Blind with your Eyes Wide Open? Then it's time for a Revival.

Dire Straits

Every now and then, we get to a point in life where a complete turnaround is all that can work.

Such a dire situation is often characterized by suffering, loss of faith, hopelessness and enduring guilt.

Grey's Anatomy

The following song by The Soulsavers was featured in an episode of Grey's Anatomy, where Dr Miranda Bailley had to operate on a racist patient who insisted on being attended to by a white doctor.



Revival

Following are the song lyrics. Be edified:

Said gonna be a revival tonight ooh
I wanna see a revival yeah
Gonna be a revival tonight
Lord, let there be a revival yeah

Forgive what I have done
It means my soul's survival, oohh
I need you so,it's sin
Put an end to my suffering oh

Why am I so blind with my eyes wide open? ooh
Trying to get my hands clean in dirty water

I wanna see a revival tonight
Lord, let there be a revival yeah
I need to see a revival tonight oh
Wanna see a revival oohh

Why am I so blind with my eyes wide open? yeah
Now I need someone
Let this dark night be done oh

I need you so,it's sin
Put an end to my suffering
I wanna see a revival tonight
Lord, there needs to be a revival

The above lyrics and artist names are copyrighted to Soulsavers. They appear  here for educational and personal use only.

No need trying to clean your hands in dirty water. It's time for a revival.

Beyond Knowledge and Comfort Zones. Going the Extra Mile

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Real Heroes Go The Extra Mile

Over a decade ago when I was in Form Two, Ezra (my desk-mate) wrote a small list of attributes that make one a Real Hero. One of these things was that a real hero goes the extra mile.

This weekend, I met this lady who at one time, was the housekeeper in a Hall I resided in during my internal attachment at JKUAT. Looking back, we both remembered how she had then gone out of her way and assisted some of my classmates. She did go the extra mile at that time of crisis. We continually acknowledge her kindness, and are invariably indebted.

That extra effort to do something that is not a core part of our duty, something we cannot be compensated for, is what makes some people do extra-ordinary things.

And as we all know, the difference between extraordinary and ordinary is that 'little' extra.

Knowledge and Enlightenment

To know is to be aware. To be aware is good. But we all know that good is the enemy of great.

As mentioned in my earlier (comeback) post, I was inspired by Eric Ng'eno's Facebook Note about Knowledge, Strength, Love and Happiness. Following is an excerpt:

I love knowledge for its irony. It does not enlighten absolutely. It does not define the speed of darkness after mastering light. Knowledge just shifts the grounds and objects of belief. I never stop believing and I never stop doubting, but knowledge enables me to do both well, and to discern more wisely.

Ultimately, knowledge reveals the completeness of of both good and evil, of light and dark, of excellence and mediocrity, and the self fulfilling globe and cycle of the universe. And it leaves me lots of space to fill in with textures, hues, lines, scents and flavors of my election, which gives me identity and personality.

If therefore knowledge fails to reveal the absoluteness of virtues and vices, of values and ideals, if it shows, against my preference, that both good and evil are the reverse and obverse of my desires, interests and ambitions, yet it does not fail to affirm me as a man, a soul, a spirit; divine, magnificent and glorious.

That said, we still realize that good just ain't enough. Knowledge is not an end in itself.

Challenge Convention. Exit the Comfort Zone

Failure to act still remains the biggest threat to our progress. This comes about due to laxity or fearing to fail. For this reason, few ever venture into the unknown. The majority still laze around in their comfort zones.

To make a different in our personal or professional lives, we need to leave our comfort zones. We need to sometimes dare to be different and challenge convention.

Going the extra mile, acting on knowledge gained... these are the hallmarks of risk-taking. Needless to say, the future belongs to the risk-takers.

Back on The Walkabout. The Hiatus is so Over!

Inspired Reading

This comeback post has been inspired by  a blog post by a friend  on Purpose, and by a Goals Report by Brian Tracy that I recently read.

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Peter's Walkabout

On March 10 2009, Peter's Walkabout was launched. From the very first post, we sought to identify, share and benefit from whatever lessons life throws at us in everything we see,  hear, experience, think or imagine. In short, The Walkabout was just but a journey of Insight, Inspiration and Self Discovery.

Back in the day, I posted an average of three posts each week. This gradually became two posts every week and eventually, there were no posts at all from July 31, 2009.

Comfort Zones

With time, several distractions made me lose sight of my original goal of writing consistently, on and about things that added value. Looking back, I kept offering excuses to myself and justifying every sundown without an additional post on my walkabout. . . increased design workload, meetings, social engagements and mush more.

Other excuses were that I was reading (yes I do read a lot) or watching TV Series (Desperate Housewives, Fringe, North Shore etc...) and movies.

Eventually, I had to completely redesign my web site. The new Complit Communications web site had to reflect significant growth in my design and creative writing business, and part of this involved the setting up of a design blog - Complit Design. This has since been done, but the already configured blogs (Complit Design, The Walkabout and Green Kenya) still remain unattended.

It was when I finished reading Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol and a Facebook note titled "Knowledge, Strength, Love and Happiness" by one Eric Ng'eno that I realized I was in pretty much the same illusory state a la Zebediah Lomack in Strangers by Dean Koontz. It was time to wake up, smell the coffee and actually do the needful.

Renewed Purpose

In the movie SAW III, Jigsaw says,

Despite having all the advantages, many of us still choose not to advance.

From Goals by Brian Tracy (all you have to do to get this report is follow Brian Tracy on Twitter), he highlights several things that define success. Key among them is Self-Discipline, Character and Persistence.

In The Memoirs, my friend's journey "will take a lot of commitment to keep it going, a lot of discipline on my part, and a lot of giving."

The Way Ahead

That said, I'll no longer postpone on The Walkabout. This being a purpose-driven endeavor, I'll seek to continually learn and share with my loyal readers.

Finally, let us be reminded of the very reason why we do some of the noble things we do. The reason is far much bigger than ourselves.

From his January 20th 2009 Inauguration speech, US President Barack Obama said the following words:

"This is the source of our confidence: the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny."

"let us remember these timeless words; with hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come; let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth..."

Let us continue learning and sharing together.

God bless The Walkabout, and every place else.

Cheers to this Walkabout comeback!