After what seemed like ages, I outdid myself and went to church last weekend. It was so splendid that I decided I will be going. The preacher was a talented and beautiful young girl blessed with an outstanding silky and resilient voice. She had a smooth cocoa skin and shiny hair.Well, other than that, I grasped her message, not merely being overwhelmed by her beauty only.   Her sermon was about cultivating the inner person (maybe soul or heart). She posed the following questions: "How can you lose your values, when you have been cultivating them for long, how can you forget your principals, when it’s all that defined who you are. It must be pretentious; because the two can’t be separated, it’s next to impossible. I equate this to fuel in a car. Principles and values held by a person define their nature and can never be taken away.” They were strong words that I would like everyone to think about. How unique is your nature that makes you stand out or have they been lost along the way? Think about it. Take away your physical presence and look deep down in your heart. Look beyond the jewelry that you put on, and designer clothes that define you in the presence of other people. Your job title, your corporate friends, your ipad 4 or whatever number it is, your high-tech home theater, and air conditioned car are not part of this soul-search, actually who are you without them? What is your nature? Does your nature have honor, moral fiber and sincerity as part of it? Now that is among the things that define you that can never be separated from you just like separating fuel from a car. Most people are trapped in the exterior appearance and situations that are just plain wrong. They have lost sight of their very nature. Where it is most pronounced is in relationships. In a desperate attempt to find and hold on to a person, too many people lose themselves. This was confirmed to me when reading one of the dailies from Uganda; a woman confessed that she knew within a year after marrying her husband five years ago that he was not the man for her. But the woman stuck around for reasons she can’t explain. This made me question her integrity and that of her friends. That one needs prayers because I believe she has been pretending to love her husband. Her nature is not at play here. Another lady I know appears to be happily married to a man who loves her and is rich. She says ‘he’s not faultless but he’s a good provider”. The problem she faces, his obsession with gambling though she doesn’t mind him gambling every once in a while and she happily goes with him (at his persistence) to Kampala’s nice casinos to indulge himself. That is where she draws the line when she’s asked to take to the tables. "I’ll pass,” she tells him. "No way, it’s not me.” It’s not her nature, though it is his.I don’t want to interfere in their personal lives, but I do understand her point. There’s no reason to be subjected to a vice that can be disastrous once she’s addicted to it. Maybe others would be glad to join so as to please their husbands. Not this lady. Her life is full and she knows her nature. No gambling. A friend recently resigned his good paying accounting job to pursue his passion for Music. He is currently recording his first song and he is not bad. His inner person came calling and he couldn’t resist anymore. His inner person had to be put into play.    My nature and passion is writing, and it’s much more than an 8am to 5pm job. I’ve been scribbling on any paper material as long as I can remember. It’s the only thing I ever want to do. It’s my thing. It can’t be separated from me. So, what’s your nature? What is your real inner person like? That said, US actor & comedian George Burns quote comes to mind "I’d rather be a failure at something I love than a success at something I hate”. Now, that’s real nature.