A pen is not just a pen. For starters, that cheap simple piece of plastic that folds to your will when you want to say something is just not a tool to write words. It is a symbol for knowledge, the power of the written word, and is a gateway to a whole new world. So you can understand my ire when I go to the bank and nobody feels like they need to carry one along. When a child learns to scribble a zigzag line on a piece of paper for the first time, you can see the excitement that light’s up its face. That moment is perhaps like the first time one takes a step unaided or the first day at school. Education and the use of a pen is almost one and same thing. Literacy is actually the ability to read and write. So in a way civilization has a lot to do with the might of the pen. Through it, scientific and mathematical mysteries have been resolved, classic fiction has come into being; historical records have remained for posterity. The pen apparently is apparently not just a pen. It may cost next to nothing but it comes with lots and lots of potential. For professionals and business people, a pen is can write a cheque, keep records which cannot be necessarily entered with the use of a computer immediately. So it is quite embarrassing that when you go to the bank, the whole queue depends on your pen, a simple habit that demonstrates how unserious individuals consider planning in their own personal lives, and saving time by doing simple things like carrying a pen a around. More importantly, however, our brains are constantly generating ideas which we need to harness in our day to day lives. In most motivational lessons, one way in which people are encouraged to reach their ambitions in life is to choose a specific and achievable goal and set a logical path towards that goal. This does not mean that by the time one sets that goal, the details of that path instantly become clear in their mind. Instead when one focuses on something, the brain subconsciously throws hints and ideas of how one can achieve his goal. And that is where a pen comes in handy. This random generation of ideas comes in the most unexpected places and times and may not reveal itself in any logical way. So it is important for any ambitious person worth their salt to carry with them a small notebook in which such random ideas are recorded and are referred to later, or will otherwise disappear from the conscious the way they came. Those who are savvy with gadgets will fancy a digital notebook, a hi-tech mobile phone in which one can literally make notes. But nothing beats the old fashioned pen and paper. The beautiful thing is that almost anybody who can write can afford to use this method to incubate their own ideas for life and make something out of their lives. They say the pen is mightier than the sword. So please carry it along next time you step out. Have an ambitious Sunday. kelviod@yahoo.com
