Have you ever been in a discussion with someone where you were trying to advance your point in support of something you believe in and when the other person spoke, he or she said, “let’s be realistic” or “let’s face reality” before making his or her point”?
If we examine in depth what the person means by “let’s be realistic”, it would simply mean he or she is telling you what he or she believes.
For instance, let’s take a hypothetical discussion that could have taken place concerning the Seoul, South Korea Olympics when Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson was stripped of the 100 metres gold medal for use of steroids when he ran 9.79 seconds on September 24, 1988.
If someone then had said one day, sprinters would beat that record and reduce it further without use of steroids, another could have said, “let’s be realistic, nobody can ever beat that record without using steroids”.
The person trying to be “realistic” could have buttressed his or her point with the fact that even other top athletes of Ben Johnson’s era at some point in their careers tested positive to banned substances.
However, fast forward to 2010 and we have several men who have not only equaled but have also broken the 9.79 seconds 100 metres dash figure:
American Maurice Green – 9.79 seconds on June 16, 1999 at Athens, Greece
American Tim Montgomery – 9.78 seconds on September 14, 2002 at Paris, France
American Justin Gatlin – 9.77 seconds on May 12, 2006 at Doha, Qatar
Jamaican Asafa Powell – 9.74 seconds on September 9, 2007 at Rieti, Italy
We now have a Jamaican Usain Bolt who first ran 9.72 seconds on May 31, 2008 at New York, United States, then 9.69 seconds on August 16, 2008 at the Beijing, China Olympics and then 9.58 seconds exactly a year later on August 16, 2009 at Berlin, Germany.
We also have an American Tyson Gay who has a best time of 9.69 seconds for the 100 metres dash on September 20, 2009 at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix, China.
During an interview boxing legend Mohammed Ali gave on his October 30, 1974 “Rumble in the Jungle” fight at former Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) with hard punching opponent now Reverend George Foreman, Ali recalls how just few minutes to the start of the fight, there was complete silence in his dressing room because his people there had the belief that Big George would knock him out.
Indeed the odds seemed to be against Ali because of the staggering records leading to the fight:
S/N | Fight record | Mohammed Ali | George Foreman |
1 | Total fights | 44 | 40 |
2 | Wins | 42 | 40 |
3 | Losses | 2 - to Ken Norton and Joe Frazier | 0 |
4 | Against Ken Norton | Initially lost to Joe Frazier, then won next 10 fights and then lost to Ken Norton, then 7th contender after winning and then in 15 rounds and then won. Eventually defeated Ken Norton 6 months later | Demolished Ken Norton in round 2 some 2 months after Ali won Frazier |
5 | Against Joe Frazier | First lost to Frazier and then won him 4 months after defeating Ken Norton | Demolished Joe Frazier in round 2 some two months before Ali’s loss to Ken Norton |
6 | Age | Older of the two fighters | Younger of the two fighters |
7 | Other important points | After a 43 month forced exile from boxing due to political reasons, Ali returned to the ring. In the four years in between his comeback fight with Jerry Quarry in October 1970, up to his title fight with George Foreman in October 1974, Ali fought for the title once, and went 12-2 in 14 fights. | The George Foreman of 1974 who Ali confronted was thought to be the single greatest puncher in heavyweight history, an opinion still held by many almost 40 years later. His eight fights prior to fighting Ali ended in the first or second rounds. |
8 | Opinion of boxing experts/observers | Believed Ali would lose | Believed Foreman would win |
Ali, it appeared, seemed to be the only one who had faith that he would win and he said he managed to psyche his people at the dressing room to cheer up and when he went for the fight, he used a local dialect phrase “Ali Bomaye” (meaning Ali kill him) he had learnt to get the spectators to cheer him - and his faith became his reality when he knocked out George in the eighth round!
My point here is simply that what constitutes one’s faith is his or her reality. Take another classic example of the Apostle Peter who told Jesus he wanted to come and meet him on the sea. When Peter had faith that he could walk on the water as Jesus called him to come, his reality was that he was able to do it.
As soon as he began to doubt and his faith wavered, his reality was that he began to sink and then called Jesus to save him (Matthew 14: 22 – 32).
Another example is seen in the case of the woman with the haemorrhage for 12 years who said if only she could touch the hem of Jesus’ garment she believed she would get well. Based on her faith, she took the action and her reality was that her illness of 12 years disappeared that very instant! (Matthew 15: 21 – 28)
A third example is where Jesus cursed a fig tree when he did not find fruits on it and the tree withered at once! When his disciples asked him how it happened, he told them if they had faith, they could do the same thing.
Jesus further told them that they could even tell a mountain to arise and enter the sea and it would happen. He told his Apostles that they would receive anything they asked for in prayer if only they had faith (Matthew 21: 18 – 22).
This clearly shows that Jesus was not talking figuratively because he said whoever believes would receive whatever they ask for in prayer. In essence, whoever has faith would in something or about an expectation would have the exact result as their reality.
Unfortunately, many are unable to get their hearts’ desires and think faith only exists in scriptures. The truth is, if Usain Bolt and other sprinters never had faith about breaking the 100 metres’ dash record, their reality would have been that they would never achieve the feat.
So it is with anything we want in life – fame, wealth, success, riches, health, love, a job, peace of mind, money, a home, a car, a relationship, a child, whatever – without faith, it would seem an enormous challenge to get any of these things and that would be the person’s reality.
So next time someone tells you, “let’s be realistic”, the person is indirectly telling you, this is the level of my faith and therefore my reality. In essence, your faith is your reality and therefore faith and reality are one and the same thing as far as achievement in life is concerned.
There you have another wealth secret!
© copyright Gabriel Ama
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