Be a disruptor, question things, it's healthy

Every good you are today, you were taught and you can remember some names that contributed to your learning.[File, Standard]

One professor in college once told us: “If you have walked up and down the corridors of this university for four years, and upon graduation you cannot question the systems out there, then you have learnt nothing at all.” It was difficult to understand what he meant then but as time passed - and experiences with it – it dawns on me over and over that a core purpose of a college education is not to add oneself a certificate but to expand one’s way of thought.

My esteemed professor was affirming that youth are nature’s gift to improve systems. They have an inevitable prophetic edge. They are not to be blamed for their questioning character - it is about nature than culture. Young people exist simultaneously as carriers of accumulated wisdom and its disruptors as well.

Every good you are today, you were taught and you can remember some names that contributed to your learning. Every bad you exhibit you were taught and you can recall the circumstances under which you learnt it. Every ambition you entertain today is tied to someone or some people. None of us has become what we are all by ourselves.

None of us will go where we want to go all by ourselves. Examples are inevitable. Coaches and tutors and teachers – whether deliberate or by default – are essential to show others the way. Do not, therefore, undermine the influence of the people around you. You either become more like them, or you spend your energy fighting not to become like them.

Example has parenting power. It forms and transforms. You influence your environment by becoming what you desire it to be. You do not make the world bad by becoming good; neither do you make the world good by becoming bad. You change the world by being the change you envision.

You do not make an honest community by cheating in your exams. You do not create a corruption-free country by becoming an architect of scandals. You do not propagate faithfulness by having illicit partners. You do not grow your spirituality by stalling on fundamental practices. You do not become a leader by perfecting passivity.

Strenghts and endowments

I once visited a room of a university student and there on the wall was a huge hanging - a picture of a person sleeping comfortably while rocking on a hammock. Underneath the drawing was a bold writing, “When I feel like reading, I sleep until the feeling goes away.” Friend, you do not read by tacking yourself in every time the reading feeling comes upon you.

Being an example is about developing, displaying and sharing our strengths and endowments. The endowments include intellectual prowess, spiritual passion, philanthropic orientations, and leadership abilities. But it is important that the pressure of being an example does not reduce you to an actress or hypocrite.

One of the benefits of being a leader is the knowledge that some people are looking up to you. This knowledge is challenging and sometimes difficult, especially when you are caught below the expectations.

But on the whole, the high standards expected induce diligence, resourcefulness and character. The pressure of being looked up to has a capacity to expand you to become a better person.

It is also important that you be example to yourself by becoming someone you are proud of. Be your own testimony; compute and quote your own wise sayings; be your own coach and prep yourself; have an internal way of setting your professional and moral goals and celebrating your milestones. This is a critical part of writing a story that you will narrate to others in word, or which will narrate itself by deed.

Spiritual passion

Being an example is often understood and practiced in a narrow sense. So you find a young woman who is very good in her academic achievement but cares less about her moral life. You find a young man who is a very good athlete but neglects his academic life. You will find a person who burns with spiritual passion but has no clue on what is going in the politics of the land. Some people are great workers but spend very little time with the family. Day to day observation shows a tendency for specialisation when it comes to exemplification. Because of this, many find it surprising when they come across an all rounder say, an academically fluent, enterprising, student leader who is great spiritual soundness. Being specially endowed in one area does not mean one neglects other areas. Everyone has a chance at being a type of an all-rounder. Where you are excellent, be the most excellent. Where you are average, be the highest average; where you are poor be richest poor. Why? Because you are called to life in total, not to sections of it!

This is affirmed by Paul’s letter to Timothy where he tells him “Be an example” – He does not give Timothy a specialised, narrow plane – he paints an all round picture: Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.

Weeping world

By urging Timothy to be an example, Paul is telling him – “You shape the world by taking the shape you want to see it in.” The world today is not in the happiest state. If we were to conduct a census on all happy people and sad people, the picture we would get is that of a weeping world. What the world needs is not more sorrow, more war, more injustice, more corruption – there is enough of that already.

What the world needs is light, life and love. Be an agent of life. Know as much about life as possible. Influence others to be propagators of life. To enjoy goodness, be good. To see a good world, be an example of godly good.