YOU ARE YOUR OWN MANYORO: The Stumbling Blocks We Build On Our Own Path

“No enemy can block your road if you don’t lend him your own stones.”

The Shocking Truth
The great Og Mandino said, “Very often we are our own worst enemy as we foolishly build stumbling blocks on the path that leads to success and happiness.”

It is not Manyoro that is my problem. The stumbling blocks are entirely my own. They are not etched into my village, but into the mental computer between my two ears.

The most dangerous Manyoro is not the village that rejected me. It is the Manyoro inside me.

The 5 Stumbling Blocks We Build Ourselves

1. The Stone of Self-Doubt – “Who am I to write?”

The voice in your mind echoes: “I am from Manyoro, a small town, who will read me?”

Og Mandino answers: “You can be pitiful, or you can be powerful, but you can’t be both.” You are pitiful when you starve while food is in front of you. You are powerful when you start munching it.

Self-doubt makes you live a small life. Choose a vibrant life.

Keep oil in secret. Clap for yourself.
Be your own cheerleader. Write. As I write, cold hands become warm.

The Stone of Procrastination –“I will Write Tomorrow.”

You procrastinate when you postpone to tomorrow what you can do today. “I will write tomorrow” is a dangerous prayer.

Tomorrow is the graveyard where Manyoro talents are buried with cold hands. Stephen McCranie said it well: “The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried.”

What is the cure for procrastination? Act now, not tomorrow. Og Mandino put it succinctly: “Do it now! Today is all you have.”

Don’t wait for your hands to be warm. Motion creates heat! Write even with cold hands.

The Stone of Comparison – Kpando Is Bigger Than Me”

Don’t kill your Capernaum by comparing your chapter 1 to someone else’s chapter 20. Jon Acuff profoundly said, “Don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle.’ In a similar vein, my own quote: “If you don’t want your neighbour’s water to boil, yours will never simmer.”

Be Capernaum to someone else. When you clap for others, life claps for you.

The Stone of Past Failures – “I tried and home laughed”

A bird with clipped wings cannot fly. Past failures are an unnecessary burden to carry.

Og Mandino advises, “Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.” Let that be your mantra.

Remember the rejection story. Nazareth rejected Jesus, but He didn’t build a monument of rejection. He built a ministry in Capernaum. Should you do otherwise?

The Stone of Waiting for Perfect Conditions – “When home claps, I will write.”

Humans do not know perfect conditions: God knows. A wise man said: “If you wait for the perfect moment, you will wait forever.’

When the student is ready, his teacher appears. Listen to this German proverb: “Begin to weave and God will give you the thread.”

Note this well: Cold hands cannot carve, but carving warms cold hands!

How To Remove Your Own Blocks {The Bulldozer Principles}

Awareness: In a hospital, a patient’s history is recorded before the doctor diagnoses and treats. Name your stone: Is it doubt? Procrastination? Comparison? Past failure?

Your stumbling blocks are not cast in concrete. You have the power to remove them. Do so.

Reversal: Turn every stumbling block into a building block. Let doubt become confidence. Let doubt become faith. Let doubt become discipline. Let waiting become writing.

Association: Keep company with fire-keepers, not stone -carriers. Your association determines your motivation.

CONCLUSION: The Final Charge
If I may ask: Which stone are you carrying on your own path today? Drop it!

Your path to success and happiness is clear. You blocked yourself, you can clear it yourself.

Call-to-Action: Stop asking who blocked your road. Check whose hands laid the stones – they might be yours!

Closing Signature: I thought Manyoro blocked my way. Then I checked – the stones in my hands were mine. I dropped them, and Capernaum appeared.

Drop yours today. Now!
Quotes from the Author

1. “Fingers are not equal. Stop comparing your chapter 1 to someone’s chapter 20.”
2. “Do it now. Tomorrow is not promised.”
3. “You cannot carry stumbling blocks and become great.”
4. “To reach Capernaum, you must drop your stones.”
5. “The only real stumbling blocks are those etched in your mind.”

Yours in inspiration,
Abundant Robert K. AWOLUGUTU
Writer and Author