Leave Good Behind: Why I don't want you to be Good

Hullo, Friends! The first time I came across the phrase, “Leave Good Behind”, was around a month or two ago, when MTN used it in one of their adverts. My initial reaction was “Whaaat!?” What is that supposed to mean? Are you really telling me to leave good behind; as in, forget about being good? This is arrant Nonsense. Balderdash… Claptrap… (Please lend me another big grammar.)

I understand that if you have your cash you could do virtually anything vis-à-vis advertising sense and nonsense. And MTN has the cash. I once even heard of one person who once went to fix his campaign banner on the moon. That most likely might be a lie – It is so ridiculous and I have never bothered to research about it.

Yeah, I also once heard that our late king of pop, Michael Jackson, went to celebrate the naming ceremony of one of his children on the moon. Heard the proud father apparently found christening children on the planet earth too mainstream. The story did not end happily though – as far as I was told, the poor kid died up there, unable to enjoy the whole scenery. I do not believe the story, really, and did not even bother to research. Yes, lazy me! Scold me already. But I digress…

Back to the point: So, I found the phrase against common sense at first. But praise be to God; I never let nonsense go just like that. Dr Seuss would agree with that too when he said,

“I like Nonsense; It wakes up the Brain Cells.”

So, I decided to look deeper and get the hidden, not-so-readily-obvious message. Just as the realisation started hitting me, I felt so enlightened – so enlightened that I decided to share this with you. It has been a while since I came across that. However the message is as evergreen as it is timeless. Enjoy…

Not all of us started things on a good ground, you know. For example, I did not start my early life with a good command of the English Language. Hell, I could not even boast of the mastery of my own mother tongue, the almighty Yoruba Language.

For example, standing before my peers to read a comprehension passage when I was in elementary class 3 ( Primary 3), I pronounced ‘Suddenly’ as “Sun-Den-Lily” even after spending a few minutes preparing myself for that singular pronunciation. Oh boy, you should have been there. The embarrassment was beyond words.

Or was it in primary 4 when I was not sure which English was right to use to beg my class teacher to reduce the strokes of the cane I was to receive as a punishment. “Is it ‘Increase’ or ‘Decrease’?” At the end, I resorted to my native language as I screamed under the terrible lashings, “Uncle, e din ku! [Uncle, please decrease it].” Painful and Embarrassing!

There are more and more… However, whenever I look at my way with words right now, I smile. Boy, I am good, if I do say so! I am sure you have this kind of moment too – when you remember that you had once been awful at one particular area in which you are doing well now. It is also easy to rest satisfied with our new joy. We are good now; the storm is over, right?

So, in the middle of the “Yeah!” moment, if someone comes to you and asks you to leave good behind, how would you feel? Remember it took you a lot of time, energy and sacrifice to get this “good”. Now here is this person with nose like wood and eyes like bird poop, telling you to give it all up? Are you supposed to really leave good behind and return to being bad. I mean, who in is right mind would want to do that? Who would want to return to his vomit?

“As a dog returns to his own vomit, So a fool repeats his folly.”

-      Proverbs 26:11

Relax now… The Game isn’t over yet. By Golly, It has just begun!

At first, especially if you had once been bad, it is alright to be good. You get more commendation which subsequently improves your sense of worth. I love to call it your self-esteem. Nothing makes you more confident like your self-esteem; and there is no better way to keep that alive and dynamic than by doing ‘good’.

The problem however starts when we get so comfortable in that stagnant state of being good, that we forget there is something way cooler. It is called being better, and it is a continual process. It is a pity that many people miss this key part of life. It is saddening when people lose their fume and forget to keep working even when things start looking good – Especially when things start looking good.

When a baby is born, he can not speak at all. Hey, Crying and Babbling do not count, duh. However, with time, the baby starts saying Mimmy, Dadda, and other incomprehensible words. Yet, we would clap and make sense out of the nonsense. We would scream, “Good, Good!” At that tender age, it is indeed good. However, if twenty five years later, dude still keeps saying Mimmy, Dadda, and other incomprehensible words, there is fire on the mountain.

Therefore, for us to live a really FantaFab Life, we must be willing to leave good behind, for good. There is no shortcut. There is no other way to growth. As a matter of fact, that is the fundamental nature of Growth. Growth is usually painful, and it is by sacrificing the initial ‘comfort’ of being good that we start getting better.

The best sprinters in the world keep sprinting even after the finish line. Go and look. It is a progressive process. Forget about being good. Being good is infectious; it eats deep into the bone marrow, corrupts the tissue and paralyses the body. The only cure is to start getting better; working hard at it everyday, never Relenting. It is about getting better. No shortcut, friends. We keep pumping on and on… world without end.

Can someone say a powerful AMEN!

 


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