Welcome to Three-Peat Tuesday!
Building from my recent book UNBEATABLE! Seven Pillars of Personal Excellence, each blog will contain three P’s: Pillar, Principle and Practical, all geared towards nourishing you on your personal and spiritual growth journey.
Pillar
“Anyone who is among the living has hope⸻even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!”-Qoheleth, Old Testament Wisdom Teacher.
Principle
Who is the king of the jungle? Sorry. It’s not your favourite Poodle, Pompek or Pekingese. Hands down, most would agree that it’s the lion, that fearless beast that struts his stuff with boldness and hunts his prey with confidence and even a touch of arrogance.
But here’s the catch: as intimidating and daunting as it would be to meet a lion face to face, it is powerless to do anything if it’s dead. I know I’m stating the obvious, but think about it. Even your cute, harmless Chihuahua is in a position of superiority over a lion that has died. Why? Because it’s alive. Plain and simple.
Recent upsurges in violent protests in the USA, together with a continuing rise in COVID-19 deaths across the globe has jolted us into reconsidering the sanctity of the human life. We only get to do this once. Life on earth is not a trial run for a second chance at living. There’s no other opportunity to live the best life possible, which, in fact, is only truly fulfilled when it is accordance with God’s sovereign will and eternal purpose.
Are you grateful for the gift of life? Do you wake up every morning understanding that it is by the grace of God that you got up to breathe in the freshness of a new day? Frankly-speaking, pondering the fleeting nature of life is humbling. At the same time, it is also inspiring, because as long as I’m alive, I have hope. Caribbean gospel artiste Rizon in his song Miracle reminds us that “once there’s life, there’s hope for me and you.”
No matter the extent of your current difficulties in life, you have hope. The reason is simple: you’re alive.
Practical
Choose the dog over the lion. Give thanks for life.
To learn more about these pillars of personal excellence, read UNBEATABLE! which is now available on Amazon in print and as an e-book.