The Sunday Mail
Brian Ngosi
A time will always come when you find yourself obliged to make a choice between two sides, a choice which can only be made through wisdom.
There is wisdom in realising that your opponent is not your enemy.
Across all spheres of life, people are exposed to competition. Soccer, politics and religion has seen fierce competition. Supporting a different team does not mean the other person an enemy. The teams are actually all important. The first and last team all make up a league so as to have a league champion at the end of the season.
In the same vein, supporting different political parties should not create enemies. We should be proud and invest in diversity. Each political party has what it offers, that cannot be underestimated. The world over, there are various political parties in any country, Zimbabwe is no exception.
Peaceful co-existence by appreciating competition over enmity fosters the spirit of ubuntu ,which protects society not only in the pre and post election period, but over our lifetime. It is the best heritage that can be passed over between generations is love.
As a person, make a choice to learn from the other person. You can build better ideas and improve your strategies by keeping pace with your fellows. Life is about how you interact with others.
As an individual, you don’t exist in a vacuum. You cannot have all the answers to your problems, neither can your spread yourself to be everywhere you may be needed. In the world of work, up the ladder positions get fewer people yet the whole department wishes to be promoted one day.
Surely you don’t make enemies but continue to learn from your workmates and eye the prize. It is from the same team spirit that one will raise to the top and celebrations and congratulations will be in order from everyone in the department.
Your reflection is in your competition from which you perfect your personal skills. It’s unimaginable to think that a corporate holds departments in enemies and not in competition. The competition in this regard does not cross the line to become devious but works for the greater good of the whole organisation in achieving set goals.
There is a lot to learn from the modern day business set-up. Businesses of the same nature find themselves in the same locality, it is good for competition. Shopping malls are fast becoming fashionable. Supermarkets can be in the same street, across each other or in a shopping mall. People buy according to their preferences and potentially all shops post profits.
Marketing skills are sharpened in the face of competition and promotions have become the order of the day. Innovation is refined in the face of competition and all brands make immense contributions to needs of various clientele.
Always remember life has a fair share for everyone, hence there is no need to be greedy. Hate speech only exposes your shallow appreciation of competition. The loser in any competition can be the greatest winner if they accept that there is always a next time and they need to be better prepared for it.
Be a good winner and win with humility. If you find yourself or your team on the losing end, bow with pride and you might emerge stronger in the next round. If there is no competition there won’t be a winner, you can’t run alone and call it a race, you actually need competition in your life.
Competition remains an integral part of society. Coming up tops legitimise you position and inspires others. If you allow competition over enmity, you will afford society the much needed peace.
The race is meant to be run with others, don’t spoil the spirit by creating enemies. After all, every season comes to pass, and life has to go on. The best investment now and forever is to appreciate that there are no enemies in life but competitors with whom you work with for the greater good of society.
[email protected], Facebook #BN_inspired 2018
