One Step Further - Author Unknown

Discovering Yourself - Psalm 139

• This Psalm written by David is one of my best Psalms because it prods me into the very depths of my soul. The very first time I experienced its cleansing and probing strength was sometime around June, 2006. My family and I had recently moved to Houston, TX.

• A lot had happened in the months building up to the move precisely between March to June and I was beginning to truly come to grips of how evil I could be. Remember Paul asking one time in his epistles “Oh wretched man that I am who can deliver me from this body of death …?” Romans 7: 24 Well, we all have the depths of it within us, just as we do have the depths of love, but the true quest lies in finding out which of these we feed, and who we allow direct us.

Do more than exist: live

Do more than touch: feel

Do more than look: observe

Do more than read: absorb

Do more than hear: listen

Do more than listen: understand

Do more than think: reflect

Do more than just talk: say something.

• Psalm 139:23 - 24 says this: “Search me God, and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting (NIV).

• Let’s allow that seat with you for a while and please feel free to leave your comments. I really want to know how deep meditation of this verse speaks to you as much as it did me then, and still does whenever I feel the pruning hand of the Holy Spirit.

How does one live without merely just existing?

The Turtle is one animal that fascinates me to date. We have a few of them on our farm and some days I spend just observing them. They are really a weird kind. And it reminds me of how so often we can exist like these creatures, locking up our emotions in a hard shell. Shutting out others that should mean a lot to us and not allowing our God-given talents bless others and change the world of even one person.

Tell me if we may discuss it further, what would have happened to this world if Steve Jobs hadn’t knuckled down and put all his talent into creating the Apple products that we all so cannot do without. Myself included, I use the Apple range of products to live very seamlessly; from the MacBook to iPad to the iPhone, etc. My life and work can flow seamlessly because of the ideas of one man (may he continue to RIP) who against all odds and obstacles followed his big dream, his one idea like I discuss on the 23rd page of Chapter 2 of my book “Seasons of Antibes”

How does one listen (with the heart) and not just hearing with the outer ear?

This takes conscious effort and is the heart of truly discovering oneself. According to John C. Maxwell: “It is your duty to find yourself.”

Yes, indeed it is. When one has an epiphany it usually is a rare feeling and excitement that we get. I got a load of them last year through the TOP three books that transformed me in the Year 2024, starting from “The Big Leap” by Gay Hendricks, to Ryan Holidays’ “Ego is the Enemy” and finally “The 6 Types of Working Genius” by Patrick Lencioni. As time goes on we shall share a bit of these and the learnings I took away from each author.

In concluding this first post, I would like to bring in one more facet of my life that defines a lot of what I do now, which is coaching tennis and ensuring the next generation stays and starts the discipline of sports from a young age. My methodology of coaching, which I have proven over the years as my work with various schools in the teaching of tennis can testify to, gives me the confidence to carry you along in this journey of self discovery; as I have come to discover that everyone can learn but not everyone needs to learn in a classroom.

‘Bella’s Square gives you the opportunity to express that deep YOU. Connecting together in a holistic approach to discovering all facets of ourselves inspires me to create in this sub stack and share my personal experiences, on how the desire to provide safe and professional opportunities for young tennis players, the need to address specific challenges within the Nigerian tennis landscape, merges with my deep search for spirituality without religion.