Always be Prepared

This is one of the biggest advice you might ever get in this life and because it is a very important life lesson or principle, permit me to presume that you already know that you should always be prepared. If you recall, it is the motto of the Boy Scouts: Be Prepared. But then the big question will always be: do we really know what it means to be prepared? If you do, how ready and willing are you in applying this very important lifesaving principle?

And that is usually where all our problems start to manifest!

How prepared are you about this life?

I know you must have heard this cliche that life is not a bed of roses. This is one reason why everyone who is seriously prepared for whatever this life will bring to him or her doorsteps or pathway usually turns out to be successful amongst most of his peers who have not been wise enough to make the same arrangements for their own future.

If you remember the song by P-Square in that track Story where they told the story of their life by stating how they started stated that while their mates were jollying and bubbling, they were busy trying to make the music that will escape them from trouble which is just another way of stating that they are making arrangement for tomorrow, then you will easily understand where I am driving at because today, by the look of all things, those twins are really made!

Most of our problems in this life can easily be overcome or sidestepped if we just have the commonsense to be prepared in the first place.

Areas where you seriously need to prepare for in life

We are always faced with decision making in our lives. There is always some form of decision to be made. Funny enough, indecision or indecisiveness is also part and parcel of decision making.

So let us take a brief look at some of those very important areas of our lives where we may have not been doing so well in preparing for.

Since I like addressing students issues, permit me to align this discussion towards that side even though in real life, it is even more than that.

As students, how prepared are we for success? Are we the type of students that only start reading when the exams are approaching or are we the type that already knows that our primary purpose as students is to read and understand to the best of our knowledge whatever we are being taught and also become adequately prepared for the exams that we are well aware must follow?

Similarly, as students, how prepared are we for life after school? Are we still part of those groups that still believe that there is an already made job waiting for us when we graduate or are we part of those who really know that even if there might be an already guaranteed job waiting for us out there, the truth is that no one really knows tomorrow which means that we must start making some arrangements and also start thinking along the lines of creating our own jobs?

You should really be prepared

Life surprises are always upon us, take it or live it! Seriously, it's like we are just living in an accidental world where anything could happen to us at anytime. Everything we have acquired in this life can easily disappear in just a matter of time. Don't doubt me. It has happened to many people in the past.

So what should we do then since we are faced with such a very precarious situation? Of course, we have to be mentally, emotionally and physically prepared.

Being mentally prepared which should always come first is just being able to visualize everything that can happen as if they have already happened and as such formulate the best strategies to handle events as they come.

Don't forget that there are so many dangers lurking around the corners, some are seen while so many remain unseen. So many people out there are desperately seeking to take advantage of you.

So for you to come out not necessarily as a winner but definitely not a loser, you should be prepared. Get ready and get into the habit of expecting the unexpected. That is what I call common sense.

There was a day someone asked me what I will do if the man coming towards me on the road suddenly attacks me. To tell you the truth, I never thought it was possible that someone could just attack me just like that but the real fact is that you and I know that something like that or even something worse than that that can easily happen. In fact, it has happened to so many people before!

So next time you hear that I am now an expert in tae kwon do, I expect you know why...or don't you?

How to really prepare

To be really prepared involves majorly one thing. I have said it before. It involves the ability of us to think at least one- or two steps ahead all the time by making plans. We need to be able to consider the big picture at all times. We need to make plans. If you notice, I didn't say plan,  I said plans!

Make Plan A, make Plan B, make Plan C, make as many plans as you can.

Remember, you should not limit your planning and preparation to only situations where and when things turn out favorably for you just like you planned. Remember that things can also go bad so include that in your preparations also.

Don't be like that goat in the fairy tale that went to eat in a farmer's ban with the wise tortoise. As they kept on eating, the tortoise kept on checking its body size with the only hole through which they crept in to see if he could still creep out should the farmer arrive while the goat kept on eating and eating and growing fat.

When the farmer later entered the barn, the tortoise didn't have any qualms or difficulty in escaping through that same hole quite unlike the goat that was now so fat and sluggish that it couldn't even run not to mention squeeze itself through that very hole anymore and was subsequently caught and killed by the farmer!

Try as much as possible to see that you have covered everything in your planning but don't relent because it is an accidental world we are living in, if you remember?

Like my favorite rapper 2pac will say, "don't  go to sleep!"