Copyright ghananewss
“Wood already touched by fire is not hard to set alight.” – Akan proverb It is good to be recognised for our efforts. In actuality, it is so good we look forward to it. This is one of the objectives that inspires the surprising majority of us to give our best and more. Yet for all our efforts spent in our little corners cranking upwards and outwards to prove our competencies, the expected recognition often goes missing. Generally, it is the result of subtle everyday negligence. On a few occasions, it comes at the right time; but more often than not it delays, sometimes for a whole life time. And in rare cases, it comes after we have transitioned into the next life. There are more serious things to spend our time worrying about. That is what we tell ourselves when the issue of offering acknowledgements to others comes up. Whether by our own volition or societal manipulation, the surprising majorities of us do not see the need to offer little compliments to the little efforts of our peers, colleagues and loved ones. They are just little efforts and so familiarity brands them as inconsequential. It argues that it is so minimal that it inspires nothing, solves nothing, and teaches us nothing, and so it should not be something we should concern ourselves with for now. It can be done tomorrow. Every time we neglect our duty to offer that little recognition, we chip away a tiny bit of our own desire to give the best of ourselves to society. It is like turning a cold eye to a dying man’s plea for water. We might tell ourselves this analogy is harsh and unrealistic. Well, let us look at it from this view point. Every individual distills the best of him or herself and passes it on to society through their efforts and contributions. This is an exercise we have been engaged in from the very beginning, and this is what allows some of us to develop the boundless energies that make us appear talented and smart. And so every time, our little effort goes unnoticed, our capacity to invigorate diminishes. Little chippings of this would eventual drain us and leave us uncreative. We know this, because we at one point or another have experienced the difficult of waiting for acknowledgments and how its delay created an inexplicable agony in us. We know how it sheared our hearts and shivered our essences, yet we are slow in offering ours to others. We need to understand that every unacknowledged effort widens the chasm between what we are capable of creating and what we actually create. It is true that sometimes, we do not give the needed recognition because we do not view the individual or the group to be brilliant and talented. What we need to understand is that being a valuable part of society – giving your all and more – is not necessarily about how smart or talented you are, but about the hurdles one has to overcome in order to make their contribution, no matter how little. The ethos of today’s call is to jog us out of our comfort zone and to aim our collective attention and efforts in giving little acknowledgements in order to ensure humanity’s thrive. Giving little acknowledgements is one of the best models for making sense of the modern world. We are a bunch of little efforts connected together to create the big bang that would fill our senses with meaning and fulfillment. Knowing that we belong to, and play an essential part, and are acknowledged enlivens us and inspires us to make sure our efforts take root in life. We are too nice to get into arguments when the little efforts are not acknowledged; we simply grumble. But how can we expect others to do for us, what we do not do for the others. We feel the world owes us an appreciation and yet we do not feel responsible for creating the environment that would allow such appreciations to be cultured. The downside is not the loss of our sense of acknowledgments, but the way we are warping it and it is warping itself around us. Given what we know about the variability of our adaptabilities, our little failures of acknowledgements would eventually distort our sensibilities and mold us as unappreciative brutes. It is our duty to offer acknowledgments, no matter the quantum of the effort. The concept of huge comes from the notion of ‘littles’ bunched together. It is time to stop asking how the world has acknowledged our efforts, and start asking what we are acknowledging. It is time to spur the world onto greater heights. The ‘thumbs-up’ you give, the sincerity in your ‘thank you’ and ‘well done,’ and the conversations you start around the efforts of others can nurture and contribute to a ‘big bang’ of appreciation needed to spur our idealistic world. We have to tone down our concentration on ‘genius’ and ‘smart’ and ‘talent’ and focus more on increasing the acknowledgements and appreciations we give to the contributions of others. Post Views: 79
