Kings And Queens

Kings And Queens

He who reigns within himself and rules passions, desires, and fears is more than a king.
---John Milton

“I once knew a man who was heir to the throne of a great kingdom, he lived as a ranger and fought his destiny to sit on a throne but in his blood he was a king. I also knew a man who was the king of a small kingdom, it was very small and his throne very humble but he and his people were all brave and worthy conquerors. And I knew a man, who sat on a magnificent throne of a big and majestic kingdom, but he was not a king at all, he was only a cowardly steward. If you are the king of a great kingdom, you will always be the only king though you live in the bushes. If you are the king of a small kingdom, you can lead your people in worth and honor and together conquer anything. And if you are not a king, though you sit on the king’s throne and drape yourself in many fine robes of silk and velvet, you are still not the king and you will never be one.”
---C. JoyBell C.

“My Crown is in my heart, not on my head:
Not deck'd with Diamonds, and Indian stones:
Nor to be seen: my Crown is call'd Content,
A Crown it is, that seldom Kings enjoy.”
---William Shakespeare

Man have lost their ideal identity in the world today, our focus has been diverted to things that would less serve us, which has corrupted the fine purpose of our existence. We have more troubles and worries in our lives more than the peace and joy that should decorate our lives. You and i strive everyday to conquer each other and be above one another, man lost the understanding that they don’t have to conquer their neighbor but do the most profitable and fulfilling thing, check and conquer yourself and you will rule your world as the sun and moon rules over the earth.

I see we need one another, the moment I lose you or you lose me, life begins to lose its sweetness as when salt loses its saltiness. The world stops to go around when our life is no longer locked around each other, everything experience disarray and life is no longer meaningful if we continue to struggle with one another. Insistence in struggle for dominion over one another will bring us no blessing but a curse, a failed humanity.

Every man and woman is a king and a queen who should learn to conquer himself or herself rather than seeking dominion over the neighbor, the royal road to peace in life is to conquer your inner man. To be a true king and queen that you are, you must be ready to conquer yourself because in every man are two men ‘the king and the fool’ and in every woman lies ‘the queen and the fool’. The fool in the man and the woman is in action every time you struggle with the next man or woman to you, to debase them and be seen to have dominion, the king and queen in you is in display when you fight to overcome your inner man and refuse to strive with your neighbor to be the most recognized. I say to you, that you are indeed already a king and a queen; you can only display true royalty when you have succeeded in discovering, conquering, and re-inventing yourself every single day of your life.

I have a friend whose name is Rajan from Nepal; he has been a very nice friend and has a good heart. On a particular day, we were walking and chatting, suddenly i was pushed to ask for the meaning of his name, when I asked him then he said to me ‘Rajan means king’, I was wowed anyway at the meaning and I said to him ‘you are indeed a king’. He then said to me ‘thank you but do you know at first I was uncomfortable with the name?’ I was surprised anyway to hear this, so I asked him why? He replied ‘when i was a bit grown up, I went to my grandmother and asked for the meaning of my name, she said to me it means king, and I asked her why she gave me such name because we don’t come from a royal family and i will not become a king someday, my grandmother replied ‘you are a king, to be a king you don´t have to be a ruler or rule the people or any country, you have to conquer yourself, your enemies are inside of you like anger, greed, selfishness, defeat them and don´t let them conquer you, a real king is one who conquer himself rather than conquering others’ and since then I have been happy with my name’.

This discussion with my friend touched me and I asked for his permission to write about it and share it to the world, he was delighted about it and gave me a yes. In your case, your name doesn't have to mean a king or queen, you are indeed a king and queen already but you have to learn from the sayings of this wonderful grandmother. You already have royal blood flowing in you, you don’t have to per say be a ruler, president, or king, when you learn to conquer and reinvent yourself, you will be a figure to reckon with. Your worst enemies are on the inside of you and you must get ready to overcome them. I will do you a favor by listing them out and you can look inwardly and choose the ones you see in your life and rank them according to how you wish to gain victory over them. Here are the strong enemies of your purpose-driven life: Anger, greed, selfishness, jealousy, fear, low self-esteem, hatred, malice, unforgiveness, pride, arrogance, impatience, lies, dishonesty, bitterness, ingratitude, procrastination, anxiety, back-stabbing, deceit, hostility, mocking others, false assumption, close mindedness and so on, the moment you gain victory over all these you will move from being the ordinary to becoming the extra-ordinary king or queen that you are. Remember, this will not happen in a day, it takes daily commitment from you to be a better person and, living and leading a royal life.

One thing we often forget is that we were created in the image and likeliness of the Most-High God and we are suppose to live daily like the god he has made us to be. Many of us has forgotten who we are, the world has corrupted our heart and we are already living like a cowardly servant, this is the time to wake up, pick ourselves up and start living a royal life which kings and queens are meant to lead.

I would like to bring an excerpt from the LION KING, a 1994 Disney animated film in which a lion club and heir to the throne of Pride Rock learns his place in the world. Tricked to thinking he killed his father, he flees in to exile and abandons his identity as the future king. The conversation below involves Rafiki (The priest), Mufasa (The Lion King) and Simba (The son and heir to the throne)

Rafiki: Look down there.
Simba: [looks into a pond of water] that’s not my father. That's just my reflection.
Rafiki: No, look harder.
[he touches the water; as it ripples, Simba's reflection changes to that of Mufasa]
Rafiki: You see? He lives in you.
Mufasa: [from above] Simba.
Simba: Father?
[Simba sees his father's spirit in the sky]
Mufasa: Simba, you have forgotten me.
Simba: No. How could I?
Mufasa: You have forgotten who you are, and so forgotten me. Look inside yourself, Simba. You are more than what you have become. You must take your place in the Circle of Life.
Simba: How can I go back? I'm not who I used to be.
Mufasa: Remember who you are. You are my son, and the one true King. Remember who you are.

Put God in place of Mufasa and put yourself in place of Simba and the gentle voice speaking to you right now through my writings as Rafiki. I am saying to you today, look down inward, don’t argue just look harder, you will see that God lives in you. Hear as God calls to you this morning, saying you have forgotten him, you have forgotten who you are and so forgotten Him. Look inside yourself, you are more than what you have become; you must take your place in the circle of life.

I will leave you with this quote by Orison Swett Marden which says “There can be no failure to a man who has not lost his courage, his character, his self respect, or his self-confidence. He is still a King”.

It is time we remember who we are and take our place in the world. Love your God and love your neighbor as yourself, and lead a fulfilling life!

God Loves ♥ You
Ogundipe Clement Shola
shollyclem@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/ogundipe.c.shola