WHAT ARE YOU MADE OF, GLASS OR IRON?

They say, and we all accept that life is not a straight line. It’s a journey with ups and downs in equal measure. Problems and tribulations will befall each one of us at some point on the trajectory of life. It is our reaction when faced with these problems of life that is the reason for this write-up. You have probably encountered some people whose lives get completely shuttered when they are faced with a problem, which in your judgement, is not worth shuttering a life. You’ve probably seen others who, when faced with similar problems or worse, have emerged strong and still maintain a genuine smile on their face, because their life has become even better after the said problem, regardless of the time span between the problem and the smile. It all depends with the material one is made of, glass or iron. Probably, I am addressing you.

Problems in life are like a hammer, they hit hard! A hammer is not responsible for what becomes of the hit object. If a hammer hits glass, the glass will shutter into irreconcilable pieces. That will be the end of the glass. When the same hammer hits an iron bar, it casts it into an iron sheet which still has a lot of usefulness. We either are or have seen people who lost jobs and their lives came to a literal stand-still. They chose to be glass and were not able to sustain the impact of the hammer.

We still know of a host of others, though not as many, who lost their jobs and today they are wining and dining among the kings. They chose to be iron, sustained the impact of the hammer and cast themselves into something else that was of great value. Some began their life-changing businesses while others redefined their careers, realigned themselves and got their life-transforming jobs elsewhere!

Now, the bad news is that these problems of life do not have a plan of stopping anytime soon. They will always be here with us. They will still hit us hard. The good news is that we have a choice to make between having glass or iron as our make-up material when hit by these hammers of life. We can choose to succumb to them, and like glass, get shuttered into irreconcilable pieces and live a retarded life. We can also choose to be like iron, convert the problems into motivation and allow ourselves to be cast into new shape that is still relevant.

There are a million and one options in life just as there are a million and one shapes. When hit hard, please choose to be like iron. Model yourself into new shape and remain relevant. Remember, when iron changes shape, it does not stop being iron. It simply says, ‘if you don’t appreciate me as an iron bar, you can appreciate me as an iron sheet’. Let us perceive hammers of life not as shutters of our dreams, but as instruments of shaping us up in readiness for greater things ahead.

Do not give up yet! You can do better!