The Sunday Mail
AFRICAN wisdom is usefully encapsulated in proverbs.
Consider these: “A short man is not a boy.” Height and manhood are not the same. A loss and being lost are not synonymous. Failing does not make you a failure. Gender and greatness are not the same. What is happening within many may not be what is happening without. The caterpillar is not a butterfly. Where you are is not where you are going. What you see is not always the total picture.
Refuse to let the narratives of defeat and despair be your story. Refuse to pack on negativity’s station and despair’s gates of doom.
Keep your hope alive and fight on. It is not always easy, but do not be at ease. Be too determined to let your enthusiasm be doused. The rewards of your efforts may not be apparent today, but that does not obliterate them.
The reservoirs of wisdom that you have built over the years can not be wasted in despair. Never use other people’s problems as evidence that opportunity is dead.
Names that you may not have heard of do not mean that someone is not great. Sometimes the familiar masks the profound and simplicity masks greatness. Size is always an opinion and not evidence of much else.
Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu was born on August 26, 1910 in Macedonia.
Small in stature, she was a towering global giant and institution of peace. She did not chose fame, but fame chose her and by the time she died, the whole world knew her, respected her, heard and held her in high esteem.
She did not seek to live with the rich, but she was rich in many more ways than money could enumerate.
She carried no gun, yet she was a fierce fighter for her chosen cause of the vulnerable, sick, unloved and poor.
The fighter within is always stronger than the threat without. Never let the well of passion inside you die. This lady went on to write some legendary and immortal words that reveal the power of the human spirit and why the fight within is more important that the threats without.
You definitely know Ms Bojaxhiu, albeit by her charitable moniker, although it has been a number of years since she passed on in September 1997.
In one of her inspired moments she said: “Life is an opportunity, benefit from it. Life is beauty, admire it. Life is a dream, realise it. Life is a challenge, meet it. Life is a duty, complete it. Life is a game, play it. Life is a promise, fulfil it. Life is sorrow, overcome it.
“Life is a song, sing it. Life is a struggle, accept it. Life is a tragedy, confront it. Life is an adventure, dare it. Life is luck, make it. Life is too precious, do not destroy it. Life is life, fight for it.”
These words are worth repeating a thousand times because they are not the words of a defeatist.
So who was this legendary and quotable Ms Bojaxhiu? It is non other than the Blessed Teresa of Calcutta commonly referred to as Mother Teresa.
Whatever the flavour of life is to you now, meet it as it is shaped and survive it.
Life is seasonal
Life has seasons, accept them with grace and survive them. Do not die in the winter of life or wither in your winds of your Harmattan. There are many strange vagaries of weather that only occur in select places on earth.
Whatever those are, people still inhabit those parts of the earth. Never assume that bad weather in your home town is a global blizzard. So it is with life. Never let the storms of your geographical location kill you.
Refuse to camp on your miseries and expect the whole world to understand you. It may snow in your corner but survive the snow and manage it.
Never let the good seasons lull you into thinking that the seasons will last forever. No season escapes its turn.
Outlive your challenges, outwork your threats and outdo your personal dreams. Keep hope alive. You are a fighter and a few body blows are a natural occurrence. Life is a contact sport. Getting bruised is not death.
Life is a book
Life is a book, flip through its pages, read, digest and understand it. Whatever chapter you find yourself on do not be stuck there.
If you do not like what you are experiencing open a new page and chapter. Everyday is a page, every experience is a plot in the drama of your life. Life with such boldness that your life will be worth reading.
If you are not happy with your current drama, change the scene or the plot into something more interesting. Never judge yourself too harshly or dismiss yourself too early. Do not write the afterword before the foreword.
Life is a buffet
Life is like a buffet table that is filled with a rich array of fare. What you eat and how much you eat depends on your appetite.
Eat as much as you like because it’s all yours to enjoy. You are not limited except by your own thoughts and hunger.
Never be satisfied with arriving at any station. Celebrate, but never relax. Keep reaching higher and for more.
There is always a higher station and a better place. If there was no higher place to desire and prepare for, what would be the need for a heaven?
Do not eat according to other people’s appetites, eat according to your own goals, vision and journey.
Life is a river
Life is a river, swim in it. It is not enough to watch other people play while you pine on the river bank. Jump into the river and get into the flow. Swim in the river but do not be carried away by the current.
Sometimes you must like fish swim against the current. While others are negative, you do not afford the luxury of negativity. While others are at ease, you not afford the luxury of waiting and expiring on the shelf of life.
As you swim, do not forget to dress for the times when the tide recedes. Many things happen in times of change and do not bank on what you can not control. When the tide recedes those swimming naked are exposed.
Life is not always easy, but it is possible. Whatever happen you can still laugh and smile. What looks difficult today will be easy tomorrow. What is big today, will be small tomorrow. What is scary today, will be tame tomorrow. So do not despair or be scared. If you can not play to win, play for time.
Choose to fight and stay in the ring. At times you may have to take one step back in order to achieve two ahead. Just keep the fight and fizz within your spirit.
Never let desperate circumstances rob you of your confidence or fight. When you are wrestling with a mad baboon you do not stop when you are tired and fed up. You stop when it is tired or no longer interested in fighting.
Like a seed you may have to lie in the ground as though you are dead, but do not lose your vigour. You may have to move slowly but do not grind to a halt. Keep dreaming and fighting.
Do not be afraid of taking small steps, just be afraid of standing still. Make adjustments if you must but do not throw in the towel when you are already wet.
Life is a journey
Life is a journey, enjoy the ride. Keep the destination in focus and keep your determination to reach it. Every journey has its vicissitudes but journeys still need to be made.
The most important journeys are those of vision and hope. Do not despair or let your disappointments drive you mad. Your delays are not your destinations. Your defeats are not your feats. The problems that dog you will not drown your enthusiasm.
The rocky road has its rich possibilities. Day break is coming, the morning is coming. Roads like this which have rodents, predators and vultures are dangerous but that should never stop you from travelling.
Milton Kamwendo is an international transformational and inspirational speaker, author and coach. He is a strategy and innovation consultant and leadership coach and can be reached at [email protected] and on WhatsApp number 0772422634
