General

Harnessing Today for Tomorrow

Some people are too preoccupied with surviving today that they do not have a vision of tomorrow, some live their lives like there is no tomorrow, while some live their lives preparing for tomorrow, with great optimism and prudence. There are two factors that affect a man in the course of his existence on the planet earth, they are: things he did yesterday and what he is doing today. These two will no doubt determine what becomes of him tomorrow. The first immediate need of human beings is surviving today. Sometimes this need can be so strong that we do not have any thought for tomorrow. If we are able to survive today, we cannot run away from tomorrow, but when tomorrow comes, men whose primary goal is surviving each day meets tomorrow, another day unprepared. The problem with this category of people is that their earnest needs overshadow their vision as being able to make it through today is usually sought through a short term strategy, which can be shallow, sentimental, and sometimes sordid. Surviving today entails making a decision that would provide immediate gratification which one could regret as soon as the need is met. It also causes an individual to compromise his values and trade what could be of long term value for what is needed to survive today.  For example, an individual camping in a desert in a cold winter night will not hesitate to burn a priceless piece of art work, if it is the only thing made of wood he could throw into the fire to keep the fire aflame. The fact that one is too busy striving to survive today does not change the fact that tomorrow lies ahead, each day comes demanding from an individual but while one is satisfying the need of each day, thought must be given to tomorrow as it will also come with its own need too.Within the context of this discourse, living to survive means struggling to exist in a place or in a state of acute shortage of resources, being subjected to limitations which could be physical, financial, socio- economic, intellectual or religious.  The need to survive arises wherever the mechanism operational in a place restricts access to opportunities and platforms for self actualizations for an individual, persons or corporation. Naturally, wherever there are no such limitations and restrictions as indicated above, the individual, persons or corporate body has a better option, which is to thrive, rather than merely survive.  It is the peculiar situation of a man that places him in a state of survival. Striving to survive is usually the result of complications caused by personal deficiencies of yesterday, misplacement of priorities yesterday, mistakes of yesterday, bad company of yesterday, oversight of yesterday, indulgence of yesterday, and addictions of yesterday. Being in a state of survival today is best explained by our previous actions, reactions, distractions, attractions, obsessions, omissions, and most importantly the decisions we made yesterday. Most life threatening diseases people are battling with today are caused by their life styles, things within their control, and the recklessness and carelessness of yester years. America for some immigrants has become a nightmare rather than a dream come true because their past is hunting them. They are struggling to survive today because of the errors they committed yesterday, now they are too busy trying to subsist to care about tomorrow. Living to survive is not the best life, because it prevents one from seeing beyond one’s present situation. It lures one into activities and relationships that could limit one’s choices in life. Your talents, gifts, self esteem and potentials can get swallowed up in your struggle for survival; an individual striving to survive is like a plant fighting to survive in a bad weather, there can be no blooming because there is no positive nexus between activity and productivity.In a nutshell, what you are today is a product of what you did yesterday, today is not meant to be spent cleaning up the mess from yesterday but to prepare ahead for tomorrow, if the only thing you are able to get done today is to survive, you cannot fully prepare for tomorrow, each day provides an opportunity for men to secure a better tomorrow but if man is too preoccupied with surviving today, he may never be able to make the necessary sacrifices for tomorrow, he will be caught unprepared by a new day and then another struggle for survival begins. Each day we fail to prepare for will always give birth to another day we are not prepared for, and where there are no prior provisions, then striving to survive becomes inevitable. The second category of people I mentioned earlier are those who live like there is no tomorrow. They are privileged people who do not understand the meaning and purpose of seasons in human life, they have all it takes to live today and prepare for tomorrow but just like those who strive to survive daily, they are usually so absorbed with seeking pleasure and immediate relief that they do not have much thought for tomorrow, they eat everything their eyes find desirable to full satisfaction today, and tomorrow they are battling with diseases brought about by their indiscipline. They drink themselves to a stupor today, and tomorrow they wake up to find themselves drenched in their own vomits, they take opportunity for advancement for granted thinking they can always get it back, they choose to be ignorant of the possibility of a drought tomorrow, because to them, everyday is a raining day, they expend to service their ego today, what they need to make a buy tomorrow, not just money, but goodwill. They burn their credit cards today and tomorrow they work to pay for utility they enjoyed to serve their recklessness. If you are broke today, think of what you did with what you had yesterday. Life is not a party and even if life is all about partying, partying we all know does not go on forever. You aren’t living well if your enjoyment today is at the expense of your fulfillment tomorrow.The immigrants thriving in America today are those who live for tomorrow, working hard with great hope that they can be everything they aspire to be. Each day for them is worth a million dollars as it is the only resources they have to buy a better tomorrow. America to them is a market to invest in and make good profits and they invest wisely. They are always willing to pay the price and get good value for their money, while some want it all at once, they will rather take some today and preserve their right to be able to access the privilege tomorrow. Every day is not Christmas for them but every day is spent making sacrifices for tomorrow. The difference between thriving and striving today is sacrifices made yesterday. The luxury you deprive yourself of, the comfort you trade to gain your dream, the money you save for worthwhile investment, the priority you place on your education, the pleasure you forgo or postpone, the lure you resist and the discomfort you endure today are the prices you pay to secure a better future for yourself. If you find somebody thriving today in America, ask him how he made it and you will be surprised a 500 hundred paged book may not be able to summarize his experience and his definite story of sacrifice and reward. Thriving as an immigrant in America requires building a solid foundation, i.e. going through due processes rather than seeking shortcuts, doing otherwise sets the mechanism operational in the country in a restrictive mode against an erring immigrant, and the consequence is surviving where the opportunity to thrive abounds. It might look simple on the surface; it could appear to be safe and money saving, it may have worked for somebody, it may seem to be the only immediate solution, if it is illegal, do not touch it. Think about tomorrow; make the best use of the opportunities available to you today to secure a better tomorrow. Life could be so depressing if there are no brighter days to look forward to, today is the only chance you have to bring dreams about tomorrow to pass. Your best can only be to survive if you build your life here on a farce, but why strive to subsist where you can thrive and succeed? For every problem created by the law, there is a solution through the law. Do not seek a solution outside the law. Do not just work towards surviving here, work towards thriving here, you really can.