Between Her Womb & Your Tomb

By Emmanuel Cisco

“The devil doesn’t have to steal anything from you; all he has to do is to make you take it for granted.” -Max Lucado
Before you read the next paragraph, let me assure you one thing: you’ll be a different person altogether if you read through this book and reach the page titled Conclusion. I’ve said this for two main reasons: the first reason is, because it is the book that contains the most important aspects of the most important subject in the world, Your Own Life; and the second reason, I’d like you find out and confirm it for yourself. Every chapter is loaded with inspirations that will get you directly on the path of success and significance. Regardless of your age or your condition, your color or your creed, your location or your occupation, this book will certainly provoke you to improve your personal and professional life in ways you haven’t imagined.
Maya Angelou (1928 – 2014), an American writer and actress, once made this profound statement:
"There were people who went to sleep last night, poor and rich and white and black, but they will never wake again.
And those dead folks would give anything at all for just five minutes of this weather or ten minutes of plowing.
So you watch yourself about complaining.”

Aren’t we all between wombs and tombs? We are. Right ahead of you lies your future, like a road leading into a long distance. It’s called the journey of life. But along this journey of life, there are obstacles to overcome and dreams to accomplish. When you look back (at your mother’s womb), you can’t even remember how it all started. When you look forward (at your tomb), you certainly cannot tell how it will all end. But in-between your mother’s womb and your tomb is your golden opportunity of Life. Yesterday is forever gone. Tomorrow might never come. But today is your life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Emmanuel Cisco
• Release date: Apr 26, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463528655

Emmanuel Cisco

While some parents in other parts of the world were helping their kids to get through basic school peacefully in the early 90’s, somewhere in Liberia his mother was helping him to jump over dead bodies and dodge bullets so that he could atleast stay alive. He spent his entire childhood running away from bombs and bullets. His father’s life and the Liberian civil war ended just about the same year. He narrowly escaped to Ghana alone while the civil conflict was still aborting lives and threatening dreams, and he spent a significant portion of his youthful years in the refugee camp. But inspite of his struggles and challenges, he graduated from one of the most prominent institutions of higher learning in Ghana, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), as the Best Student, BSc Economics (2013) as an Albert Einstein’s DAFI scholar. Today, not only is he the author of an international bestselling book, he is now a sought-after motivational speaker. He always reminds his audience, "If you haven't been through a MESS in life, no one will ever trust your MESSAGE." Cisco strongly believes that there are so many people in his generation who will not realize their true potential unless someone stands up to inspire, encourage and challenge them; and not only by words but by excellent example. Therefore, he has dedicated his life to being that example by pursuing his mission of HOPE – Helping Other People Excel.

Book preview

BETWEEN HER WOMB & YOUR TOMB EMMANUEL CISCO

Between Her Womb & Your Tomb

Copyright © 2015 Emmanuel Cisco

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.

Cover Design

MULTIPIXEL LIMITED

Accra

DEDICATION

To the two amazing ladies that have sandwiched my Opportunity of Life: Yancon Kaimah and Ceecee Cisco.

I love you so much.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A book is never written by an author unless it is first planted in his mind as seed by the Author of his life, the Almighty Creator. I thank God for His awesome grace. I’m also grateful to all the great leaders and writers (past and present) that have inspired me by their works.

I’m profoundly grateful to my friend, Solomon Tetteh Gberbie, and the rest of my Efforts Group Ghana (EGG) team members: Ernest Ransford Asare, Michael Kofi Forson and Yaw Ofori Badu. You guys have been the best A & B (Academic and Business) team members to work with.

If this book had a speaker, you would hear the applause. I’m applauding individuals and organizations that have added value to my Opportunity of Life. I can never mention them all, and if I attempt sharing how each of them has blessed my life, I would produce a new book. If you’ve played a major role in my life and this small page didn’t capture your name; I want you to know that your name is forever written on the tablet of my heart. I’m absolutely grateful to all those who have played a parental role in my life at a point, including: Mr. William Jerome, Rev. Augustus Z. Smucker, Rev. Joshua C. Newman, Mrs. Marylyn Duayenneh, Mrs. Esi Mensah, Mrs. Christabel Harvey-Ewusi, Mrs. Mallah Toe-Ross, Mrs. Odell Cole, Mrs. Katherine Gaye, and Claudia Eul.

