Th Winners Code

GEORGE CHINGARANDE | Monday July 26, 2010 00:00

Just as they were settling into their new life, fate tempted their resolve. A huge crocodile came and snatched the groom by the leg and pulled him into the shallow waters. The new bride watched in shock as the screaming and kicking husband wrestled with the crocodile. Then she sprang into action. Armed with an umbrella she launched her small body into the water, and attacked the crocodile ferociously with the umbrella; using the metallic point of the umbrella to poke the reptile's eyes. To the relief and joy of the small crowd of spectators, the crocodile let go of the bridegroom, who immediately dashed for the safety of the beach.

 In his eagerness to save his life, the man outsprinted his newly wed wife. As the crowd cheered the man on, the crocodile turned around and attacked the bride who was sauntering after the husband at a slower pace. This thrust the man into a paralysing dilemma.

On one hand was his undying love for the new bride, and on the other was his fear of the crocodile which had almost ended his life. Should he risk his life and join the wife in the water in her struggle against the crocodile, or should he play it safe and let the wife face the music alone?

His bleeding leg reminded him of the dangers posed by the crocodile, while the wife's frenzied screams for help goaded his conscience.  In the end he was too scared to rejoin the fight, and stood watching on the beach as the lady with the help of a few brave souls inflicted enough damage on the crocodile to force it to release her and retreat back into the water.  This story would be comedic, if only it were not true.

In a laboratory, a starving monkey saw bananas that the researchers had put in the room.  She immediately made a dash for the free meal. A few metres from the bananas the monkey stopped dead in her tracks.  Next to the bananas was an ugly snake. The monkey was torn between her need for the bananas and her fear of the snake.

Monkey fear of snakes is so legendary that stories of monkeys literally dying upon seeing snakes are not uncommon. The poor monkey in this experiment did not know that the snake next to the bananas was only a plastic replica. She failed to get her meal for fear of a non-existent threat. The monkey starved to death while waiting for the plastic snake to move away. It died while waiting for a new day and a new set of circumstances that never came.

To Get Something New You Have To Do Something NewThese two stories dramatise the theme of what we shall discuss in this installment. There are three critical words in this discussion-lead, brave and new. Most people out there desire something new in their lives because they are not content with the status quo, or because they know something better exists.

Many people are simply not happy with their economic, relational, spiritual, social and even physical state of being. They desire to move on but they do not know how. Hence, they wait for a new day.

Unfortunately, many live and die while waiting for a new day which never comes not realising that today is already a new day because it is unlike yesterday in every respect.

The primacy of human agency reigns supreme in the affairs of men. To have something new, you have got to do something that you have never done before. You cannot continue to do what you have always done and expect different results.  The circumstances of our lives begin to shift when we begin to engage in new and better thoughts and actions.

You cannot embrace a new dream and a new vision on the inside of you, and then remain stationary on the outside. You cannot make new friends, read new books, internalise new habits and remain stuck in the rut where you find yourself in.

You cannot find a new way to work or go to a new gym, and not meet some people that you have never met before. This is the point that has to be underlined- you cannot reach the next level in your life, career, business or relationship for as long as you remain locked in the routine that you are in.

To get the bananas the monkey must exorcise her fear of snakes. For you to move from where you are to where you desire to be you may have to talk to people that you have never talked to before; or enter into offices that you never dreamt entering or do something g that you have never been comfortable doing. The price for progress is not out of reach but it is also never a comfortable one to pay.

The Greatest Risk In Life Is To Risk Nothing To save her husband's life and later her own life, the bride had to overcome the crocodile.  She had to literally risk her life in order to save her bridegroom, unfortunately he was too timid to return the favour. Life rarely thrusts such paralysing and unforgiving dilemmas as the one this new couple faced, but invariably the battle for achievement of any kind requires that to get to the next level, one must risk something worthwhile.

Opportunity and security are mutually exclusive. Often you get one at the expense of the other. Winners seek out opportunities wherever they may be found; and they are often found hidden in risky adventures; whereas losers seek security which they often find in the safe shores of passivity and obscurity.

Often we retreat from opportunities because of perceived threats, however, acts of outrageous audacity often reveal to us that the threat was never real or at worst was disproportionate. Fortune favours the bold; timidity robs many.winningmantra@yahoo.com