We Belong to a Communal Whole Expressed in Bits.
There is nothing like being lonely on the way to the top. There is always multiple stories, a dual or triple help we received or gave at one point or the other. It might come in as a big or small act of kindness. I mean, it is always a great experience to know that we are all in this together. How much of the person you are is a product of the bold contacts you have made or are ready to make in your life. Therefore, it will be wrong to say “I am all enough in getting everything done”. Most times, what calls the shot is our ability to see through the potentials of others & identify how ours melt into theirs.
A hypothetical fable narrates this scenario well as it takes on the story of the tortoise & the dog being competitors in some animal clothing line. In the story, both the tortoise & the dog were young & successful businessmen who were known by all the animals in the animal kingdom. In fact, almost every animal had a clothing design by these two but suddenly, men invaded the animal kingdom through the exploration of the thick forests & this made a good number of animals migrate into denser areas. This migration had its toll on the businesses of these two & it became obvious that things weren’t going to be the same anymore because the humans were determined to down the trees & clean-up spaces for their new homes & architectural imaginations. So, both the tortoise & the dog began to strategize differently on how best to save their businesses.
For the first three months, both parties lost half of their investments & by the end of the seventh month; they barely existed because there was practically no animal to sell their products too. Most of the animals had taken to their heels to survive the depletion of the forests & also to find a secured habitat somewhere distanced. For nights, the tortoise plotted on how to get the humans to back off the animal kingdom but the more he did, the more they expanded their domination. The dog, on the other hand, was quick to see through the intentions of the humans. He tried so much to understudy the whys behind the encroachment, he took time to know what the strengths & weakness of the humans were & also he also began to quiz himself on how best he could be a solution to the humans which will, in turn, help him reach a partnership deal with them.
The humans, on their own part, were also scared of the wildness of the forest despite all the control they had amassed in a space of a few months. They became worried about how they could access water as well as foods within the forests. They kept watching every night & day for whatever spoils they could find still they didn’t find any to feed on. The dog, on discovering this need, one evening summoned the courage to visit the humans in their tent. He was so afraid & unsure of what his faith would be still, he walked into the tents & presented five of his best animal skins to them. He didn’t stop at that, he also told them how he could help them navigate their way to the five rivers in the animal kingdom as well as save them the stress of going to hunt for spoils by supplying them with his animal skins weekly. This action of the dog swept off the humans as they fell in love with him. They also agreed to partner with him & promised to keep him as a part of their family as long as he wanted.
On hearing this, the tortoise became bitter towards the dog stating that the dog had gone to sell the entire animal kingdom to the humans. He became furious with the dog & made attempts to kill him on several occasions just to be the one in the spotlight. For him, there was no need to reach an agreement with the humans; all they needed was to fight back. He did fight back with some group of animals but in the end, he lost his life & those of his allies. With the death of the tortoise, the dog’s clothing business blossom even more. He was no longer afraid of humans; he now has a business & an emotional relationship with them. For the migrated animals, he was able to assure them of their safety as he became the spokesman between the animal kingdom & the humans.
On a closer look, which of the business allegories represent you? Is it the tortoise or the dog? Do you belong to the group of persons that think that every war has to be fought in a stereotype fashion? Do you hold to the cliché that says “I alone must win this without partnering with anyone”? If yes, then I will refer you back to the fate of the tortoise. If only the tortoise could see through the challenges of the humans, if only he could spend time to study the whys behind their actions, if only he could identify their needs & committed himself to be a solution maybe, he would not have lost his life the way he did. These “if” questions can be related to your life goals, businesses, relationships, walk with God & everything that defines you as an ambitious individual.
In this space that we find ourselves, we are to constantly remind ourselves that we belong to a communal whole expressed in bits & until we begin to realize that everything & persons we come across in life are a part of the whole reality we need to access our innate greatness, we will continue to drop off at every vantage point. Please, make the choice today to spend more time identifying the bits & pieces of greatness attached to every challenge and person you are privileged to come across — we all make the whole.