And these young men who first helped me to discover my purpose: Rev. J.C. Mulbah, Rev. Natt E. Miller II, Dr. Yaw Perbi, and Joseph M.D. Johnson (my partner-in-progress). I’m also grateful to Alhaji Mohammed Lamin (my boss), Mr. Anselm Ezemson (for believing in me), John Benjamin Yanney (the designer of the excellent Cover and Nana Yaa Asantewaa the Inner Layout of this book).

I wish to salute all the young people who have placed so much demand on my potential, including: Esau Collins, Joyce Holmes, Siafa Draper, Andy Chea, Nahnsejay Mouwon, Andra Grant, Trokon Kanneh, Elikplim Medicine, Annice Nagba, Gustavus Boygeh, Thelma Geleplay, Togar Caesar, Zobada Vessilee, Elizabeth Asare, Emmanuel Gibson, Dave Newton, Majestu Pennue, Mohammed Sheriff, Joyce Amegunu, Pokolo Brown, Owusu Mainu, Christine Mumuni, Peter Nyenabo, Shadrack Mentowah, Asha Jerbo, Jeral Tamba, Augustine Williams, Esther Cole, Luportue Doe, Samuel K. Duodu, Jennifer Brown, Michael Johnson, Cecelia Zota, Norris Dogba, Jefferson Karr, Brenda Wreh, Sylvanus Sahn, Davidetta Togba, Henry Mah, Nick Wento, Augustine Sackie, Allen Mulbah, Clarence Thomas, Isaac K. Adusei, Fatu Kamara, Wilfred Zeon, Emmanuel Kortu, Aloysius Dickson, Philip Sumo, George Donkor, Gloria Zayzay, Randy Sekyi and Marvin and Augustine Yeahgar.

And my siblings: Gloria Cisco, Jerry Cisco, Oretha Cisco, Fedesco Cisco Tolbert, Anthony Teage, and Beatrice Cisco.

Let me thank the organizations that have directly and indirectly contributed to my Opportunity of Life in various ways: Youth Empowerment for Progress (YEP), Bethel-Ghana, Christian Council of Ghana (CCG), GIMPA, Action Chapel International (Mataheko/Afyienya), Legon Baptist Church, Agape New Testament, Light House Chapel, International Central Gospel Church (ICGC) (all in Ghana).

Thank you all for being part of this journey with me through your prayers, supports and encouragements.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dedication

Acknowledgements

PART I

POEM: Between Her Womb & Your Tomb

Introduction

What does ‘LIFE’ mean to you?

1. The 5 Secrets of a ‘GREAT’ Life

i. The God Factor

ii. The Relationship Factor

iii. The Excellence Factor

iv. The Abilities (Skills) Factor

v. The Time Factor

PART II

2. Life and the Power of Environment

3. Life and the Power of Experience

4. Life and the Power of Faith

5. Life and the Power of Values

6. Life and the Power of Choice

PART III

7. Life and the Power of Knowledge

8. Life and the Power of Thought

9. Life and the Power of Action

10. Life and the Power of Money

11. Life and the Power of Health

12. How I Slipped Through the Fingers of Death

Conclusion

Praises for the Book

Connect with Author

PART

I

Part I basically discusses the big picture of the Opportunity of Life and the five major factors of a ‘GREAT’ life.

BETWEEN HER WOMB & YOUR TOMB

There is always a first day and then, a final day.

And probably few thousands or so in between

Life is the best game ever in history, press ‘play’

In the game of life, it’s always your choice to lose or win.

You started out naked, helpless and ignorant

And you gurgled and giggled your way out of diapers into childhood.

As you grow, know that you’ve been DNA-coded to do something different

Sometimes Life may deal you a bad hand, but you’re to play it good.

See each day as a small-scale version of your entire life.

As the sun rises, you rise out of bed like you came out of the womb;

The night falls and you fall back in bed like you’ll fall into your tomb

And you abandon everything to sleep like you’ll do in afterlife.

Between your mom’s womb and your tomb lies your lifetime opportunity

Be grateful because someone out there just took their last breath.

They wish they could at least do more for their generation and posterity

But their Opportunity of Life has been taken away by Death.

Someday your womb-to-tomb journey shall also come to an end

And you’ll finally close your eyes and fall into that eternal sleep;

You’d look back on the opportunity of time you had on Earth to spend

And wonder as they lay you to rest, how many people have time to weep?

Today, your Opportunity of Life seems like a real open highway

And death might only seem like a millennium away;

The truth is, your days here on Earth are also numbered

So, do something great with your life to be remembered.

