End of The Road

By Emmanuel Abazu

Sometime ago I and my friend (Bayo) was driving along one of the major highways around Lagos. We had some good music playing on the CD and the weather was wonderful. He's always a careful driver, so his attention was focused on the driving, but my thoughts were elsewhere. Suddenly, I noticed the sign warning that the highway was coming to an end just ahead.

Only then did I realize that we had missed my exit!

 Has that sort of thing ever happened to you? This situation is an excellent illustration of why I consider the message of "Mindful Awareness" to be so very important. Consider that all of us are traveling down the highway of life. Each of us has an idea of which route we would like to be taking, but we must be constantly mindful or else we risk missing our turning points.

Sometimes a missed turn can be fixed by taking another turn and circling back. Sometimes an even better route presents itself. But sooner or later everyone will find themselves at the end of the highway and many people will be unprepared for the sudden ending of the journey. "I was so sure that the highway was longer than this!" they'll say.

My speaking, my writing and my career all have a common goal. The entire point of my message to the world is to ensure that you don't reach the end of your highway only to look back and say: "Had I known that it was going to end at this time, I would have made some different turns. I was sure that there would be time to change my course."

This is why I am constantly urging people to be mindful of the present moment. This is why I encourage people to acknowledge, accept and even embrace their own mortality.

One of my key principles is something that I call "Embrace the Moment ". It is a very powerful one page document and I invite you to read it for yourself. Then I invite you to share it with your family and friends, because we are ALL traveling down the highway of life.