First Gentleman with Wilson Orhiunu
Email: babawill2000@gmail.com Twitter: @Babawilly
Some small things have great power. The cells that generate the electrical impulses that stimulate a heartbeat are prime examples. These are cells so small you would need a microscope to view them. The microbiologist is at home with this idea. He needs to think big to see his bacteria. He may know they exist but to really see them in their morphological glory there has to be magnification power.
Some things in life are too small for purpose. “Not enough” is that condition that sits between having enough and not having anything at all. The ones without are resigned to their fate and the ones who possess surplus take it for granted. Both groups are at peace. The internal conflict lies with the ones who do not have enough.
You must have heard them speak or been one of them for that matter.
“I have money but not enough”
“I have nyansh (buttocks) but not enough”
“I have clothes but not enough”
“I have qualifications but not enough”
“I have friends but not enough”
“My man is just there. He is not romantic enough”
The pining for the day when the desired item becomes enough becomes a lifelong preoccupation.
Those without It
The ones without money know they have none and there is no real conflict. They wait for the benevolence of those who have.
Those with It
Once one’s basic needs are available, next comes the job of self-sabotage through the creation of new problems all aimed at returning a state of destitution.
The citizens with the ‘not enough’ mind-set
These are the ones that go mad with longing and for them extreme care is needed to avert a nervous breakdown.
“I have breasts but not enough”. This thinking is fraught with danger. Who decided what enough breasts consists of and who will tell you when you get there? The plastic surgeons will make them bigger for a fee but then what next? The focus is moved to the next not enough frontier- buttocks.
What does it profit to have a big silicon empowered cleavage of mass disruption that has a thousand men salivating for fast food and no lasting commitment? Short-term thinking creates a need in some for instant desirability. These are relationships that start with a bang and fizzle out in seconds. For those who feel they do not have enough is it not better to treasure that little ‘light of yours’, magnify it, and put your best foot forward? You might attract just three from which one makes a lasting commitment for what you have is more than enough for him.
The magnification of small things can be a life saver. The one with just two shirts lacking in the purchasing power of a third has two options. Celebrate the fact that he has money for soap and treat his two shirts like gold or sink into despair at being stuck with just two when friends have more. Being grateful for what we have usually is not dependent on what we have. It is a choice. There is no amount of material possessions that can escape the ‘not enough’ tag. For competitive people who must always be number one there will always be someone who outshines them and once they hear of it they become depressed.
As people get older they become more appreciative of the blessings of life. The proximity of death brings out gratitude. Families announce bereavements with the phrase, “with gratitude to God for a life well spent”. That is because the ‘not enough’ state ends when one dies and all that is left to do by the bereaved is to go over the departed’s life with a magnifying glass and pick out the things they are most grateful for.
You actually learn more about people at their funerals because all the guests, having pondered the life and times of the deceased, share stories and thus reveal things that were always there but were not noticed. What he or she did not have enough of does not even come up. People just focus on what they had and magnify it through thinking about it. The human mind is akin to an electron microscope. Nothing remains the same size in their minds. Like a loaf of bread that accidently falls into a basin of water, any thought introduced into the mind expands.
Generally, people tend to value what they have lost. Economics teaches about demand and supply. Scarce or difficult to acquire items like diamonds will sell at a higher cost than grass which is ubiquitous. The dead person who is never coming back is valued even higher. All their smiles and mannerisms are remembered with fondness and everyone strains to recall the last telephone conversation. It does take an effort to recall all these things. If that same effort is made to look at the good things in our lives, appreciating them all no matter how small, then the magnification factor will work in our advantage.
