I can feel the mild warmth of the rocks under my feet standing by the river banks. Somewhere by River Nile I am gazing at the flowing water. I feel refreshed. “This is the perfect place to be at the beginning of the year”, I think to myself. I am at this resort to facilitate a Strategy session for one of our clients at Sudesh Int’l Consult but that is supposed to happen to happen the next day so I take off sometime to reflect.
Eyes still glued to the nuances of a flowing river. I can only imagine what the beneficiaries of this river. I see young women washing clothes, naked little children diving in and out of the water innocently. Oh I just saw a guy getting a car wash by the river bank.
This gets me thinking: A river is more than water. There’s water in a lake, too.
The essence of the river is the current. Paddling upstream is more difficult than going downstream. A snapshot shows you the water, but not its motion, not the relentless force as the water moves from here to there. The river flows.
If you want to change the course of a river, you can try to build a dam, but those are expensive and can fail. The alternative is to dig a small channel that helps a river to go where it was going anyway. When you make it easier for the current to flow, the current will respond. A small channel quickly becomes a torrent, and then the river itself.
Context: Your life is like a River. One day it started flowing from the source (God) and it’s been flowing ever since. As the River has flown, you go past many stops; first it’s child hood then adolescent then adulthood. In adulthood you start your career. Many people benefit from your life so the job you have is more than a job-it’s a calling.
Still sticking with your career, just like the River, you should know who you’re benefiting and who benefits you. You should know that a river never stops flowing, as long as it’s connected to its source. Your job is a “dam” of sorts it shouldn’t be the end of you. You should live every day thinking about the legacy you will live because the River never stops flowing.
You should think about the current( motive) of why you do what you do. Are your intentions for a win-win or you don’t mind collecting pay cheques even when the company you work for is collapsing because of your incompetence.
In the River you don’t paddle upstream: this means it’s impossible to go back and correct things in n your past. Make the mistakes but avoid making silly and costly mistakes. Treat everyone you meet in your life with respect. Love people. Be kind yet stay firm like a River and flow in the direction of the current.
Just like dams on rivers give us electricity so is your career. You will have opportunities to lead. With those opportunities comes power. May you use it to making people’s lives better just like electricity lights our houses and keeps economies moving. May this power never deceive you that you’re untouchable. A dam can be destroyed or shut and so can a position of power.
Above all May you always stay connected to your source( God) because without him you are nothing.
