The Late Bloomer

Stop The Comparison

You are one of a kind; there’s no other person that has the exact same DNA or fingerprint as you do. I know we’ve heard this over and over again but it bears repetition. Stop trying to be like another person; own your story, focus on your life and be the best you that there can be!  (Bible reference – 2^nd Corinthians 10:12)

2^nd Corinthians 10:12 English Standard Version

Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.

2 Corinthians 10:18

For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.

Develop A Heart Of Contentment and Gratitude

Always wake up every day with a grateful heart; you could have been long dead and gone. So every day you wake up is a blessing from God. You may not have everything you ever wanted (and no one does by the way; no matter how wealthy you think they are) but you have something (you identify what it is).

1 Timothy 6:6-11 New Living Translation (NLT)

6 Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. 7 After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. 8 So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.

9 But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. (Side note: it is the love of money and not money itself; money takes on the character of the possessor)

Always see your cup as half full and acknowledge that it could have been worse. Once you have conquered the ‘demon’ of comparison and are always content and grateful about what you have and where you are at this point in your life, you are well on your way to getting out of the rat race.

Adopt A Minimalist Lifestyle

So many of us can do without some of the things that we think are essential to our happiness. Through the last 5 years of my life, I have been going through a journey of minimalism. I have had to move from a relatively ‘bigger’ house to a smaller one. I’ve had to give out more than half of my belongings and I’ve had to do without a lot of things that had become part of my daily life.

And here’s my submission; I have less things to stress me out and less bills to pay. And on a lighter note; I get dressed and ready to go out faster because of less choices of cloths and accessories (lol).

Your children can get a solid education at a regular school and not necessarily the most expensive or Bourgie School around. They can live in a smaller house, with fewer toys and still grow up well rounded and happy. Your wife can make do without the diamonds and expensive gifts(hopefully) as long as you are around more often.

 I could go on and on… you know what is keeping you in the rat race; trust me, you can do without it.

Always Take A Day Off

Do not work yourself to death! There are 7 days in a week and something we call ‘weekend’. This connotes the end of a working week. So many upwardly mobile men and women take pride in being busy.

They bring work home on weekdays and clock in to work on weekends. In most of our cosmopolitan cities, children are being raised by domestic staff and we wonder the decline in social values?

There is limit to the discipline that a domestic staff can mete out to a child; a domestic staff cannot love your child as much as you do. In some appalling cases, children are left to their own devices or handed over to schools to do what parents are supposed to do.

Marriages are failing by the seconds and young adults are developing diseases that used to be associated with old age. Things are falling apart and the center seems not to hold.

For the sake of your health, family and society, please take a day off! Bond with your loved ones, sleep in; have a day when you are not awaken by an alarm clock.

Create Loving Memories With Your Family and Loved Ones

Whether you are married, with or without kids or single, there are people that constitute family to you.  Make out time to create loving memories with your family. Let your kids have something nostalgic to look back on when they come of age.  Let there be memories that would make them want to come see you when you are old.

Make it difficult for them to stick you in a nursing home when you are old!  Do not be one those folks who people would have to think real hard for something nice to say at your funeral just because ‘you should never speak ill of the dead’

Make an unforgettable impact on the lives of those that matter to you ( and it doesn’t always take money to do so!).

Let God Set The Pace Of Your Life

We started out this segment on how to get out of the rat race by saying that we should quit the comparison game.  And that we can only do so by acknowledging that we are unique and there’s no one else like us on this planet.

If you believe that, then you need to take it a step further and trust God with all the affairs of your life. Take out a little time to study the parable of the talents ( Matthew 25:14-30) with emphasis on verse 15.  Everyone was given something based on their ability.

Remember that it is God that made you and he knows how he wired you. He knows the limit to what you can take. Some people are 5 talent folks, others are 2 while some are 1. Never, ever despise what God has given you. Do not make the mistake of leaving God out of the equation of your life.

There is an African proverb that says that ‘ he that runs faster than his destiny runs into destruction’

Let the person who knows the end from the beginning direct your path and set the pace of your life. If you are a 5 talent person, God would give you the grace to balance all you have to do with the things that matter most in life (family and health in my opinion).

