Ato Ghansah: The Lots of Many Little Things

Ato Ghansah: The Lots of Many Little Things: "Do you remember the story of the bird which worked from scratch till a huge nest was in place. Here goes the lot of the many little things I..."

The Lots of Many Little Things

Do you remember the story of the bird which worked from scratch till a huge nest was in place. Here goes the lot of the many little things I learnt.

         

Although there were lots of spaces somewhere on the tree, yet this bird amongst few others decided to distinguish themselves from the lots. I am sure I wouldn’t have noticed it should it have just join the many at convenient places. No one in this world will notice you if you do what everyone else does. When you start to copy the negative behaviors of the people you met at your work place, you will end up like the way they are after some years. Their laziness and inability to stick with time saw them no promotion in life, if you do the same, you will be like them. Set yourself apart from the lot. Jesus told Peter, “Thrust out a little from the land”. Go a little more than most people would go. The result was abundant catch. Stay where everyone is and you will get what everyone gets. Seek to distinguish yourself in everything you do, and you will be quickly noticed.

Take risk in life, it is the only way to ensure success. The bird could have lost its nest to strong wind or rain. It could have lost hours and days of work to one kid who just decided to pick on it by pulling its nest. Yet, it took the risk and the risk brought it a mate. Stop asking yourself too many “what ifs”. Stop looking to the failures of the past. Everybody fails at something. That simply tells of the frailty of our humanity. It is only God who has a 100 percentile of success. Don’t allow your failure to stop you in your tracks. Don’t allow the pain to lock you up in some box. Break loose; take calculated risk, dare where others dread and success will not elude you. 

The bird brought a strand to start work each morning. Develop the habit of consistency. Stick to a plan, a purpose, a job or a relationship. There is a saying that “In consistency lies the power”. It is only after repeated occurrences can an impact be made. Be consistent in character. Build a trust of what you will stand for or otherwise against. Stop playing ‘dili dali’ with your decisions. Be consistent and firm with your words. Work hard till your no becomes ‘no’ and your yes a ‘yes’. “A man is as good as his words”. If you have unstable mind and flippantly changes your mind on anything, people will not trust you with anything. People will not like to work with you because they can’t figure out when your next move may be. When Jacob cursed Reuben for uncovering the nakedness of his stepmother, he said “Unstable as water, thou shall not prosper”. Instability is one free way to failure. Be consistent!

“It went far and near to pick materials to build its nest”. Life is not a bed of roses, neither is it a bed of thistle and thorns. It is a bit of both. Your resources may deplete. Your hope may be lost. The arm you may lean on for support may be cut short, but that should not be the end of your life. Situations may change as they always will. You must learn to adapt, hold your head up high and traverse the perilous road of life till you get to your destination. When you job is sinking, learn to go far to get new one. When your relationship is failing, be ready to go to those who have stood the test of time and learn. The materials to build are always available but they shall not be thrown into your bosom.

“It weaved with it beaks and directed them with its claws”. Our lives are ultimately built with two things. They are our lips and our hands. The two work together side-by-side. Any time the work is done by just one of these, the person will suffer failure. I have written to you before about how important the words of your mouth are. When you speak well and work well, you shall eat the good of this land. On the contrary, if you speak evil and still manage to work hard, your life will still be full of pain and sorrow. Because, “a man’s belly shall be satisfied by the fruit of his lips – good or bad [Pro. 18:20]. A person virtually eats what he says, because we usually speak what we think. “As a man thinketh, so is he” [Pro. 23:7] and “No man rises higher than his thought”. Then indeed, what we speak we shall become and will never rise above the words of our mouth. Work with your mouth because that is all the work God did – He created the things we see with the words of His mouth.

It also worked with its claws. I have met people who speak big but are very lazy. People like this will also come to intense poverty. The words of such a person will destroy him because his desires will never be met. He is lazy, he doesn’t want to work and so he will not prosper. [Pro. 21:25]. Any person who needs supervision to work will never prosper. Someone must see to it that you come to work early; see to it that you do what you are paid to do; and see to it that you work according to the rules. Anything your boss is not around it is a field day for you. The attitude of attending to work late and closing early is just the lifestyle of poor people. I know a rich man who goes to work at 5:45am and closes at 6:00pm as his earliest time to close from work. He works tirelessly. People who do not like to labour with their hands never prosper [Pro. 15:19]. People who always seek the easier roots in life do not prosper either [Pro. 22:13]. “Tell the righteous, it is well with his soul, for he shall eat the fruit of his hands” [Isa. 3:10]. The righteous shall not eat the fruit of his mouth only but of his hands too. Speaking big and being lazy like most young people of today will only result in grievous poverty. [Pro. 14:23] “God gives every bird its food, but He doesn’t throw it into their nest”. God has promised you prosperity, but if you refuse to work, you will be poor.

