#BeInspired Mondays: The Mannequin Challenge

Hey Guys! IK Nwosu here! This column, as the name goes is meant to inspire and encourage you to strive towards achieving your personal goals everyday. I just want to share pearls picked up in the journey of life.

**

A couple of months ago, social media was awash with the #MannequinChallenge; almost every individual (on social media) got involved whether by watching or participating. Companies were not left out too as some of them got in on the trend.

I participated in some myself. They reminded me of the “Change your style… be like that” game we used to play as children.

The game allows you to “change your style” for a while. Some people danced, others somersaulted, the fearful ones kept moving slowly from left to right. Once the “be like that” instruction comes, you must remain in your position, until the order to change your style comes again.

I’ll say I watched almost all the top videos in that challenge. I remember how one elderly woman was shaking with a cup of water in her hand as she tried to remain still. She was shaking so much that the water was splashing all over the kitchen. I wondered how the person recording kept his/her calm and completed the video. I kept asking: “mama why did you choose that position?”. Even for a youth, that is a difficult position.

It was all fun and games until a friend of my shared a thought-provoking article on Facebook. Mannequins wear the most beautiful of clothes, jewelry and shoes but are only as important as a prospect/customer’s desire for the clothes/accessories on them.

Mannequins look better than many people but are inanimate – cannot move, talk, think or act.

The question we must constantly ask ourselves is whether our lives have been participating in the “Mannequin Challenge” prior, during, and after the trend.

We should be careful not to sacrifice our personal fulfillment on the altar of looking like a mannequin. We shouldn’t be carried away by looking pleasing to the eyes – although that is very important. Clothes are important, automobiles are a necessity, jewelry and well-built body are needed, but your progress should be bigger than them all. That being said, looking good and making progress are not mutually exclusive.

This article is less about how we look and more about being self evaluation on whether one is making progress.

You cannot afford to be stuck while living in the idea that you are moving forward. Motion/movement is NOT equal to progress. Activity is NOT equal to achievement.

We should learn not to be carried away.

Alvin Toffler, the late American writer, sociologist and futurist wrote: The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.

Photo Credit: Sergio Hayashi | Dreamstime.com