BLACK COCKTALE

by  Tit'Oluwa Hadassah Olumideko

I see them a lot.
Seemingly nice relationship with the husband. Respectful children. A thriving business. A good fellowship with God.
But a dirty house! A disorganised office. Plate stacked up in the kitchen. Floors not swept. Bedroom not in order (not only rough, dirty!)
Roaches, rats and the sorts!
I have tried to see how these things add up! It doesn't.
I'm not talking wealth but even if it is about wealth, these people are above average!
Be clean! The men like a well looking home. They just might not say it. It does not cost much.
Sweep, mop, dust, clean, arrange! A clean house, a clean office, bright looking clothes. We can do this, women! Just in case you can't, hire a housekeeper! Just make sure the house is presentable.
Be clean!

“Leadership is not a popularity contest; it’s about leaving your ego at the door. The name of the game is to lead without a title”-Robin S. Sharma
If you know a man, who forgot he was nothing but a ‘puny toddler’ until he staggered accidentally into the circus of power. If you know any man, who got carried away that he was once ‘the little end of nothing whittled to a point’, until he mistakenly stumbled on the wings of authority. In his hollow of forgetfulness, he decided to fuel his ignorance and pseudo power with the deadly sin of superiority that reeks of conceit and arrogance-ego. I once met such a man; he needed a reminder that he is diseased and I said to him: ‘I  can help you…I will treat you’, but he wasn’t willing to be treated; of course, I am no doctor but I didn’t have to be one to know that he is afflicted with one of the world’s deadliest syndromes!

“If your ego starts out, “I’m important, I’m big, I ‘m special,” you're in for some disappointments, when you look around at what we’ve discovered about the universe. No, you are not big. No, you’re not. You’re small in time and space. And you have this frail vessel called the human body that’s limited on earth”.-Neil deGrasse Tyson.
It is sad that, time and time again does the pride of man in power influence his very own fall. While denying it, such a man gradually starts to believe that he is the authority or that he possesses great moral dominion over others. He deceives himself, thinking he can disrespect and treat anyone according to his convenience in the name of power. He knows not when to speak and when not to. By that point, he loses steam; in result, he falsely begins trying to prove that unwarranted dominion by seizing the role of a condemner.

His status is similar to a naive pauper who has never known wealth and on stubbing his toe upon it; he squandered it all, carelessly forgetting that he will become a naïve pauper once again. Worse still, he feigns
knowledge when he knows nothing. Ignorance may not need immediate attention but when you don’t know and you don’t know that you don’t know, that, requires immediate attention with a red light signaling ‘emergency’. Bear grylls once said “A man’s pride can be his downfall and he needs to learn when to turn to others for support and guidance”.

You see, a man in this state keeps fooling himself thinking that he has power, but he will find out that the power he has is limited to times when things are going well. Once things start going poorly, they will see how powerless they truly are- their pride has kept them from seeing aspects of their lives that they need to work on, it has kept them from seeing gaps in their knowledge and ability. How sad!
Humility is the opposite of pride, and the humble man in a position of power will have a good vision of just where he stands in the world. Even when he doesn’t know, he will be willing to learn with humility. He will never be carried away and as such he will lead neither muddled with power nor blinded by pride or ego. That, my audience, is a man of pure power, real leadership, distinct honor and undefiled dignity. My kind of man!*winks*