INTRODUCTION

"The devil doesn’t have to steal anything from you; all he has to do is to make you take it for granted." -Max Lucado

____________________________________________________________________

Before you read the next paragraph, let me assure you one thing: you’ll be a different person altogether if you read through this book and reach the page titled Conclusion. I’ve said this for two main reasons: the first reason is, because it is the book that contains the most important aspects of the most important subject in the world, Your Own Life; and the second reason, I’d like you find out and confirm it for yourself. Every chapter is loaded with inspirations that will get you directly on the path of success and significance. Regardless of your age or your condition, your color or your creed, your location or your occupation, this book will certainly provoke you to improve your personal and professional life in ways you haven’t imagined. Maya Angelou (1928 – 2014), an American writer and actress, once made this profound statement:

"There were people who went to sleep last night, poor and rich and white and black, but they will never wake again. And those dead folks would give anything at all for just five minutes of this weather or ten minutes of plowing. So you watch yourself about complaining."

Aren’t we all between wombs and tombs? We are. Right ahead of you lies your future, like a road leading into a long distance. It’s called the journey of life. But along this journey of life, there are obstacles to overcome and dreams to accomplish. When you look back (at your mother’s womb), you can’t even remember how it all started. When you look forward (at your tomb), you certainly cannot tell how it will all end. But in-between your mother’s womb and your tomb is your golden opportunity of Life. Yesterday is forever gone. Tomorrow might never come. But today is your life.

Kindly permit me to ask you this poignant question? To live long or to live well; which one would you rather prefer? It’s a tough question, right? Don’t worry, reading and applying the secrets contained in this book could allow you enjoy both. Life is a once-in-a-history opportunity, and as you know every opportunity has an expiry date. You didn’t ask for this opportunity, but it has already been given to you freely by an All-knowing God for a special reason. The devil doesn’t necessarily have to take away your Opportunity of Life from you through the evil instrument of death; all he has to do is to simply make you take it for granted. And sadly, that’s exactly what he has been doing to some people. He has made so many people to simply take their Opportunity of Life for granted.

Life can also be viewed as a busy airport (as Bishop T.D. Jakes has described it). Some people have reached their final destination, while others are just beginning their journeys and some are still on a layover (or transit) with many more miles to go still ahead of them. Some people’s flights have been delayed because of bad weather. We are all travelling through the various stages between wombs and tombs, we all are moving rapidly between birth and death. We all have different flight routes, flying on different airlines at various altitudes. We are all on different legs of our journey, with different schedules. Some are currently enjoying a smooth flight, some are experiencing turbulence in the air, some are being delayed at the airports, and some won’t take off now until flying conditions are improved. It might only seem like our departure times and places are different, even our estimated time of arrival at our destination may be different; however, the truth is, ultimately we all have one final destination - eternity. For reaching that destination, we all most certainly will. The only concern is whether the trip will be enjoyable or endurable. That is why God has placed this book in your hands to help you enjoy and not merely endure your flight.

I don’t know your age or the stage of your life trip currently, but what I know is that as long as you’re still between your mother’s womb and your tomb, this book is meant for you. It is a book on life that could put your name in the Book of Life. While you still have this Opportunity of Life in your hands, I just want to remind you that someone out there just took their last breath. Their flight has just landed at the final destination. They would give anything for just few hours of your Opportunity of Life, but God knows better. You have been given this Opportunity of Life because God knows that you are strong enough to live it. However, Life is far bigger than you think, my dear. It was an epiphany that made me realize life as an opportunity, when I slipped through the fingers of Death (an experience I’ve shared in this book).

This book brings all the major aspects of life together, including: the 5 key factors that determine a GREAT life: acknowledging God in the equation of success and significance, building fruitful Relationships with people, fuelling your dream with the spirit of Excellence, recognizing and utilizing your unique Abilities and talents to succeed, and appreciating your greatest asset of Time. It also contains the 10 most powerful elements of life that will inspire you to make your Opportunity of Life worth celebrating, namely: environment, experience, faith, values, choices, knowledge, thoughts, action, money and health.

God knows you cannot afford to be a burden to your generation; this is why He has put this book in your hands to make you a blessing to the world before leaving the stage of life. Your birth may have been normal, but this book will challenge you to let your death make history. Reflect on the words of General Douglas MacArthur, There is no security on this Earth. There is only opportunity.

Many people hardly think about life as an opportunity until they see people dying or when they hear about death. Life is the biggest and greatest opportunity a person has. But if you still doubt in your heart that life is an opportunity, go visit the mortuary. There you would realize that life is more than just a breath for the living. There’s a big difference between being alive and truly living, and this book will show you that difference. How you lead your life all depends on how you look at it. To put it matter-of-factly, Life is GOD (Greatest Opportunity Disguised). Therefore, before you die, learn how to live and lead a life worth celebrating!

