The Tribune

By Canon S Sebastian Campbell

“All great achievers, all successful people, are those who have been able to gain control over their time.” (Anonymous).

ALL human beings have been created equal in one respect: each person has been given seven days in each week.

Too many Bahamians are quick to give up. At one time we were described as a barnyard of chickens. The most challenging situation ought to summon our fortitude to give our best. We must resolve to watch our time, not our watch.

One of the best time savers is the ability to say no. Not saying no when you should is one of the biggest wastes of time you will ever experience.

Don’t spend a dollar’s worth of time for ten cents worth of results. Make sure to take care of the vulnerable times in your days. These vulnerable times are the first thing in the morning and the last thing at night.

I have heard it said that what a person is like at midnight, when he is all alone, reveals that person’s true self. The most unsuspecting person can be a criminal when all alone or in such company. Many of our children, whom we believe to be angels, are devils behind our backs. We probably should challenge ourselves to find out what we are like when all alone.

Never allow yourself to say, “I could be doing big things if I weren’t so busy doing small things.” Take control of your time. The greater control you exercise over your time, the greater freedom you will experience in your life. The psalmist prayed: “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12).

The Bible teaches us that the devil comes to steal, to kill and to destroy (John 10:10), and this verse applies both to time as well as to people. The enemy desires to provide God’s children with ideas of how to kill, steal and destroy valuable time.

So often we talk about killing time. It is so negative and destructive a language to use. We need to speak positively about investing time.

I know investment is not normally in our vocabulary. Don’t you think we need a paradigm shift?

Maybe if we improve on our word choice we will be simultaneously changing our mindset. A good game to play, adults and children, is word calling. We alternate in matching each negative word called by the first volunteer with a positive. Have you ever listened to a typical conversation among our people, have you heard how negative and condemning we are? A mental exercise can be to turn around each negative statement we hear to a positive.

Political pundits are the biggest culprits in this regard. We so often hear, “the government has failed...” Can we just for a moment see ways in which it has succeeded?

People talk about how the church has failed. Have you ever thought of the great success of the institutional church? A senior Anglican priest alludes to this when lamenting how Bahamians speak of the church and government failing its people. His retort is, “Neither the church nor the government was ever pregnant with a child.” This is his way of saying, when tempted to think negative, first look in the mirror. We squander too much time in being disciples of negatively; consequently we drag others, along with our institutions, down into dungeons of despair and hopelessness. This is where many Bahamians have taken up residence.

People are always saying, “I’d give anything to be able to ….” There is a basic leadership principle that says, “6x1=6”.

If you want to write a book, learn to play a musical instrument, become a better baseball player, or do anything else important, then you should devote one hour a day, six days a week to the project. Sooner than you think, what you desire will become a reality. There are not too many things a person cannot accomplish in 312 hours a year! Just a commitment of one hour a day, six days a week, is all it takes.

We all have the same amount of time each week. The difference is people are defined by what they do with the amount of time at their disposal. Don’t be like the airline pilot flying over the Pacific Ocean who reported to his passengers, “We’re lost, but we’re making great time!” Remember that the future arrives an hour at a time. Gain control of your time and you will gain control of your life.

Take hold of life physically:

Many of us have played see-saw with our weight. Too many professionals are overweight. This includes priests, police officers, doctors, nurses, etc. We are poor examples.

I would be most thankful for anyone who is a proven success to come forward and share their routine. Until then, think on these seven gems that can be applied in our struggle against the bulge:

1. Once you put your hands to the plough, never look back.

2. Don’t use food as a friend in times of loneliness.

3. Weigh yourself every week.

4. Exercise at least four times per week.

5. Add some activity into your daily routine. (Take the stairs, not the elevator, walk close distances instead of driving, park at the far end of the parking lot.)

6. Eat a high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet.

7. Eat at least five small meals a day instead of two or three large meals. (Don’t deny yourself; you must eat or you eventually pig-out).

St Paul quite wisely advises: “Beat the body in subjection to the spirit and make it know it master.”

God has blessed us equally with potential. Let us seize the moment now. What our Bahamas needs are more leaders with muscles, guts, backbone and an independent mind. Let’s claim it and make a difference for positive change.