Reconciliation with self
D2022 Form V Cohort. I trust that this letter finds you well, still excited on your results, and to those who are not, I hope it finds you closer to a comeback plan because trying again always yields great results.
We are in the age of digital communication, but with this space in the paper I have decided to also reach out to you today to engage on your next steps after successfully completing school. The results as described by Times of Eswatini on Thursday were a ‘mix of good and bad’. But overall in my view the strength to complete the 12 years is one that is greatly applaudable.
EAR CONGRATULATIONS
I wish to extend my widest congratulations to you for completing a 12-year journey in school. You have made your family, friends and community proud and, most importantly, made yourself proud. But as you have heard countless times since you completed school from many around you, life has only just begun. Learning is not even done for you. In the words of Napoleon Hill, ‘‘The person who stops studying merely because he has finished school is forever hopelessly doomed to mediocrity, no matter what may be his calling. The way of success is the way of continuous pursuit of knowledge.” So let’s keep going because this world you are entering in adulthood
W Enever realise how much reconciliation we need to make in our lives until we are met with that situation again, that represents a hologram or a representation of something that has happened before. Reconciliation of the past and the present means that we take note of similar patterns and similar circles that seem to be repetitive year in and year out.
Reconciliation also means we consider our contribution to the patterns that seem alike. We have to ask ourselves for instance why we keep on falling for the same kind of person.
Why we still want to hang out with the same kind of people that we used to hang out with 10 years ago. Why we still find the conversations we used to have with them entertaining.
We need to ask ourselves why we still want to call up people and talk about what they used to do and who they used to be. I’m not saying that people should not reflect on their past realities, however, I’m saying there is a difference requires life-long keep at the top.
So why have I decided to write you a letter? Well, as a citizen who lives with all of you in society, I felt it prudent to share my well-wishes and some advice for the future, now that you are done with school. I do not write this letter because I’m perfect. Actually, I write it because I’m not perfect, and I would like others to learn from my imperfections and mistakes. learning
PUNISHMENT
I noted that some of these were because I failed to appreciate the life lessons from being in school and instead thought that some of the things taught to me were a punishment, not to equip me for real life.
The school entry time for me was a headache, but after doing it for 12 years, I discovered that time-keeping is essential after in reflections and being stuck there.
Being stuck there in the mud is choosing to remain in the past experiences even when others have moved on from them.
It is when people still have the same attitudes, and behaviours that they had 10 years ago and also expect that others are still at that same boat with them.
It is when you still have a very clear recollection of events and what people said in those events and what they were wearing, to a point that some of the people you have recollections for can no longer even remember what was happening in their lives at that historic moment.
PARTNER
It’s like meeting a former relationship partner, who when you think about, the decisions that you made with that person, you actually realise how young and immature you were but they still call you on what you used to be and you are then irritated because you know what you have gone through and how it has changed you.
Yet you might not strength to explain it.
A person who is trapped is one who refuses to reconcile with the past and the present. There are situations where people were hurt by something that happened have to the school. Today I am never late for a meeting. Yes never. After all I perfected the art of keeping time in 12 years. In the work world you will learn all workplaces have time for coming to work and leaving. So if you ace it during school days, it’s easy in adulthood, and you avoid warning letters and instead attract promotion letters for discipline.
I was frustrated when they asked me to wear a uniform and always polish my shoes, but once I had a job, I realised that looking smart daily at work was non-negotiable, and the discipline was taught to me at school. Also, the school teaches you the dynamics of hierarchy and teamwork. From study groups to taking instructions from parents. You will discover in work life, just as in school, there are boards of directors, a long time ago but being stuck is refusing to address that pain. Instead they remind the people who hurt them about it very chance they get.
When reconciling something with the past you consider your contribution to the situation and if in your self-introspection you find no fault in your part, then you just need to forgive those people and move on.
Some people wait for an apology and they get stuck because they never received one from the person who hurt them.
They wait for redemption from the people who did them wrong to a point those people don’t even realise how much pain they caused to this individual who is still waiting for redemption, and as they wait, time never gets stuck, people do, when they fail to just let it all go.
What is it about our choices that needs revisiting is it those that don’t seem to change yet they do not yield good results. It’s like picking up a girl at the same spot decade after decade yet you know it never ends well.
It’s like repeating similar strategies that were used by an organisation 20 years ago and even if it worked then the seasons have changed. Reconciliation means picking up what could be applicable to this season and letting go of the past. Being stuck in the mud is when being in that similar life circle is problematic even for you. It’s when everyone can see it and you can’t.
ISSUES
There are also so many other metaphoric situations that can be likened to a sludge. Relationships that we find ourselves in can be likened to a trap because we battle similar occurrences year after year, having the same arguments, fights over similar issues year after year.
When there is no movement and no progress then we are not growing as a relationship and as people in that relationship.
I’m often encouraged by what God said to Joshua right at the beginning of his journey when he told him to fear not but to be strong and courageous.
I understand that he could have had insecurity about measuring up to his predecessor Moses and also an uncertainty about his leadership capabilities. And
God decided to address that insecurity right at the beginning of his journey with the Israelites to strengthen him.
He strengthened him because he needed him to make sound decisions and also to walk in obedience.
A lot of us panic when we are in place of uncertainty. I believe we need that strengthening whenever we encounter the space of shame and anxiety about our capabilities.
CONVERSATION
We need to have that conversation with our self.
This is because people do not move on from issues and it ends up affecting the relations in and around.
If we were to learn to reconcile our decision-making processes take note if we were not stuck in the past, forgive those that we need to forgive and let it all go. We would move on from having similar conversations that are no longer fruitful and beneficial for us.
Because toxic circles of relationships could be also be an indication that we are stuck in a muddy place. All that was her needing to reconcile the past and the present. The comes a time in everyone’s life that there will be a need to reconcile the past and the present so that we can move into the future with a clear vision. We can never grow into maturity if we never let go of the past.