“Get inside the car and take me there quickly!” she instructed the orderly in a loud and polite tone. In a smart salute Austin replied, But madam, my boss (your husband) said the house was not yet ready, and some certain matters needs to be settled. “Stop that nonsense, I have told him to GET IT FOR ME! Is that right?” – she abruptly interrupted.
I’m sick and tired of this village hide-out. Go get the keys and start the car, I must get there today. With a quick response and a smart salute, Austin started the car and off they went.
Initially it was a war period, Dr Scott, Haley’s hubby had been drafted to the state house as the resident doctor. He was invited on the order of His Excellency.
Of course he had made adequate preparations for his wife. He got her the finest accommodation, stocked with every luxury and life’s necessities, in a rural area. He felt the city was not safe enough and insecure for her and their only son, Jason.
But Haley could not help but feel the discomfort and loneliness of that vicinity, she insisted on knowing what was going on in town. She told her husband to get her another apartment in the city. Despite all pleas and explanations, she obstinately refused to reason along with her husband who persuaded her to jettison such an idea. She just retorted “get it for me no matter the situation”.
Knowing fully well that his wife was adamant, Scott technically abandoned her in the village, although in the care of a soldier orderly. Realising her husband’s trick, Haley decided one day to get to the town at all cost despite the odds. That’s why she ordered Austin to embark on such a suicidal journey.
The car smoothly but slowly climbed over a bump. A few meters later, a militia with a rift dangling on his neck walked titanically towards the car. He signalled the car to a stop. “State House” announced the orderly as if to warn the militia not to waste any further time. He later gave the madam a salute and ordered the assistant to remove the barrier.
Everywhere had gone silent on the road like a graveyard. The car had not gone another kilo before a cyclist ahead of them jumped suddenly off his machine and made for the bush.
The orderly stopped abruptly, “What happened?” Haley asked with disgust. “Evening plane” the orderly replied.
She quickly threw Jason out of the door held open by the brave soldier and followed him at once as they ran for safety. They didn’t even wait to turn the ignition off. Haley saw two jet fighters making for her. She held tight to her son Jason with both hands and made for the banana jungle without caring what lay on her path. Her high-heeled shoes failed her as the pair slowed her down, hence she had to get rid of them without a second thought.
The former cyclist ahead of them was completely disembowelled! By now the planes were overhead. She shut her eyes tight and then prayed to God for her son and her life.
“O God help me” she groaned with a trembling voice as the rocket bullet cannon balls began to fly. Regrettable thoughts of her stubbornness began to cross through her mind as the feeling of despair and disappointment in her choices began to haunt her, and all she could think of was a way out to safety no matter the location, whether underground or in space to be left alone, as long as it would be safe.
Just like Haley, we live in an age when the ‘get it at all cost’ syndrome has become a norm rather than a misnomer. Indeed this generation can be rightly described as the “get age!” Now every conceivable invention appears to be targeted at pandering to the whims and caprices of a generation that exemplifies the anti-ethical philosophy of “the end justifies the means”; without sparing a moment to pause and ponder on the present and eternal consequences of such unbridled quest for temporary gain and preferment.
Insatiable desire is not new to the human race. It dates back to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. It was the desire ‘to be wise’, ‘to be like gods’ that made them eat to their eternal sorrow, the fruit of the tree which a good and benevolent God expressly commanded them not to eat. And so it is today, we see this tendency to achieve wealth, fame, love, success and health in our daily interactions with people. Sadly it is being manifested in corruption, academic dishonesty, immoral quest for political power and influence at all cost and the ‘deification’ of self. In many religious gatherings today, ‘prosperity gospel’ is the order of the day.
Although it is very important that one must seek for these things in order to live well rather than be in want, but the truth is that if a man only lives for himself, and only designs all his wants and desires simply to satisfy his emptiness, then that individual is not worth living. For unless a man takes a conscious effort to search for something worth dying for, he is not worthy to be alive. It is a clarion call to the danger ahead for those who engage in personal materialistic pursuits alone at the expense of their souls. A false belief that life and its happiness resides in the accumulation of wealth, or physical capacities.
Sometimes we need to read the obituaries to remind ourselves of how short our time is here on earth. A wise man thinks ahead, the foolish man acts as if there were no tomorrow. It has been said that he is no fool who gives away what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. The great use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it. If we must go for something, if we must long and desire to get something in life, various checks and balances needs to be put in place, tags that question the resourcefulness and the importance of our desires and decisions in life, one must not aim at possessing the latest technology, the most recent fashion design in vogue, the most expensive class of a certain item, for that is the pathway to a potential life wasted.
