That One Thing

I’m probably the last person to watch Wonder Woman. I meant to go to the Cinema but there always seems to be more important things to do with one’s money. So I waited until I could hire it out. And when it arrived, there were many of us, so it was always out. But I got my hands on in this past weekend and I absolutely loved it.

Besides the fact that I developed a girl crush on Diana (she is soooooo beautiful, maybe it has to do with the fact that Gal was pregnant during filming), I loved the story line. I’m not a fan of Greek mythology or anything but there is some truth I gleaned near the end of the film. Throughout the film, Diana is obsessed with finding and killing the god of war Ares, believing that once he’s destroyed, the war (depicted to be World War I) will end. It takes a lot of fighting and time to find Ares, but when she does, she fights him hard with all she’s got. It is then that she learns that war and evil will always persist as long as humans decide to resort to violence. This is why at the end of the movie, even when Ares is destroyed, her mission isn’t over.

This reminded me of how we can get obsessed with a goal, believing that if we got that one thing, it would solve everything. For some that thing is a good job, a degree, own transportation, a business, a large sum of money, or a place to stay, heck some even believe if they found another person (relationship) they’d be sorted. I think we all have that one thing we believe would solve all our problems if we got it. But it’s a myth. Life just doesn’t work that way. Life’s challenges don’t stop and won’t stop until we die. Sure they’ll change appearances in accordance with the season we’re in but they remain challenges nonetheless. The single want to get married believing it would be the answer, then once married, once challenges reappear, they believe the challenges would go away if they had married someone different…it’s a trap. When I didn’t have a car I thought all my travelling issues would be solved once I did. All I thought I’d need would be petrol money. But I’ve learnt that you also need money to renew the licence disk yearly (with the price increasing yearly), your car needs to be serviced, tyres need changing, windscreens get hit by rocks or whatever and need replacing, and sometimes, you drive into poles and need to replace your entire bumper. Doesn’t sound like life is any easier with a car, right?

As much as it is important to aspire towards something, I need to understand that that something cannot be everything. I need it and I will have it, yes, but that will not be the end of the story, my life will not necessarily be easy once I have it. This will allow me to focus on building and developing myself in order to be able to deal with said challenges. Together with the tangible goal, I need to aspire to grow, to learn, to develop so that at every stage of my life I’m able to put up with whatever it tests me with. Personal growth is so underrated yet so important. Some have had the opportunities they’ve waited for finally presented to them but only to find that they failed because they couldn’t handle the difficulties that came with it. So our goal’s list shouldn’t just be filled with material items, but with character traits like being more patient, being able to persevere, being optimistic, being solution-orientated, being selfless, being more forgiving, more giving etc.

I think this is what made Joseph’s leadership so great. The fact that he allowed his journey to his ‘one thing’ to mould him into the wise leader we finally saw. I don’t think, that when he’d made it, when he was second in charge in the most powerful nation in the world, married and settled, that he thought he would experience something that would bring him to tears like when he saw his brothers again. Having the opportunity to repay them for the evil they did upon him, Joseph shows them love instead. He could have been bitter and resentful towards them but he was forgiving instead. That’s what happens when we grow towards and beyond our ‘one thing’.

So I challenge you today to go back to your goal list, even if it’s mental, and add to it ways in which you’d like to grow as a person. These will see to it that you survive the battles that rage on beyond the goal.