Focus on Improvement

"Ibi tí à ńlọ là ńwò, a kìí wo ibi tí a ti ṣubú "We ought to be focused on where we are going, not where we have fallen. It is easy to identify flaws. But unless you can also define desirable outcomes, there is no hope for improvement. What do you aspire to, as a person, a spouse, a parent, a priest? It is utterly essential that you learn to feed the values you espouse and starve those that you abhor.  When you and your loved ones demonstrate those traits, you celebrate them vigorously. Let your people know what you're looking for and how it makes you happy. 

Within every culture, organization, family and partnership, there are ideal personality types. In the Yoruba world, the ideal person is called Omoluwabi. It can be defined as, "The child who behaves like someone who is properly nurtured and behaves accordingly." In a recent publication, Chief Solagbade Popoola outlines over 40 attributes of Omoluwabi, according to the sacred texts of Ifa. Whereas the Western mind - with its addiction to deductive reasoning - has been conditioned to break down and isolate all the places where we have fallen, Omoluwabi serves an excellent outline for where we are going. Live the medicine! 

Obafemi Origunwa, MA | www.ObafemiO.com