Douglas Melloch, the poet, wrote an inspiring poem which has the following lines:
Motivation: STEVE NYAMBE
If you can’t be a pine on top of the hill.
Be a scrub in the valley — but be.
The best little scrub by the side of the hill
Be a bush, if you can’t be a tree.
You can’t be everything, but you can be something. You can’t win all your games, but being in the arena when the match is being played normally helps.
The story of a thirsty young man
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There is as story of a certain young man. It is said he became thirsty, but he not could find water to quench his thirst.
Thus he went and sat under a huge tree to take a bit of rest. Obviously he expected nothing from that tree.
Suddenly drops of water started falling from the tree. They were falling at a gradual pace. Because he was thirsty, he picked a small container that he found near him. The intention was to collect these drops. Once they accumulated he hoped to drink as water.
When the container was half full, a bird flew over him and hit it and it fell, spilling the “water”, He became numb and hopeless.
The young man was devastated. However, he did not lose heart. He picked the empty container to collect the “water” again.
Don’t be quick to throw in the towel
“Try, try, try again if you don’t succeed, try again,” goes the kindergarten slogan. It may be for the infants, but it works for everyone. It may be an old adage, but is still powerful in this era.
However, as soon as the container was almost half full again that bird came and repeated the disappointing act. This happened for about three times.
This did not go well with the young man. It really disturbed him. It seemed as if the bird had harvested all his efforts. Surely it was devastating. He thought that his success had been brought to nothing.
While still seated, it was then during this time, that he raised his head. He was shocked by what he saw.
What he had thought to be water was actually poison. It was poison that was dripping from a gigantic snake that was in that tree. This snake was coiled around the upper branch of that tree. This is when it dawned on him that this seemingly cruel bird had saved his life.
His life had been taken out of danger because of this bird. The bird had been used to save his precious life. Really? True. Yes, indeed. But where was the bird now?
Earlier on he had become angry and picked a stone and killed it. This was so because it was disturbing him from getting the “water” he had patiently waited for.
No matter how bad things may seem to be, even the things that may befall you, they are not meant to kill you. There are there for a purpose. Nothing happens without a real intent.
The Holy Bible says: “All things work together for good for all who love the Lord.” Heartbreaks are not meant to break your heart. They just break your negative perception. They strengthen you.
Dale Carnagie, the human relations expert, once said: “I have the following words posted on my bathroom mirror and I read them every morning: ‘I had the blues because I had no shoes, until upon the street, I met a man who had no shoes’.”
The blues you may have because of the lack of shoes need not to take much of your time. Nothing in your life happens without real intent.
“In all things, yet consider that the Heavens do rule,” thunders a certain Christian song.
Steve Nyambe is a motivational speaker and a leadership coach. He can be contacted on +263 784 583 761 or his email: [email protected]
