We either express how great the year has been, or perhaps, lament about the harsh economic conditions, and how it might have had a negative impact on our businesses. Whatever the case (different strokes for different folks), we all hope for a productive and prosperous New Year.
Hence, we wish our loved ones (families and friends) good luck by at least saying something that'll 'boost' them up.
This reminds me of an article I read some years ago by the late Nigerian Educationist, Tai Solarin (1922-1994). The article was written in the 1960's, and yet very profound for that period (well, in this part of the world), I must admit.
I wonder how people of that era must have reacted to it. Personally (in my humble opinion), I saw wisdom in all he said. I couldn't help but marvel at the manner of man he was.
Perhaps you might have read the article, too. But for those who haven't, here you go [I'll leave you all to make your judgments]:
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| Tai Solarin |
MAY YOUR ROAD BE ROUGH
[Nigerian Tribune - January 1, 1964]
"I am not cursing you; I am only wishing you what I wish myself every year. I therefore repeat, may you have a hard time this year, may there be plenty of troubles for you this year. If you are not so sure of what you should say back, why not just say, same to you? I ask for no more.
Our successes are conditioned by the amount of risk we are ready to take. Earlier on today, I visited a local farmer about three miles from where I live. He could not have been more than 55, but he said he was already too old to farm vigorously. He still suffered, he said, from physical energy he dissipated as a farmer in his younger days. Around his hut were two pepper bushes and kokoyams were growing around him. There were snail shells which had given him meat; there must have been more around the banana trees I saw. He hardly ever went to town to buy things; he was self-sufficient. The car or the bus, the television or the telephone, the newspaper, Vietnam, or Red China were nothing to him. He had no ambitions whatsoever, he told me.
I am not so sure you are already envious of him, but were we all to revert to such a life, we would be practically driven back to cave dwelling. On the other hand, try to put yourself into the position of the Russian or American astronaut. Any moment now, the count 3-2-1 is going to go and you will be whirling round our earth at the speed of six miles per second. If you get so fired into the atmosphere and you forget what to do to ensure return to earth, one of the things that might happen to you is that you could become forever, a satellite, going round the earth until you die of starvation and even then, your dead body would continue the gyration!
The big fish is never caught in shallow waters. You have to go into the open sea for it. The biggest businessmen make decisions with lightning speed and carry them out with equal alacrity. They dare not delay or dally. Time would pass them by if they did. The biggest successes are preceded by the greatest heart burnings. You should read the stories of World War II bomber pilots. The Russian pilot, the German pilot, the American or the British pilot suffered exactly the same physical and mental tension the night before the raid on enemy territory. There were no alternative routes for those who most genuinely believed in victory for their side.
You cannot make omelettes without breaking eggs. Throughout the world, there is no gain without pain. Jawarharal Nehru has put it so well (I am paraphrasing him). He wants to see himself tossed into the aperture between the two horns of the bull. Being there, he determines he is going to win and therefore, such flight requires all his faculties.
When my sisters and I were young and we slept on our small mats round our mother, she always woke up at 6:00 a.m. for morning prayers on our behalf but always ended with something like this: May we not enter into dangers or get into any difficulties this day. It took me almost thirty years to dislodge the cankerworm in our mother's sentiments. I found, by hard experience, that all that is noble and laudable was to be achieved only through difficulties and trials and tears and dangers - there are no other roads.
If I were born into a royal family and should become a constitutional King. I am inclined to think I would go crazy. How could I, from day to day, go on smiling and nodding approval at somebody else's successes for a entire lifetime? When Edward VIII was a young sprightly Prince of Wales, he went to Canada and shook so many hands that his right arm nearly got pulled out of its socket. It went into a sling and he shook hands thenceforth with his left hand. It would appear he was trying his utmost to make a serious job out of downright sinecurism.
Life, if it is going to be abundant, must have plenty of hills and valleys. It must have plenty of sunshine and rough weather. It must be packed with days of danger and apprehension.
When I walk into the dry but certainly cool air of every January 1st, I wish myself plenty of tears and laughter, plenty of happiness and unhappiness, plenty of failure and success, plenty of abuse and praise. It is impossible to win ultimately without a rich measure of intermixture in such a menu. Life would be worthless without the lot.
We do not achieve much in this country because we are all so scared of taking risk. We all want the smooth and well-paved roads. The reason the Americans and others succeeded so well is that they took such great risks. If therefore you are out in the New Year to win any target set for yourself, please accept my prayers as your elixir.
May your road be rough!"
- Tai Solarin
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What a nice article. Keep it up!
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