Our doubts: The killer of most opportunities

first day of fishing my mother was the first one to challenge everyone except my father that she was going to catch the biggest fish never mind her advancing age. She could not wait to get into action. “I did not come all the way from Nyakuni (Nyazura) for nothing,” she said and was the first to jump onto the boat.
On the other hand, my father was not bothered with what was happening. I think he was busy asking himself why he agreed to come all the way for fishing. He was contended to spend the whole day sitting under the shade sleeping or reading his Bible. He confessed to us that at 76 he was too old to catch any fish. He felt as if he had no energy to pull a fish. As a result he switched his mind off from what was happening around him.
At close of the day he would just ask us about what transpired during the day. But even after hearing, he showed very little inclination to join us in the fun. No one appeared able to persuade him. My mother was head over heels about her new experience but my father asked her “who was going to pull her out of water if she were to fall into the water. As for me I will not embarrass myself by falling into water in front of varoora vangu (my daughters-in- law) never. (Zvinhu izvi                     zvine mazera) Most activities have age restrictions’’
On the other hand, one of my brothers concentrated on catching the smallest fish available in the river. His mind convinced him that he could not catch any fish that weighs more than 400 grammes. As a result for two weeks he dedicated his time to catching these small fish. It is amazing how every time he cast his line the fish that responded to his call were small ones. Surely, how could one travel all the way from Harare (500km) and restrict oneself to catching only small fish when up to 12kg fish could be caught in the river. Surely, most people struggle to make the right choices.
My father did not attempt to join us for three days, however, on the fourth day he got tempted to try fishing along the banks of the Zambezi River. This marked his entry into the sport. On his first day we all beat him. Nevertheless, by the seventh day he was competing neck to neck with all of us for the biggest catch of the day. You can guess what happened towards the end. He won the tournament by catching a 9kg fish.
During Our St Augustine’s Old Students’  Association meeting last year I overheard a married lady and a married man discussing about their good olden days KwaTsambe. They normally start by saying “Kana usina kuenda kwaTsambe hauzi kuenda kusikuru (If you did not go to St Augustine’s then you have not been to a good secondary school.)’’
The gentleman said: “Mercy, you know I really liked you and up to now I still think that I should have married you instead of the one that I have.”
Mercy replied: “Kingston, You really frustrated me.”
“How?” Kingston asked.
“I waited patiently for the day you were going to say it but the day never came. Only your eyes expressed interest but the interest was never expressed to me verbally. Sometimes I think I would have had a better life with you, but such is life. I have to make do with what I have now.’’ 
“I always doubted that I was good enough for you. I didn’t know how to handle rejection, if you were to say no. I thought I would not be able to attend Saturday night dances at the Great Hall after rejection. Now I realise why at times I am a perennial underachiever.’’
My father and Kingston represent the majority of people we meet and interact with in our everyday lives. They believe everyone else except themselves. In his book “‘Measure for Measure”, Shakespeare tells us that our doubts are our traitors, they make us lose the good we often might have won by fearing to attempt.”
Imagine how many people are like my father in Zimbabwe today. People who give convenient excuses for failing/refusing to live up to the gifts which were richly endowed upon them by the Almighty.
The doubts have an effect of suppressing our adrenaline down. Whenever we get an opportunity which pumps up our adrenaline, the doubts in our mind respond by suppressing anxiety with fear.
Fear attacks all the creative part of our mind and destabilises the momentum that one has and substitutes it with frustration and lack of energy.
Many a time we convert our anxiety for success with frustration for having no desire to fulfil our ambition. We all at one time behave like my father who was intelligent enough to understand the humiliation of falling into the water in front of varoora but not inspired enough to test the fulfilling effects of success.
Most people are perennial under-achievers because they do not have courage to make their next move. They have a fear of the unknown. Understandably Kingston admired and dreamt about Mercy several times during their high school days but fell short of converting the desire into action.
Thus the desire suffered a stillbirth and up to today he is still an unfulfilled gentleman. Many managers do not realise that underperforming is equally a source of continual discontentment.
If there is anything a manager desires to achieve be it social aspirations, spiritual aspirations, economic aspirations or even academic aspirations, today might be the right day to start working towards fulfilling that goal. You can never be fulfilled if you don’t get to achieve what you set yourself to achieve. You will only be at peace with yourself after achieving what you set to achieve.
Every person, no matter whether you are a messenger or CEO, once in a while bumps into opportunities but only very few utilise these opportunities.
Some see the opportunities and feel that they are too old to do anything like my father. However, going through autobiographies of rich people, one can realise that some become rich at nine years and others at 85 years.