PERSONAL REFLECTIONS AND THE TALES OF LOVE

I have often found myself wondering loudly if I have done any justice to the society. Incidentally, this society has bred me, educated me, grown me and given me a sense of belonging. What have I done in return for such a great favor? J. F Kennedy once remarked,” Don’t ask what America can do for you, instead ask what you can do for America.” Every day, I walk in the shadow of these words reflecting keenly on what I can do to make the lives of others happy. As I have written before on this blog: friends and family is all we have after everything else is gone.

The golden days of beautiful and lovely family moments are no more. This is what we realize too late when the glow of our love is dimming. At such a time when we have advanced so much technologically, we ought to be more united and work together as a one people. The greatest act of love I can say is the abilities of us to work in unity amidst our diversities in religion, tribal, economic and educational backgrounds. Once we can tolerate our differences, we can learn the antics of success.

Three years ago, I walked into a hospital within Nairobi. I was not sick neither was I going to visit a sick kin. I had an intention of building my nation. When I introduced myself as a C.E.O of, let us call it company X, the secretaries looked amused. I informed them of my idea of doing business with the hospital for medical equipment supplies. They immediately referred me to the admin in charge. With my same introduction, the middle aged man remarked, “You can’t be a C.E.O at such a young age, I cannot trust you or even your products.” I detested back by asking why? He went ahead to say that my generation is a wit oriented one. I rested my case, looked at my beautiful suit and bit my lip. I felt dejected. I didn’t give up tough.

Personal 2
The journey has been though but because of love i keep going.

That is one among the rejections I have received in job interviews, investment pitches, auditions and even from women. What have I learned from them though? That is the most beautiful part of this piece. The best and tasty chunk of these reflections.

In as much as I had not learnt the art of small stuff then, I am glad I learnt to cope. The art of small stuff is a concept that encourages us to treat the trivial things and any other thing as just the small stuff. It has made me wiser with rejection.

Whenever I have felt rejected, I have looked at the one moment someone else showed me love. One time I auditioned for a character in a premier show with a leading media house, I didn’t get it. Then a few days later, a friend of mine told me how I could be a good actor; I realized that is all that I needed to hear, I had not failed. Another time, I presented some manuscript for publishing, and they were never published. A while later I shared my insight and a few works with a leading scholar within the region. He, in return remarked how great of a writer I could make. I have never looked back. I promised myself to write and write till I refined my skills. With his love, I do writing every single week.

Back to the C.E.O story of 2014. After I left the hospital, I received other rejections from a handful of potential clients until I thought to myself, “I am not a good entrepreneur or businessman.” Funny enough my friends thought of me as a good entrepreneur in making. I could later meet other great new friends who have believed in me to make a great entrepreneur. That is all I may have needed to be told. The love that could instigate in me a spark towards becoming the best I can in whatever I choose to pursue.

This is part of my story. Your story could resemble mine in one way or the other. The point however lies in the ability to draw the positive out of the negative. I believe deep inside you is that voice that tells you, “Yes you can,” as famously put by former US president Barack Obama. Don’t let it down. You take the word of that one person who shows you love and lets you know that indeed you can. The rest of the negative talk, turn it into a cheering squad. Sooner or later you’ll be there.

Copyright @ 2017

Geoffrey Ndege

Geoffrey Ndege

Geoffrey Ndege is the Editor and topical contributor for the Daily Focus. He writes in the areas of Science, Manufacturing, Technology, Innovation, Governance, Management and International Emerging Issues. For featuring, promotions or support, reach out to us at info@dailyfocus.co.ke
0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
1 Comment
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
trackback

[…] products for a business I owned back in the day and I received a series of rejections as I wrote here last year that ended up affecting my self-confidence. The biggest mistake I did was to allow doubt […]

1
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x