Bringing out the treasure within

Sharon boggled me recently. She looked me in the eye and said I have "so much inside to offer the world." It has happened often; people believing in me more than I seem to believe in myself.

I have wanted to dismiss them as grovellers, but that inner small voice has always stopped me. Everyone wants something good to be said about them, and when you mull over such words of optimism and realise how much people believe in you, it can be intimidating.

But life has taught me that fear has never taken anyone to the Promised Land. It is only known for its debilitating effect, but where there is faith, hope and love, there is no stopping anyone.

This is what I meant last Sunday when I wrote here that I was stepping out of my boat. I meant I was beginning life afresh with more faith, more hope and more love. A fan of this column wants the specifics, and how it is like this far.

Well, so far so good. I approach each day with a heart bubbling with great expectations; I wake up at 5am, pray, warm up and jog for 30 minutes and read a chapter in a book before embarking on the rest of my day.

Benjamin Franklin said, "Lose no time. Be always employed in something useful. Cut off all unnecessary actions." Planning for all my time has so far had such invigorating results.

Every evening, 7-8pm, is my 'Me Time' whereby I switch off my phones and shut out the world, to self-examine me and plan my next day. This is also when I get to meditate or just gaze at the moon in the night sky while enjoying the quiet beauty.

I've so far also not defaulted on my resolve to bathe twice a day, eat regular meals, avoid TV except for 9pm news, and go to bed early. It has brought me purity of heart; joy, calm and insurmountable energy. But being this orderly is not easy. I miss my laziness, my junk food; my wastefulness generally!

And sometimes when the alarm clock goes off, the temptation to snuggle deeper beneath my beddings is great but I know I have to fight harder and bring my body under subjugation if that hidden greatness within is to come out and benefit the world.

Besides, as that slave-turned great abolitionist Frederick Douglass knew better, "If there's no struggle there's no progress."