Fresh Start by Lennie Esomitoje
“Most times, what we call weakness in others is actually an exposure of our inability to handle differences.” Lennie Esomitoje
FRESH START
Making a fresh start means turning over a new leaf and taking positive steps towards a better future for yourself and those around you. “No one is in control of your happiness but you; therefore, you have the power to change anything about yourself or your life that you want to change.” – Barbara de Angelis.
Fresh start is called for from time to time; especially when it seems that you are at a logjam in life. You may be:
o A single person attempting to tie the knot;
o A working woman contemplating a stay at home to nurture your children,
o An employee moving to start out his own business,
o A retiree planning a comeback; get active again through community services,
And, the list goes on.
It may be that time is up where you presently are and boredom, frustration and lack of fulfilment is pushing or pulling you out. A Fresh Start is called for. You may be down right now, but it is not true to say you are down and out. The ‘out’ depends on you; how you respond to the knock downs life exacts on you. Even at this, a fresh start is called for. Your spirit within is crying out, ‘you cannot end up like this, give it another try; it is time to engage life again, give it another shot and this time you will win.”
A renowned Prophet, Isaiah, shared his opinions about knockdowns and how to handle them in the Good Book and those opinions back up the intent of this material.
His view,
“Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee, the uncircumcised and the unclean. ‘Shake yourself free, Jerusalem! Rise from the dust and sit on your throne! Undo the chains that bind you, captive people of Zion!”
We would copiously analyze the excerpt above and outline Isaiah’s proposed steps for a fresh start below.
- Awake, Awake
- come on, be aware, conscious and reassured, open your eyes, you are not done yet
- Put on thy strength
- Take on a positive mindset, a mindset of possibility, be optimistic.
- O Zion
- The big picture: don’t let a knock down cause to forget your identity, your assignment; a whole lot of people are looking up to you, your destiny’s unfolding presents them the hill on which to showcase their lives.
- Put on thy beautiful garments
- Bear the mind of royalty. Keep in mind that you can do anything that you set out to do.
- O Jerusalem, the holy city
- The small picture: take care of yourself, it is only as you maintain you, that you carry out your assignment that people can draw inspiration from you. When you build yourself up, you become attractive and people would want to be associated with you.
- Henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean
- Make sure the reasons for the knock down [the mistakes, lies, distractions, ignorance or nonchalance], do not repeat themselves. Guide your heart, soul and body, as you do your assignment).
- Shake yourself free, Jerusalem
- Free yourself from all alliances, company, that entices and entangles. Being alert, know your vulnerabilities, your strengths and weaknesses, they are the targets of the evil ones.
- Rise from the dust
- Take the initiative to get up from your knock down position; you can only get up when you have freed yourself of destiny/assignment corrupting alliances.
- Sit on your throne
- Rule in the midst of your enemy (ies) of your soul and assignment; seize your place in life, do your assignment. Your assignment is your throne on earth, you only rule when you do your assignment.
- Undo the chains that bind you
- Rise above the downs, challenges, difficulties, and hard times in life. Never let your weaknesses get the best of you. See the sky, it is wide open, a broad spectrum for you to showcase the Creator’s life in you. It is only as you refuse to let your mistakes, ignorance, nonchalance and knockdowns, bind or chain you that you rule in your world.
- Captive people of Zion
- Recognize that as long as we are on the earth, we will always have fresh starts to embark on, this is the captivity of all men, especially more real to man/women of destiny and assignment).