And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; [1Thes. 4:11]

“It weaved its nest”. The bird employed what I call creative working. Weaving is an art and therefore must be mastered. It requires thinking and focus if you are to come out with different shapes and designs. Weaving requires concentration and creativity. If you happen to pass by a kente or a basket weaver, notice the silence in which they work and the occasional sky-looking they do. They think more than they talk. Life and labour requires thinking and creativity if you are to make good of anything. Most people I meet in my life talk more than they listen, how much more sit to think. They are on a speed boat to their destination, so they feel they must tell everyone what they know while they have the time. People who talk too much destroy their lives. They speak before realizing they shouldn’t have said certain things they said. Talkative are ‘thinkless’ people.

“He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction”. [Pro.13:3]

Reduce your words, channel them into thinking and you are on your way to success. Creative working also requires learning to do different things at different times. Endeavor to multitask effectively; do a little bit more than your assigned role, it is the first class ticket to promotion.

Building your Nest

It is amazing the worth of knowledge and wisdom we can learn from nature should we but pay a little attention to her. We can easily live a fulfilled life simply by learning from the things around us. We can be cautious, diligent, smart and even thoughtful by watching and learning from the gifts of nature. What I am about to share with you is a simple but beautiful art of one of the numerous handiworks of nature. As I watched this animal worked, I learnt so many things which will completely change my life. And it will change yours too if you should put these findings to practice. 

I do not know the name of the bird. It was bright yellow with somewhat black tail feathers, black head and black beak. It was averagely small and considerably smart. It was a bit noisy though its tunes were melodious. I watched as this bird worked TIRELESSLY on building a nest on a branch of a bamboo tree for days. 

It picked a spot on the tree which I thought was very senseless considering the seemingly unlimited space on the tree. The reason I learnt with time. It chose what I thought will serve as a support to what it wanted to build. 

It started to diligently work on building a nest at the spot. Each morning with fail; at the same time, it brought a strand of a grass in its black beak. Initially it picked strands from the bamboo tree. But no sooner had it started building the nest, than the bamboo tree lost all its leaves due to the numerous number of similar activities by most of the bird on the tree. It however did not deter it from continuing with its nest. 

I am sure it went far and near to get materials to build its nest. When it brings the strand, it carefully weave it around to form a circle. The whole art was awesome to watch. It weaves with the beak carefully directing and dividing each strand with its tiny claws. One thing I noticed was that the bird never threw away any strand it brought. Dry, wet, short, long, puffy or too thin, it still managed to work with it. Another thing I will never forget is that, all through out the process of the building, it never stopped making twittering sounds and melodious tunes. It was happy or so I thought. 

Little by little, this tiny bird built something that was as huge as balls we used to make with over-worn socks when we were kids. The thing which was so tiny I had to strain my eyes to look was now so boldly established I could pick it out from a mile away.  

There was a day it brought what looked like furs and feathers into the nest, and that day it sang like never before. I thought it was a celebration of good job done. Little did I know that that was the beginning of its life. After hours of singing, there came a rather dull ‘tinnier bird which bounced about more proudly. It went round the nest several times; "kicking" it, flying around it and finally decided to enter it. But it flew out after some few seconds and flew away. 

I was relieved to finally see it fly away but the brighter bird was obviously not amused about the incident. It tore the craftily and beautifully made nest in a flash. It didn't do a second-check whatsoever, it just tore it off and flew away too. I was very disappointed by this scene. 

It wasn't long when I saw the same bird back again to the tree. It chose a steeper and more dangerous spot to build a nest again. It repeated the process without fail until another huge nest was ready. I couldn't tell whether the latter was bigger and nicer than the previous. To me, it looks almost the same. It sang again and there came another pompous but dull looking smaller bird. It did everything the first did but when it went into the nest, it didn't come out till the brightly looking bird joined it.

Well, you know what continued and the many things I would love to tell you. I believe my lesson ended with the entry of the bird into the nest although I never stopped watching them till the season where they are finally flew off. Now I wish to share with you what I learnt. So here goes the lot of my little things:

Stay tuned for the lot of the little things.