Andrew
Changing Perspectives
Rutendo Gwatidzo
THANKSGIVING is upon us. We ought to be grateful for having made it this far. We are left with less than two weeks to complete 2022, and it is a season of mixed feelings because we are at different phases of life.
You do not have to be thankful for the victories only but also for the struggles you face because, out of all the situations, you learnt lifetime lessons. All you probably need to do is to reflect on the lessons learnt and allow them to make you a better person in life.
If you are asking yourself whether you have arrived in life, you will realise that the answer is infinite.
The former president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, once said the secret you discover after climbing a mountain is that there are many more other mountains to climb. Just learn to count your blessings and proceed.
Life is a combination of smiles and tears, joys and sorrows, laughter and sadness. The combinations are just like two sides of a coin or note.
It is probably a matter of time before you see the other side of the coin or note. Both sides are equally important because, together, they give the coin or note the value it carries. The meaning of life is drawn from both good and sad moments. Just learn to count your blessings.
Organisational status
According to the findings I came across in my human resources (HR) engagements with different companies in the past two months, negativity speaks louder than positivity; complaints are much more than appreciation. One of the reasons organisations invest huge amounts in strategic meetings is to assess their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis). They do so to position themselves better.
This simply shows that, out of every phase of life, we ought to learn lessons that should position us better. Inasmuch as some of us might not have salaries, packages, bonuses or allowances that we want, we need to count the blessing that we have.
If we commit to do better, we will eventually get to where we want. Shift your focus from where you are to where you want to be.
I believe teams should also do their individual SWOT analysis to help themselves improve.
Individual improvement leads to organisational improvement. Just learn to count your blessings. Do not expect extraordinary packages when you yourself are not giving extraordinary service.
Train your eyes to see what is good. Whenever you feel like giving up on anything, take time to pause. Count your blessings before you throw in the towel. We need to understand that blessings differ in every phase of life.
However, certain basic things remain the same, and most of them are the biggest blessings of life.
Often, the people who lead happiest lives are those who have the simplest things. They learnt to maximise joy out of what they have.
Last year, my family was hit hard by the Delta variant of Covid-19, and at some point, I watched one of my family members failing to get into a four-by-four car we had at the time.
A significant number of people consider big cars a major blessing. However, during that time, the vehicle was not a blessing at all, because it failed to deliver its purpose.
We had to find a smaller, simple and light car for him to use, and it became our big blessing at that moment. Just learn to count your blessings without comparing yours to those of others.
Being at different levels in life simply means what matters to us all the most is different at any given point in time.
During the time my family suffered from Covid-19, I witnessed a couple that failed to get into their bedroom that was upstairs in their double-storey house. The couple ended up using their helper’s bedroom that was downstairs. Even the children’s bedrooms were upstairs.
What someone considers a blessing can be a curse to another. Life is simply like this. When you count your blessings, do not look at what others are considering blessings. Just count yours alone, and only join others in celebrating your blessings together. Do not waste time feeling sorry for yourself, only to discover when you are very old that the simplest things you took for granted were the biggest blessings of your life.
It is better to lose count as you name your blessings than lose your blessings while naming your troubles. For instance, I know of parents who lost their children, because, instead of seeing them as blessings, they considered them troubles only because they did not have enough money to pay for their school fees.
General facts of life
Life is a blessing in many ways, and in this season, may you stop focusing on what you do not have yet, rather focus on what you have and be thankful. One of the secrets to happiness is that, when life gives you 10 reasons to cry, find 20 to smile. When life gives you lemons, use them to make lemonade.
The moment you begin to count and appreciate your blessings, you will realise that a lot of things will become easy-going, and before you realise it, you would have climbed and conquered many mountains. Even those who seem to be doing better than others have problems to deal with as well at every stage of their lives. Be challenged, be encouraged and be inspired not to count your blessings only but to also be the blessing that others get to count. Wishing you a Merry Christmas.
Rutendo Gwatidzo is a culture and change management strategist. She is as an HR consultant, speaker, mentor and author of the books “Born to Fight” and “Breaking the Silence”. She was on the Institute of Corporate Directors Zimbabwe (IoCDZ) List of 40 Influential Leaders in Zimbabwe 2022. Contact detail: 0714575805/ [email protected] / Rutendo Gwatidzo official fb public page.
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