The truth is that pain, fear and even the comfort of the present will
always offer suggestions for an easier way but only those who have said
yes to get to the top will have the capacity to say no to these
suggestions. PHOTO | FILE
AFP
Last week I wrote about the power to say No
and I got so many emails pouring in to me in the course of the week
about the article and I realised it is really a big problem. People do
have a challenge saying no.
I
stated that I am able to say no only because I have said yes to
something else. I am able to say no to hanging out on a Friday night
with friends only because I have said yes to spending time with my
family. When the yes is strong enough the no becomes easy enough. The
problem is that we are not saying strong enough yeses and so we also
cannot say strong Nos.
The person who
dabbles into corruption did so and was not able to say no because they
did not say yes to an unblemished legacy. They did not say yes to being
able to hold their head upright anyplace, anytime. The Nigerian
president Buhari once said that he had never taken a shilling from the
public coffers when he was a military head of state or minister in
charge of petroleum.
He dared other
past Nigerian leaders to come out and say the same thing and of course
no one came out. Now compare his story with the allegations now levelled
against the immediate past petroleum minister. It is said that she
offered the Buhari administration a refund of two hundred and fifty
million dollars in exchange for immunity from prosecution.
Of
course her offer was rejected because she is alleged to have made away
with a few billion dollars. Why wasn’t such a person able to say no?
Because they had not said yes to lifting their heads up in their old
age.
UHURU PEAK
You
need to define your yes very clearly or you will struggle with saying
no. Some friends of mine from the Rotary Club of Nairobi East recently
embarked on an adventure to the top of Africa. They initiated a charity
climb of Mount Kilimanjaro.
Their
stories have inspired me so much and I think all Kenya should hear them.
The team included the young, the middle aged, corporate executives,
the sixty year old Chairman of a multinational and a seventy five year
old man – all headed to the top of Africa.
When
I asked what kept them going for four days till they got to the Uhuru
peak, I learnt that it was all about the yes they had said. They had
said a yes to getting to the top come what may and so they were able to
say no to the suggestions made by their pain or their fears. The truth
is that pain, fear and even the comfort of the present will always offer
suggestions for an easier way but only those who have said yes to get
to the top will have the capacity to say no to these suggestions.
There
was the story of a gentleman who was commissioned to take his company’s
flag to Uhuru peak. He however got very sick and collapsed on the way
and the rest of the team decided it would be better for them to go on
without him.
When he came round he
asked where his colleagues were and when he was told that they had gone
on, he got up and continued. He said he had been given a task to put the
flag at the peak and he had said yes to it so he had to go! Off he went
with his guides helping him and finally this man who had been very sick
and who had collapsed earlier on made it with pride and dignity to the
top.
Friends, what determines where
you get to is not the obstacle on the way, it is not the height of the
mountain or the difficulties involved in getting there. What determines
where you get to is the strength of your yes. Your attitude will
determine your altitude.
This is true
for climbing Kilimanjaro and it is true for climbing the ladder of
success. Only those bold enough to say a resounding yes in the face of
the obstacles will ever be able to say an equally resounding no to the
suggestions made by pain, fear and the comfort of the present. What say
you today?
To be continued….
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