WHAT DOES ‘LIFE’ MEAN TO YOU?

"You fall out of your mother's womb; you crawl across open country under fire, and drop into your grave." - Quentin Crisp

____________________________________________________________________

According to Science (man’s observation), your mother was born with about two billion eggs for fertilization purposes throughout her entire lifetime; but your father started generating billions of sperm cells from puberty. On that fateful day that you were conceived in the womb, only one of your father’s billions of sperm cells produced that day actually survived to fertilize just one of your mother’s billions of eggs and the result of that unique sperm-egg combination became YOU! That’s amazing, isn’t it? The interesting thing is: your parents never had the slightest idea of the actual outcome of their moment of fun.

However, according to Scripture (God’s affirmation), Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. (Jeremiah 1:5 NIV). Truth be told, God definitely and purposely formed you even before you were conceived in the womb. God is not a scientist to experiment with your life. He never guessed. Even Albert Einstein, one of the most intelligent scientists who have ever lived, confessed this truth, God doesn’t play dice. God is always sure about what He does. Thus, you were born out of fun but your mission here is to brighten the world like the sun.

One of the most astute 21st century diplomats, former UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair, aptly said, The meaning of life cannot be explained by Science.

What is Life? This was the simple question I once asked a group of young people during one of our weekly youth meetings at church. The answers were not too different from what I expected: Life is the breath we have that enables us to experience and feel things…Life is the ability to live… Life is the chance we have to do something before we die, etc. I was so inspired by what Life meant to those young people. I took the marker and graciously walked to the white board and wrote:

1929-1968

1914-2003

2000-2010

I turned around and stared at their stunned faces; I knew they desired and deserved an explanation for what I had written on the board. And I know you do too. Now, let me explain. When you visit any cemetery, you’d notice such inscriptions on various tombs, right? Each line clearly represents the combination of the year the person buried in that tomb or grave was born and the year he/she died. The first represents the year the person entered this world and the second indicates the year the person exited this world. For instance, for the first line above, the person was born in 1929 and died 1968; the last line says the person was born 2000 and died 2010. The interesting thing is that the two periods are always separated by a simple ‘dash’. This is it, what we call Life is simply that dash (-) between each of the two years for each person in the grave. Therefore, what we all know as life is just the period between birth and death; it’s the distance between your mother’s womb and your tomb.

Life is the journey a person travels from their cradle to their coffin. Life is the sum of all the moments you have to spend between your first day and your final day on Earth. Now, hear this: you could not decide which window or door (womb) you entered through into this world but you can somewhat decide which door (tomb) you exit through. In other words, you had no choice over how you were born; but you could choose how you would love to be buried. Some people entered this world as children of peasants, and they left as presidents.

The dash may appear so small when it is written on the tomb, but it represents a huge Opportunity of Life given to each of us by our Creator to do something worthwhile that will prepare us for eternity. When your dash is finally written in The Book of Life by the Author of Life, it will have the same length and thickness as everyone else’s. That dash symbolizes the only chance we have to create something we shall forever be remembered and celebrated for. This is why the Creator makes it clear in His Word that:

"The race [Life] is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all" (Ecclesiastes 9:11 NIV), Emphasis mine).

Life is all about time and chance. Irrespective of our color or creed, our location or occupation, we all have been blessed with 24 hours a day by the Creator as a divine opportunity to find and fulfil our purpose on this Earth. This is what Life means to our Creator: time and chance; the time and chance He has given you to solve the problems you were created to solve; the time and chance to live and prepare for the answer to the one question you’ll be asked in eternity. And that question is: what did you do with the Opportunity of Life I gave you?

The basic difference between the dead and the living is simply the difference between ‘COULD’ and ‘CAN’ as used in the English dictionary. The dead is referred to as ‘the late’ because they could have done something new or different but they have lost the chance to do so; it’s late. But right before the living is a whole world of possibilities; you can still think and do something new or different. It is your opportunity and this opportunity is called Life.

Can I ask you a question? What life really means to you? It has been said that, Nothing really has meaning except for the meaning we assign to it. To some people, life is a blessing; and to others, life is a burden. Your life can only be what it means to you. As you think about the meaning of your life, let me clarify something quickly: Life is not merely about your duration on Earth, it is about your donation to Humanity. Don’t worry about longevity (its length); concentrate on your legacy (its width and depth).

