Materialism has no doubt become the essence of human existence and because of this, people are now measuring growth with material things.

For instance, somebody who has N20 million in January and N30 million in June would feel that he is growing.

However, the right way of measuring growth is the people around you. The fact is, if you have N10 million in January and N100 million in June but still surrounded by the same faces, you have not made any growth. You are still where you were when you had N10 million because you cannot grow beyond the company that you keep, just as no nation can develop beyond its scholarship.

The reason for this is because as water finds its level, human beings also find their levels.

So, if you are growing, the faces around you that cannot keep pace with your growth would naturally drop.

Therefore, the easiest way of knowing whether you are growing or not is not how much more materials you have acquired, but rather the number of faces that are dropping on their own and the number that you are dropping because they are no longer in your class.

However, dropping people is one of the factors that have hindered a lot of people from moving forward in life. Some people find it difficult to break the bubble into which they were born. Some people find it difficult to let go of their peer group. Some people find it difficult to let go of their neighbourhood or environment they were born into. These people suffer from a syndrome known as Abrahamic phobia.

The fact is that Abraham would have died a total failure, if not for God’s special interest in him. Even his blessings came far into retirement age or the age of giving back. That is why if you are among those that are singing the song, ‘Abraham’s blessings are mine’, you should be careful of what you are wishing yourself because Abraham was never blessed in the morning. He was also not blessed in the afternoon. His blessing came late in the evening.

The reason for that was because he refused to break his boundary. As a home boy, he was comfortable been surrounded by familiar faces and because of that, from his youth to old age, he was clawing and scratching the earth to survive. He was living in penury.

Even when God told him to leave his father’s house, Abraham still wanted to cling to old faces and that was by dragging his cousin, Lot, along with him without knowing that that was his biggest problem.

It was only when God separated Lot from him that he grew up. That was when his eyes opened and he realised that where he was standing, that he thought was a land of hunger was in reality flowing with milk and honey.

That was when he began to live the life for which he was created, a blessing to mankind.

So, no matter the millions of dollars you are making or the degrees and certificates that you are acquiring, as long as you are surrounded by the same faces, year in, year out, you are not growing.

For you to grow, your content must change and there is no way your content would change when you are surrounded by the same people day in, day out.

So you have to separate. You must break your bubble. Those who are suffering from Abrahamic phobia, those who want to live and die in the same neighbourhood, even when it is hurting them, should know that their blessing, their growth, their development could be in other neighbourhoods.

They should know that as they are hurting in their own neighbourhoods, other neighbourhoods may be waiting to heal them. As they are being mocked in their own neighbourhoods, other neighbourhoods may be waiting to praise them. As their own neighbourhods are extinguishing them, other neighbourhhoods may be waiting to distinguish them.

So, like Moses who had to separate from the children of Israel in order to speak with God face to face and Abraham who had to separate from Lot in order to live the life for which he was created, they need to separate in order to grow.

ABOUT THE COLUMNIST

Peter Anosike is a well-known journalist and development economist.

His book, Dangote’s Ten Commandments on Money (Lessons on How to Make Money from One of the World’s Richest Men), was rated as one of the best development books in the world by Wall Street Journal and FORBES. The book has been adopted as a workbook for grooming entrepreneurs by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN). Anosike’s other of his books include, How To Be The Best You Can Be and Look Forward and Lean Less On Your Past – all trending in Smashwords along with Dangote’s Ten Commandment on Money and How To Be The Best You Can Be. You can follow him on Facebook and Linkedin.

Update news