When Chonga lost his job abruptly after he was laid off as a clerk, he
became a sculptor out of necessity. The first days were the most painful
— the embarrassment of cutting stones, not to mention the painful
blisters I got since my hands were not used to such difficult work.
ILLUSTRATION | NATION
When Chonga lost his job abruptly after he was laid off as a
clerk, he became a sculptor out of necessity. Eventually, he became the
most successful sculptor in the region.
When
his friend Robert remarked that Chonga was very lucky, the latter
smiled and answered: “Luck has nothing to do with it. I trained as a
clerk.
For five years, I worked for a clearing and forwarding company but got laid off quite unexpectedly. What options did I have?
“I
came back home and realised that I had to do something because I had a
family to take care of. I got casual jobs as a stone-cutter to begin
with.
My first days were the most
painful — the embarrassment of cutting stones, not to mention the
painful blisters I got since my hands were not used to such difficult
work.
GREAT HARVEST
“When I accepted that this had become my new way of life, the embarrassment melted away. The painful blisters eventually healed.
What
you may call my lucky break came when a certain sculptor approached me
for an apprenticeship because he had a huge order and needed someone who
had some experience with stone-cutting. The pay was little but I learnt
a lot.”
Chonga continued: “I was once told a story of two farmers.
One
of them planted beans and harvested several sacks. He would look at his
neighbour’s land and scorn him for wasting his land on useless things
because the neighbour had planted bamboo grass on his land.
“For a long time, all one could see were the bamboo shoots sticking out of the ground without much promise.
“The
bean farmer kept scoffing at his neighbour, who faithfully watered his
bamboo shoots. Then one morning, something wonderful began to happen.
All the bamboo shoots began to grow. Soon, the seemingly bare land was
heavy with bamboo plants.
“It dawned
on the bean farmer that while he was scoffing at his neighbour for
wasting his time watering useless shoots, the bamboo plants were busy
spreading their roots far and wide, looking for water.
“Even
when the drought came, the bamboo farmer still had a great harvest. His
shoots had deep roots, unlike his neighbour whose beans dried out in
the first weeks of the drought.”
Robert
mulled on his friend’s words, then said: “James Allen, in his timeless
classic, As a Man Thinketh, remarks that most people are not aware of
the struggles that successful men and women endure before they become
successful, which is why most people think that prosperous people are
just lucky or favoured.
LEAP TO FREEDOM
“The
truth is that what most people see are the results of years of
sacrifice and hard work. Successful people always bounce back, whatever
the circumstances.”
Whether you think you will succeed or not, you are right. Your thoughts determine how you respond to any situation.
The
only thing that stands between you and greatness is your perception of
your current situation. Your thoughts, whether positive or negative,
control your actions.
You might have
heard the story of the donkey that had grown old and tired. Its owner
decided to throw it into a dry well and bury it alive.
Once the donkey was in the well, the owner started covering it with soil.
The
donkey shook the soil and stepped on it. Since the owner could not see
what was happening, he kept the soil coming and the donkey kept shaking
it off and stepping on it. The donkey used what was meant to bury him to
rise to the top.
Eventually the donkey leapt out to freedom.
Our
circumstances are only half the story. The other half is how we
respond. We make our choices, and then our choices make us. You almost
always have options, whatever your circumstances. Don’t make excuses,
make history!
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