In my Microeconomics classes, I learned that ‘more is better’; if one is good, then two is better. It’s self-evident that some people in the world today prefer quantity to quality; they prefer volume to value. But truth be told, Life has more to do with quality than quantity; the value your life adds to the world is far more important than the volume of things it contains. Life is not about your consumption of the world’s goods and services at all; it has more to do with your contribution towards providing the world’s goods and services. It’s not about the bread you are consuming; it’s about the fruits you are producing. And most importantly, life is not about you, it is about humanity: your community, your country, your continent; the world at large, because when you are done and gone, they will still be here. Life is about glorifying God through your service to humanity.

You log on to Facebook and other social media platforms and see people posting the popular abbreviation ‘HBD’ on their friends’ walls on their birthdays. In my opinion, HBD is not just an abbreviation to express Happy BirthDay; I think it also poses an intriguing question: What’s Happening between your Birth and Death? In other words, "What are you doing with your Opportunity of Life now? Yesterday’s forever gone. Tomorrow may never come. Your Opportunity of Life is NOW. What are you doing with it? Think about it.

As I write this page, one particular story making the headlines in Ghana is all about the missing musician ‘Castro’ who had gone riding a jet ski with a female friend on the Volta lake. Most of the story is mainly about the popular musician who had won so many awards in his musical career and only a little or almost nothing is said about the girl. Probably, it’s because she had not done so much to get national attention before that fateful incidence. This incidence only reminds me of what a childhood friend told me when we were growing up in Firestone. The boy sternly told me one day, .If only my death news could be a headline on CNN or BBC, I think my soul would be happy. Can you imagine that? That’s how some people define fulfilment in life – when the world can mention your name. However, the truth of the matter is, the way you see your life now will determine how the world might discuss your death when you’re gone.

On Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s tomb, it is written: 1929 - 1968; on my grandfather’s grave, it is written: 1914 - 2003. Today, the whole world remembers Martin Luther King Jr., but almost all of my family members have even forgotten my grandfather so soon. They only remember my grandfather as the one who acquired the few parcels of land they are fighting over today.

So why is this huge discrepancy between the memories of Dr. King and my grandfather? The question is simple in nature but the answer is deep in essence: Contribution to Humanity! I don’t know the actual purpose of each of those two fine gentlemen who were given this golden Opportunity of Life, so I cannot judge who was more successful and fulfilled than the other. I don’t even have the right to do that, and no one has the right to judge them. My only point here is: When I typed Deysieh Kaimah (my grandfather’s name) and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Google Search separately; I got no results on my grandfather, but I got about 46,000,000 results (in 0.41 seconds) on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. alone.

Although Dr. King lived for only 39 years on this Earth, he is still remembered and discussed by more people than my grandfather who lived for about 89 years. Interestingly, today it is said that if Google can’t find you, then perhaps you don’t exist. Can you believe that?

Just a free advice: Don’t fight to put your name in Google Search engine and forget to put it in God’s Book of Life. Remember, Google Search is temporary, but God’s Book of Life is permanent. In fact, Google is not God to know everything! There’s only one All-knowing God, and it is not Google. Google has only been around since 1998 but God has been around before the beginning of time.

If only you really knew and believed Life is an opportunity, you would cherish it a little more. For most people, life seems like an open highway and death might seem like a millennium away but I hate to remind you: your days are numbered. It’s a hard truth, isn’t it? The average life span today is 25, 550 days. Compared to eternity, life is extremely short. It is temporary. The Holy Scripture says, Our days on Earth are as transient as a shadow (Job 8:9 NLT). It means we are only on a temporary assignment here. Life is such a priceless gift no one can recreate once it’s gone. Death only reveals two things to us: the ruthlessness of the grave and the true beauty of our great Opportunity of Life.

I want you to imagine the number line in Mathematics, where zero is indicated as the middle point of the line with neither a beginning nor an end. Any point to the left of point zero is negative; any point to the right is positive. Life is just like the number line. Everyone actually stepped on the stage of life through the curtains of birth right at Point Zero; not knowing where they are coming from or where they are going. At Point Zero, you knew nothing; you had nothing of your own, therefore, the world considered you as nobody. But Heaven and Earth eagerly watch to see how you utilize your golden Opportunity of Life.

This number line analogy depicts that life has more to do with direction rather than speed. It’s not how fast you are moving, but which way you are going. If you end up on the negative side, you’ll be condemned as a failure; if you end up on the positive side you’ll