The poorest person in the world is not the one without money but one without vision – Ghanaian proverb
Being around someone with absolutely no vision and no motivation is probably one of the most annoying things for me. There has to be a purpose or end game in order to get me involved. Whether its’s a relationship, friendship, business deal or even basic interaction, there needs to be a purpose involved.
There are so many reasons why this proverb jumped out at me. It’s easy for me to get frustrated with myself when I’m struggling to create a vision to complete a task or to get along with someone. In terms of task, I’m working on my novel and have made some serious strides these past several months after a period of setbacks and discouragement. One of the main things I did was get rid of dead-end characters who weren’t contributing much to the story – they had no end game! Maybe one or two lines of dialogue or being vaguely mentioned in a narrative took away from the story instead of help build it. A good chunk of this story I’m building is inspired by real-life experiences and interactions. Some people hanging around in our lives truly serve no purpose. They’re just there, collecting dust and growing mold. Then at some point, you look around trying to figure out where that weird smell is coming from and lo and behold, it’s someone just occupying space, leaching off your existence. But that’s not always the case. Sometimes the person (and their smell) is there for a period of time to serve as a life lesson of sorts.
With vision there is always an opportunity to not be broke. Vision is always a fertile ground for new ideas, resiliency, and good old-fashioned hope. Fortunately, vision has nothing to do with the amount of money a person has because even if the person has money flowing out of their pockets, it won’t last long if they have no vision with that money. With vision also lies the opportunity to get out of whatever rut in which you may find yourself. This is why I love hearing stories about someone rebounding from a bad situation or starting over again in life because its so relatable and realistic. Bad decisions happen. Horrible circumstances happen, but vision will help get you back on track.
To be more specific, getting out of one terrible relationship and jumping into another can really bring on emotional and mental challenges you never saw coming. When I’m crafting Asuma’s story in my novel, I see it with her repeatedly. Decisions she made earlier in life – or decisions that were made for her, come back to affect whatever she’s trying to accomplish in her present-day life. She comes to realization about a lot of her actions, the way she relates to people and who she chooses to let in her space. Vision is so important in her journey; she’s often forced to sit down and figure out her own purpose, the purpose of her marriage and the purpose of future relationships.
This novel would not have gotten as far as it did without vision. It’s been a challenge, especially since I’ve been pouring into it, but am waiting to see the results of it…I really hope that makes sense.
What is your vision or end game? Do you find yourself having to filter out things or people that seem to serve no role or have no vision?