One Thing That Will Change Your Life
Good Morning Family
I hope we are doing well. Today I want to share one thing with you.
I want to talk about what we choose to see. Pardon the slightly cryptic start, it will make more sense as we press on. Three years ago, in Manchester, i moved into a new house with a few friends of mine. As I was driving up to the house, I was buzzing with excitement, I pondering on the possibilities, the idea of living with friends, fellow business people, you get the picture. When I arrived at my new street, I was startled.
Our house looked great, it was one of those new builds. In fact, on the side of the road, our new house sat on were also lots of other new houses and new builds and new people moving in, it was a really joyous and positive picture. However, on the other side of the street were run down, derelict houses that looked like they had been neglected for years, some had broken windows, stains on the doors. This sharp distinction shocked me. How is it that on the same street there could be beautiful, affluently properties and on the other, broken down and terrible houses?
This dichotomy always stuck with me and it wasn't until 2 years later that the Holy Spirit would accentuate this thought and really give it life and meaning to me.
The street is very much like our lives. In our lives, there are always two parallel tracks running at the same time. One is a row of negative experiences, all our failures, sufferings, shortcomings and capricious occurring that seem to be taunting us, the other track is of all the amazing things happening in our lives, the blessings, the gifts, the joy. Till we die, those two parallel tracks will always exist. There is no point fighting that. Instead, our choice is what we focus on. What we magnify and what narrative we choose to believe and tell ourselves.
If we go back to the street, I decided at the start, in my time talking to people, I have found something really interesting. If you ask one person to tell you about this neighbourhood, they may choose to focus on the poor side of the street and tell you about how terrible the neighbourhood is. They may tell you that the houses are derelict, broken and unkempt. They may tell you about the crime in the neighbourhood and just how terrible a place it is to live. Someone else living in the same neighbourhood may choose to focus on something else and instead tell you that the place is up and coming. That yes, some houses are unkempt but there are also some amazing new builds that are being built all the time, that new people are moving in all the time and that the place is really really beautiful.
Friends, this is our choice. You have more agency than you think in deciding how your day, month, year and even life will go, by choosing the narrative you believe about what’s happening in your life. With small intentional decisions, you can start telling yourself a different narrative. Chose to focus on the good God is doing in your life, the blessings, the lessons, the things life is showing you. Be grateful for all the things on both sides of the road, because if you are not dead, you are still growing and learning.
My one simple ask of you this week is that you choose to walk on the sunny side of the street. Tell yourself a new and positive story and watch how you experience life change.
Happy New Week,
M.T. Omoniyi
Announcements
1) I’m performing at a music concert
This hasn’t been announced yet but on Saturday, in London, ill be coming out of retirement to perform at a charity concert and fundraiser. Only 120 tickets left and we are more than halfway over. Grab a ticket before it’s too late.