperity, happiness living a decent life lies more in the self than it does in the approval through material things or people.
On being exceptional, extraordinary and special
Allow me to quote a friend:
“A flower has never dreamed of a bee, a flower blossoms and a bee follows”
The thing that humans crave the most is acceptance or approval. Even the most unique people in the world sometimes wish they were as simple just to fit in with that bunch of ‘ordinary people’. Half the time we go about our ways to replicate and fake ourselves, (we tan, gym and bleach up) into a thing the world approves because that’s how the world wired us to think. So you become Rihanna and expect me to be some kind of Drake, and soon after that we discover we are even worse off.
*Cues doing it wrong by Drake*
Acceptance is more about appreciation, and appreciation is not cheap like a street bubble-gum. It takes time and effort to be appreciated for something in this world.
So what is required really?
If you ask me, the truth is, every effort, or intention aimed at doing something, be it a product, presentation, work, and anything in general must be produced with a conscious mind-set of producing high quality, remarkable output. No excuses.
Every effort or intention aimed at doing something be it your start up, music, or programming, must be produced with a conscious temperament of producing high quality, remarkable output. No excuse accepted!!
This is how you become seen and become valued.
This is what happens during the flowering process and this is the very same notion expected of every human being, if you truly want to be seen as valuable.
To explain this further let me use a story of how ‘apparently’ God works on a human. I use the word apparently implying an assumption of many other possibilities of how God works.
Ladies and gents meet God, The chef.
Apparently, to be seen as Godly or god like, being truthful, highly valued, and possessing the true image of perfection, God puts you in a pot. Like many others he starts cooking you, and your friends and hoping to turn you the ingredient into something delicious afterwards. When the heat goes up as you’d expect things get tough and a little out of control something many can’t stand it, so they jump off to save their lives. At this point they have given up on attaining “the image of perfection” and come to a realisation that no one actually wants them. Who wants a half cooked potato for supper with no salt, spice nyana fokol?
NO ONE!
The masses rejects them instead of accepting or appreciating their supposed ‘image of beauty’. Those who stood the test of time in the big pot are now tender, being spiced up, and added to them are extra ingredients and it’s all starting to smell good. People start to smell something. Come serving time everyone would wants to have a taste, the masses accepts and appreciates you, for you are well done. The masses praises the newly dished up dish and shuns the half cooked potato. This very same potato (your friend who jumped off), unfortunately for him, in order to reach perfection he will have to go back to the pot, considering he has no ego and if God is still in the mood.
He has to go back to the drawing board.
This story pretty much sums out one single lesson: It takes a lot to perfect this thing called a human being. Each one of us needs to know this in order to attain some sort of perfection, even though perfection is a myth on its own.
The half cooked now is worn out, sees his other half ravishing and being glorified, praised and also notices that the people are so much obsessed with this newly released dish as fully cooked perfection but rejects him. So it now starts to hate the people and demands that he too be treated as ‘special’ and be praised as they do with the fully cooked. The people are confused by this, but they don’t say much. They just continue to praise the new dish.
At this point now potato is boiling up demanding that they treat him as his equal, even though deep down he knows, he has not earned it, he is just not equal to the fully cooked meal. He is not there as yet; he’s half perfect, not appealing according to the masses. His hate starts to be directed to the people, the masses who shuns him for his imperfection. So he remains frustrated at them and does not know what to do. One thing for sure that he does not know is that the people are not the problem, he is!
He has not proven himself worthy, exceptional, extraordinary or special. The type of specialty that is accepted, praised and appreciated by everyone.
This is the logic behind everything I have been writing in the previous publications. A forceful acceptance into ‘things’ relationships, careers, transformation is not an answer. When all of this fails us, then we direct the hatred towards some “thing” to feel better about ourselves; foreigners, white privilege and the non-existing concepts that we choose to cling on.
The moral of the story is more than simple, it’s deep: we seek light in others – that they see our worth instead of seeking light within ourselves. This is mental prosperity. Yet, we choose the deception route.
This is a true realisation that the greatest good that will enable the worthiness, exceptionality and extraordinary lies within ourselves if we truly look deeper and actually see.
What happens to the flower that seeks approval?
The flower never gets to bear a fruit or blossom to its beauty because it has been waiting and dreaming of a bee’s approval.
The cycle continues, and so does the suffering of the self, the flower.
But, this is what is supposed to happen:
The flower must stop dreaming of the bee and just blossom and showcase its beauty. The half cooked must stop demanding to be treated equal, and stop hating people for it, for its imperfection but instead go back to the pot and endure the image of perfection, and sooner – the masses will start to praise that was once a half cooked potato.
The flower and the half cooked must prove themselves worthy, exceptional, extraordinary and special. The type of specialty that is accepted, praised and appreciated by everyone, if they too are to be seen as valuable.
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