A world without envy and strife

Few weeks ago, I was in Abuja for a national assignment. Whenever I went for an official or professional assignment, it was customary for me not to share a room with anyone – I needed all the space and comfort possible. So I was eventually checked into a hotel room. The room was spacious and beautiful, and the bed was massive and wide. That was exactly the type of comfort I needed, so, I was psychologically good to go.

                                                                            

One fateful night, I was weak and I knew I needed some sleep. Unfortunately for me, sleep was a luxury I couldn't afford. I switched from one position to another in a bid to find sleep, but my frustration got worse. I eventually made up my mind to be calm and sleep whenever possible. Suddenly, I noticed that I occupied a small corner of the bed. The space left could comfortably accommodate three more macho men – to say the least. I was disappointed at myself, how can I have all this space and just occupy a smaller section? I immediately switched to the centre of the bed, and I looked even smaller. My chagrin triggered thoughts on three realities:

1. The bed was actually too big to be filled by me alone.
2. I could actually share a bed with one more person and sleep as comfortably as I would if I slept alone.
3. Having a large bed all to myself doesn't increase me, at best, it isolates me and incurs avoidable expenses.

Lost in introspection, I compared the large bed to the world and my personal crisis to the conflicts of men. I discovered that the envy, tension and strife in this capitalist world is attributable to the following subconscious deceptions:

1. We fight because we feel threatened by the successes of others.
2. Unhealthy competitions exist because we believe resources are so scarce that you have to fight or suppress others to succeed.
3. Sharing our opportunities with people cripples the little edge we might have over them.
4. The way to be so rich and influential is to frustrate possible competitors.
5. It’s possible to have all the wealth on earth if no other person competed for it.
6. We don’t help others because we would rather be in charge than share the attention etc.

In our world for example, old professors do all they can to frustrate younger academics who aspire to become professors, consultants frustrate resident doctors, resident doctors frustrate other medical personnel in the hospital, huge businesses take advantage of the coercion of state to frustrate new businesses, lecturers want few or no students graduating with first class, church leaders transfer prospective leaders to the most frustrating terrains, course-mates avoid opportunities to teach their colleagues, entertainers sponsor false rumours against their competitors, the old do all they can to frustrate the young, mentors demand everlasting subservience from protégées, Preachers bastardize other churches on their pulpit, xenophobia is on exacerbation, nations fight tariff wars, religions are at war etc.  

Have you noticed that billionaires like Bill Gate, Warren Buffet, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg are more of friends than competitors when it comes to their social interaction? Have you noticed that their closeness doesn't stop either of them from getting wealthier, wiser or more influential? Have you noticed that the most successful men prefer networking to isolation?

Hey, listen!

1. The world is big enough to accommodate everybody, and you are too small to accommodate the world alone.
2. Nobody is your problem, you are your own problem. Witchcraft exists because people would rather blame others than themselves.
3. Helping people won’t reduce you, it will strengthen and make you wiser.
4. You don’t have to suppress others to achieve success, you just have to be good enough.
5. Networking will do more for you than isolation.
6. You will die and leave all your wealth and accomplishments for others, so the strife isn't worth it.
7. The energy you waste plotting someone’s downfall can be converted to yield maximum utility to society.

 

Face it, whether you like it or not, the young shall grow, the poor will get rich, the young will get old, the fashionable will soon become outdated and YOU WILL NOT REMAIN THE BEST FOREVER. The true measure of greatness is not in your self-aggrandising accomplishments, but in your ability to accommodate and help others.

 

You don’t need anybody eliminated for you to succeed. We can all become the best of ourselves, we can all be happy and we can all co-exist. Most competitions are unnecessary. THE WORLD IS TOO BIG TO BE FOUGHT FOR. If we all have this understanding, envy and strife will be no more.

Ezeme Kingsley C.

kingynelsy@gmai.com