But if you are a 1 talent person who because of comparison and greed or ignorance gets into the 5 talent lane, you would definitely run into trouble.

So in conclusion of this point, I would say, get in touch with your manufacturer (God) and find out your purpose and path in life. Always consult your user manual (the bible) it would show you how to operate.

Finally, if you do not have a relationship with your maker, that might be the reason why you are still in the rat race. Fill that God-size vacuum in your life with the right piece (God). Make Jesus the lord of your life today and watch him lead in you in the path of fulfilment. You can ask Jesus to come into your heart wherever you are now. Just a simple prayer and your new life would begin.

Say this prayer – Lord Jesus, I acknowledge that my life is nothing without you and that I was born a sinner. I acknowledge that you died for my sin so I accept what you did on the cross for me. I ask you to come into my life to be my lord and saviour. I confess that Jesus is my saviour and that having accepted him; I am now a child of God.

If you made the above prayer and need counselling and further help you can reach us with the information in the bio. You can also reach out to any bible believing church around you for further help and counselling.

A rat race is an endless, self-defeating, or pointless pursuit. The phrase equates humans to rats attempting to earn a reward such as cheese, in vain. It may also refer to a competitive struggle to get ahead financially or routinely – Wikipedia

Rat Race is a term used to describe a frustrating, hard-to-break financial lifestyle. It is a lifestyle that is lived by countless people, oblivious to the very nature of it, to a degree that even when called upon, vehemently deny it. – Urban Dictionary

One would assume that as we enter the 40s and look forward to our twilight years we should have gotten a better understanding of what life is all about. But sadly that’s not so.

Many folks have been on the grind since they left college, some even before they did. I would want to assume that by now we would have understood that there’s no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. But the sad truth is that, the reverse is the case. Many of us are still in the rat race.

Looking at our society today, we find that people are consumed with self; they have taken the phrase ‘self-love’ to a whole new level. Everyone is hustling and bustling to make it; you hear goals such as ‘ I want to retire at 40 or 50’  ‘I want my kids to attend the best school in the neighbourhood’ ‘I want my family to have the best life has to offer’ , I want… I want… I want…!  (bible reference 2^nd Timothy 3:1-5)

2 Timothy 3:1-4 New Living Translation (NLT)

The Dangers of the Last Days

3 You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. 2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. 3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. 4 They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. 5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!

 The list goes on and on. This drive and ambition is made worse by social media that has turned the world into a global village. I can stay in my house and peep into the life of someone in another part of the globe (or so I think). So I now I not only have the ‘Joneses’ to contend with but the whole world. 

This leads a lot of people to work themselves to death; literally!  For others, they get all their ‘wants’ and come back to an empty house, kids who hate their guts, wives/husbands who are only with them for the money, fame, inheritance and a meaningless life.

That’s how come we see and hear of famous and rich people committing suicide. But we just saw their instagram post last week and they looked so fly, happy and fulfilled? They even granted an interview and I was wishing my life was half like theirs? So what happened?

What they showed the world was a façade; no one knew what was going on inside of them. No one ever posts an instagram picture or Facebook post of the ‘nasties’ in their lives; even when they say they do, trust me, it has been doctored for publicity purposes. 

If you believe everything you see on social or news media, then you need to realign your vision and sight. You might say that you are not affected by any external influence but hmmm! Think again. Take a second look at the urban dictionary definition of Rat Race.

Some folks chase their ambitions, dreams and aspirations to the exclusion of all else. They provide their family with everything that money can buy but deny them of their love, presence and fellowship.

Others in a bid to climb the corporate ladder step on all toes that try to put a foot in their way; thereby making life-long enemies. Another group climb to the end of a ‘success’ ladder only to find to their utter disappointment that it is the wrong ladder. Oops!

I’ve said all the above just to jolt our minds and bring the issue of the futility of what we’ve been doing most of our adult lives, up, front and center!

So how do we get out of the rat race? I’ll share some of the things that the Holy Spirit has awakened in me and others that some years of observation and hours of research has taught me in my next post. Stay tuned…

Meanwhile, take a load off!