“Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom.
BY STEVE NYAMBE
“It is the result of long and patient effort in self-control.
“Its presence is an indication of ripe and experience and of more than ordinary knowledge of laws and operation of thought,” noted James Allen in his book, As a man thinketh.
Calmness is not an equivalence of ignorance. It is not a sign of weakness, but a degree of maturity and greatness.
Greatness does not mean being great in the sight of man.
It doesn’t mean conquering the whole world.
It means conquering yourself first.
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“Your circumstances maybe uncongenial, but they shall not remain so if you only perceive an ideal and strive to reach it.
“You can’t travel within and stand still without.
“Before a man can achieve anything, even in worldly things, he must lift his thoughts above slavish animal indulgence,” continued James.
Lift your thoughts and join hands with other team members, you will be surprised by the outcome. Alone, you may he defeated, but together we can.
The story of an anthropologist
A story is told of an anthropologist, who proposed a game to a group of children of a certain tribe. As he prepared his game, he asked them to gather around.
The children did as they had been told.
He then placed a basket full of sweets at the centre, so all the children were positioned 100 metres from the “golden basket”.
When all the children were quiet and ready, he said to them: “Whoever will be the first to reach where the sweets are would get all the sweets in the baskets.”
When he said this, he expected enthusiasm, as the children competed amongst themselves.
All the children were asked to prepare for the race, which promised to be an exciting exercise.
“On your mark, get set, ready go,” he said, expecting the children to rush to the centre.
However, this did not happen and there was something else in store for him.
Remember, “selfishness is not living as one wishes to live. It is asking others to live as one wishes to”, observed Oscar Wilde.
What did they do?
Do you know what they did? They held each other’s hands in a clear sense of brotherhood and ran together towards the basket.
When they got there, they took the sweets and shared them equally.
Surprised by this, the anthropologist asked them why they had acted like that, as this was not what he expected.
They all shouted “Ubuntu”.
“Ubuntu” — I am because we are
By this, they questioned how one can be happy when others are sad?
This is what is lacking in our families, institutions and everywhere — Ubuntu.
Ubuntu philosophically means: “l am because we are.”
Thus, we need each other.
Yes, you need others in your life, as you cannot make it on your own.
You can produce good results as an individual — that’s fabulous, but as a team, you can do much better.
The Japanese story: What corporates can learn
Some corporates have realised this and it’s paying good dividends for them.
In a research on team building, which was carried out by Alexander Hamilton Institute in Japan, it was noted that: “Companies worldwide are getting in on the team building revolution.” The amazing results of teamwork
The report says: “In Japan, the electronics company Hitachi introduced team problem-solving in one of its plants.
“The approach was so successful that during a six-month period, workers came up with 112 000 suggested work and quality improvements.”
Lessons from America
More than 1 000 companies in the United States of America have committed themselves to some aspect of the team building concept.
“In a department at electronic pioneer, Hewlett-Packard, the team strategy
actually doubled productivity in three weeks.
“Why learn from your mistakes when you can learn from others?” queried Andy Andrews, author of the New York Times bestseller The Traveller’s Gift.
Avoid reinventing the wheel and learn from others.
Don’t the scriptures say: “Are two not better than one?”
Why not take advise from Dorothy Carnage, the former president of Dale Carnage and Associates, who said: “You already possess hidden assets within yourself that can make your life glorious.”
So, if a single person possesses such power as observed by Carnage, what will then happen if we have a team made up of people with such skills combined together? It can be done. Be blessed.
