Comp(l)e(ti)tion

Life is a Journey Not A Competition

These are words from a fave singer of mine, India.Arie in her song “A Beautiful Day”.

Taking records of activities at work today, it was evident how the good, the bad and the ugly can be seen even in the smallest of groups.

Three groups were assigned same task and competition was declared.

Now, so as not lag behind, one team neglected an important stage of the task, but covered a longer distance.

_Quantity at the expense of Quality._

A second team managed to finish two stages of the assigned task, but barely finished half of the last stage. He had previously neglected the final stage on other lots and so had to complete them before moving forward.

And finally, the third team, though the slowest, the most diligent. Completed all three stages of his task but lags behind the other two in Quantity.

Looking at this, I think first of all how we place value on things.

• We take pride in being the most populous black only nation. Quantity.
• Having the largest Village in West Africa. Quantity.
• Having the largest fishing settlement. Quantity

In our quest to achieve more, we neglect the structure and thus never have the Best of anything good.

I for one prefer quality.

A wise mentor once said and I quote,

_“In life, our goal is completion and not competition”_

Once we become part of a competition, cutting corners seems like the quickest option. In this, we forget that our individuality makes our paths unique. No one wants to live an unfulfilled life but it is near impossible to actually do this if we keep competing amongst our selves.

In everything you do, never lose sight of the fact that getting carried away with the rush of life can make you lose out on the many lessons, moments of insight.

Pace yourself, breath and achieve completion, despite the surrounding competition. You never know, they might just be completing their paths.

I do pray that as individuals, we come to this realisation and change our way of thinking. From us individuals, we’ll be sure to turn things around as a society.

Graces,

And don’t forget to keep being

The Answer Men Seek (TAMS)