There is nothing new under the sun

"There is nothing new under the sun."

This statement has been ringing in my ears in the past week. For me, I thought it was a proverb that was more frequently used by older people to address the younger generation. An indirect way of saying, "What you are doing now, is nothing strange. It's been done before but in a different way." I googled to find the source of the proverb only to discover it was a Bible verse. I didn't know that!

It was intriguing and my curiosity grew further because I wanted to understand whether the meaning I had ascribed to the 'proverb' was aligned with the meaning in the Bible verse. Interestingly, there was a similarity and several real life instances sprung to my mind.

I looked back at the day I had a dream but for one reason or the other, it delayed. Now wherever I look except the metaverse- which I am yet to get to full grips with-, I see people running with my dream and making more progress compared to me. Sometimes I am tempted to drop the baton because the runners are many and running seamlessly towards this 'shared' dream. I drop my baton briefly but because it's my calling it keep's beckoning to me. I pick it up once again with renewed energy and make some progress BUT I make the mistake of looking at the others and start feeling dejected all over again. This has happened to me by the way!

There are also days, you dream up a UNIQUE IDEA and you feel all pumped up, ready for action! You step out only to realise that someone else is making giant strides with your 'unique' idea. Like the speed with which wind blows out a candle, the light of your dream is suddenly dimmed!

On social media, you post something about your business and within seconds, the algorithms pull out a similar post in your feed. 'What a copycat!' you would think. You might be tempted to call them out or shelf your best ideas to stop being copied.

All these scenarios might sound familiar, but once gain, there is nothing new under the sun! According to Ecclesiastes 1:9-10:

9?What has been will be again,

????what has been done will be done again;

????there is nothing new under the sun.

10?Is there anything of which one can say,

????“Look! This is something new”?

It was here already, long ago;

????it was here before our time.

In context, the first chapter of Ecclesiastes talks about how life without God is all meaningless. So in everything, once you believe you are doing the right thing in the eyes of your Maker, shoulder on boldly even if there are millions doing it because we are all unique and each has a special calling, believe it or not! It's as almost simple as that!

God blessed everyone with a unique gift, so next time you see someone making good progress with your dream, don't give up! Instead, be INSPIRED that it is possible.

The next time, you see your 'yet to be realised' idea in full motion by another, remember that many people would have the same idea but the approach would be different. YOU are not them and THEY are not you. We all have fingers but God blessed each and everyone with unique finger prints. Don't forget this!

Finally, the next time you feel you are being copied, dear don't dim your lights, be INSPIRED to keep going because your light has become the light tower for others to know that it is possible. Picture what happens when your light tower is not bright!

Keep dreaming, Keep moving, Hold on tight to God and Keep winning!

Cheers! Opie

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Hi! I am Opie, an introverted mother of two who becomes a talkative whenever topics of mental health and navigating life comes up for discussion. I looovveee to inspire positive change through my blog posts mainly targeted at mothers and of course every other person. I am also not just a Chartered Accountant but a mentor, life coach and a quiet but daring explorer of life and places. My content is targeted at inspiring a simple lifestyle of thought, hope and love. The OMT brand focuses on inspiration, entrepreneurship, youth and women empowerment and changing the African narrative a blog post at a time. Like OMT's Digest's tagline goes: I am simply a mom on a mission to inspire!?