The problem of people nowadays is this ‘get it at all cost syndrome’, the moment any individual begins to go down with this trail in life, he or she is definitely bound to an awaiting disappointment. Those who always seek for short-cuts are seldom cut short in life. Many students are in the habit of giving up their faith today in the quest for success and academic excellence at all cost. How about those seeking for favours in offices? They lie everyday on a time-book just to get promotion, some females offer up their body in exchange for material things that’ll eventually phase out as life transitions from one stage to the other.
Though investment has been defined in simple monetary terms as “setting aside money for future financial gains”, still, the extended definition of the term goes way beyond monetary instruments. Investment is a ‘devotion of time, energy, money, resources and any type of property to a profit-yielding enterprise’.
Today, the rich man in his riches plans to become richer and those in authority are equally investing everything at their disposal to remain in power and authority. Thus every incumbent public office holder wants to invest almost anything to go for a second or a third term.
The same is applicable to those in academics, (for example, academic training or development is equally an investment). Thus, in this age of knowledge explosion many are sparing no time and money today to invest in education in different forms.
Now, in pursuance to the theme of this discussion, some issues that engineer the rush and crave to get things at all cost shall be considered in few texts. These include money, certificate, fame, health, position, power just to name a few. The spirit of the Information and communication Technology (ICT) age is another form of getting things at all cost when anything you need from any part of the world becomes an easy reach in only a matter of seconds, with little or no effort(s). We live in a button-click or Key-Press age or the GO-Age where you can virtually have it all in your possession with the simple click of a button.
A poet years back once spoke of a time where “Humans would possess powers to drink from a cup containing both fire and ice, and not the burnt or frozen but applauded for such craft”, This generation is not so far away from that prophetic figure of speech, for with the recent advancements in technology, ranging from sophisticated electronics and mobile devices, to crypto-currencies and online trading, one could possible hold the key to his destruction or wealth simply by possessing a sound smartphone that is connected to the internet. Hence it could be fire to his riches when all his wealth could disappear in a single click, and also it could be an ice to his burning state of poverty to cool and re-shapen his status. It is now left for man to decide how well or how bad he could be influenced by this age.
Going back to the genesis of the subject of investment. God can be seen as the first investor, and the object of his investment was man, who was the crown, or call it the certificate or promotion of his creation, and after his creation He had reason to rest. God invested his life and age in Adam and Eve, they were brought into existence by other creatures, but they were products of a ‘divine click’. Recalling the definition of investment as the devotion of time,…., energy and any type of property for a profit-yielding enterprise, it suffices to state that God invested time and energy to the human project. Spending five days, creating other things before the creation of man on the sixth day is instructive to all, on the investment that really matters is not a product of just the clicks of START and STOP buttons.
But true investment demands the dedication and sacrifice of our best efforts as God did in His creation, breathing His Life into man. Likewise in life which is the biggest investment of all time, no matter what we do in respect to pursuing our dreams we should always give in the best of the best, whether the odds be for or against us, no matters the fears and challenges that we may face.
For I’ve come to know that the strength of every individual lies in the number of fears and challenges that he has been able to overcome. I for once I’m grateful to my fears and hard times, for they made me who I am today, the ones I overcame and the ones I couldn’t all played their part. For if you think about the one thing that troubled you about two years ago right now, the things that gave you sleepless nights, the things that looked as if they were un-surmountable, think about it now, for its just but a thing of the past and an unusual strength added to you, for if they should ever arise again, they can easily be conquered.
Generally, investments involve risks, and in a world of uncertainties, many investors have not therefore only lost their life savings but also their lives in the psychological and emotional shocks received from the loss of their hard earned investments.
Today, they are many forgotten investment-created names, many products have disappeared from the, market today, not because they have been re-packaged under new brand names but because the investments that created them have suffered huge shipwrecks. The world is full of such investment casualties today because they matter only for a short time without eternal goal. Above all, the most profitable investment in life are the ones made with eternity in view.
One could learn a lot from the poetic expression regarding the timely nature of wise investments with most invaluable instrument of all ages - time
“I have only just a minute,
Only sixty seconds in it,
Forced upon me – cant refuse it,
Didn’t seek it, didn’t choose it,
But it is up to me to use it,
Give account if I abuse it,
Just a tiny little minute -
and eternity is in it”
source
Author: D.E Abraham
