Life is like a game of golf, enjoy the game, happy caddying

#motivation,  #inspiration,  #life,  #golf, #caddy, #caddying, #mudombi, #shakespear

by Shakespear Mudombi

The is a funny story that I was told when I was doing some fieldwork in one other country. During the field trip I was staying at a country club with a golf course.  I ended up having a bit of insight into how golf is played, thanks to my friend who was with his other childhood friend.  As we were talking and watching television, we ended up watching a game of golf , a PG Tour.

Credit: Pixabay.com

In the discussion, that's when I got to know that a person who carries the golf clubs around when someone is playing - is called a caddy. These two guys can also play golf having got the experience by being caddies. 

We discussed a lot about their experiences as caddies including the payment and some of the challenges they encounter in their job. The caddies in this story are usually young boys of school going age who come to line up at the gate of the sports club (usually on Saturdays), waiting to be picked the players. It's hard work they said, because you carry the golf bag for many hours. They highlighted that some of the people they carry bags for are not willing to part away with cash, some give them coins while other give them less money using dubious means to instill fear in them (the young caddies).  

Credit: Pixabay.com

My short story is about an incidence which happened to one of their fellow caddy colleague. On one of the Saturdays, this caddy was fortunate to be hired by one of the players to carry his bag. However, on this particular day he struggled as the bag was very heavy, not to mention the many hours and stretch he was gonna carry it. As he was a carrying the bag, the player he was carrying for, hit a ball and it got lost. Thus, he had to look for another ball in the bag. He was shocked to discover what was in the bag. What was making the bag very heavy were not golf clubs and the balls, rather a very heavy stone had been placed in the bag. That is my short story !!!

We deliberated and laughed on this story trying to find a reason why a person could do such thing - to put a heavy stone for someone to carry. In this talk, my two friends highlighted that some of the players are very stingy and don't want to pay for the services rendered. By putting a heavy stone in the bag the possible reason could be trying to get value for money, the caddy had to sweat for the money. It was also pointed out that some of the players can actually put many extra balls, just to make the bag heavy. 

From this story I learnt some important lessons. The first lesson is that many times and in most cases besides the services, some people do not really care about the person per se i.e. all they care about are the services rendered.  

Why would person put a heavy stone in a golf club bag? While this question can be best answered by the person who did it, they are many possible reasons, which is not the focus of the story. Narrating this story is not about trying to find the reasons why or trying to evaluate the moralness of the incident, but to highlight that often times we think other people really care about us, which is true to some extent. 

Nevertheless, excluding the services that we render, our value to some people gets close to zero.

Given the painful but important point that in most instances no one really values you as an individual - note well, I am not  being cynical here. All I am trying to highlight is that it is imperative to start valuing yourself, otherwise no one will do so on your behalf. While the young caddy felt that the money he got from carrying the bag was not enough, the owner of the bag thought the money he was giving out was too much hence adding the heavy stone to  make the  bag exceptionally heavy. The bag was very heavy for the caddy, nonetheless he endured. If it was not for the ball that got lost and needed replacement, which made him look for another ball in the bag, that is when he realized that the bag was actually too heavy because of a stone. 

Credit: Pixabay.com

From this we can pick another important lesson, it was by chance that the caddy discovered the heavy stone. How many things in life that we leave things to chance - we never question why certain things are like that. We assume that the heaviness of the load we are carrying is normal, let's keep going. 

I pose this important question - do you deserve the heavy load that you carrying? If you start to assess your situation you will realize that there is an extra load that you are not supposed to be carrying. I am not saying that you should not carry other people's loads or relieve others,  my point is when you do so, do so willingly - on your own will, fully knowing that there is a heavy stone in the bag. Unfortunately, the heavy stone does not in any way help in the playing of the game, in other words, it is not important for the game at hand. Assuming the heavy stone is important then rather than carrying it for the full length of a golf course, why not put it aside then take it after the game. Hence, the question I posed - do you have to carry that load? If yes, should it be the full lengthy of the game?

Credit: Pixabay.com

If you are aware that there is a heavy stone in the bag and it's truly a heavy load that you do not deserve to carry it, why not throw it away. When this caddy realised that there was a heavy stone in the bag, he did not negotiate with the player that the stone be taken out, he found an opportune time to throw away the stone when the player was busy focusing on hitting the ball.

Credit: Pixabay.com

This is an allegory. Life is a game of golf, it has a course - long and winding, with ups and downs; there are targets to be met. Similarly, there are moment of thrills and moments of sadness - all the same, the game keeps going. There are two main actors - the players and the caddies, those who are carried for and those who carry for (N.B have intentionally left the third actor - the spectactors). Some people set targets and in the process hire others to help them achieve the targets, and those who are hired will also achieve their targets in the process. In a proper setup, both the player and the caddy have the potential to enjoy the game, however, in the narrated story, the caddy was not too happy because of his relatively low payment, worse still when he realized the extra weight in the bag due to the heavy stone. 

Life tip - in case you are a caddy somewhere and somehow - open your eyes, assess and analyse the things you do (in all aspects of life), check is there an extra unnecessary heavy load that you are carrying, if so why make yourself tired by carrying something unnecessary and unusable. Remember, the stretch of the golf course is long and tiring. Open the bag and check, possibly someone stubborn put a very heavy useless stone in the bag for you to carry. If you find the heavy stone inside, if its not useful for the game at hand, then throw it away, nonetheless, if it's useful, keep carrying, endure - enjoy the game, happy caddying!!!!!!

The story of Kitte, the traveller, the underground innovator

#motivation,  #inspiration,  #innovation,  #mudombi, #shakespear

by Shakespear Mudombi

A brief highlight of Kitte's life

Kitte, the traveller, the innovator

This is a story about Kitte, the traveller who I met on a beautiful Sunday in Pretoria, South Africa on the 26th April 2015. Kitte is his name, a nickname used since childhood both at school and home. His name and contact phone number are written on his vehicle. This vehicle is the subject of this story, however, to set the context clear it is crucial to briefly highlight the life of Kitte. Kitte enjoys travelling and he identifies himself as such.

How did I meet Kitt?

A cousin of mine had visited me so when he was going back to his place of residence, I had to take him half way to where he gets his transport, that is Marabastad - a place of history, stories both interesting and some frightening. So on our way we met Kitte, he had parked his vehicle  on a road that was still under construction in downtown Pretoria (slightly out of the city centre). As the day was a Sunday it was not very busy, most of the people who were walking-by were mainly coming from church, or going about winding off their weekend. Moreover, the mood was relaxed because the next day, Monday was a holiday - the Freedom Day, which is an important day in South Africa's history. The day is celebrated to mark the liberation of the country and its people from a long period of colonialism and White minority domination.

After seeing Kitte parked at that place I wondered a bit why he had chosen that particular place. There were no many shops except a hair saloon and a small spazza 'grocery' shop that were open. However after a brief chat with Kitte, I got to know that the reason for his journey to Pretoria from Johannesburg was to go the High Court. He indicated that there were issues that needed to be sorted out at the highest court. That is why he was parked in this area - that's where the courts of law are situated. I had not carried my iPad with me for taking notes so I could not properly capture all of what Kitte was saying. The issue that he wanted at the High Court was to seek a redress on a property (a building, an inherited one I think) of which he has not been getting rental money. The High Court was gonna help him sort out the issue so that he could start getting the money. He was so hopefull that if the rental issue is sorted, he will get a lot of money from the rent that has been accruing for the last 15 years. I did not probe further to find out if the papers were already lodged with the High Court or if he was going to initiate the process that time.

Kitte though he is approaching old age (I forgot to ask him his age) he indicated that he does not have any children and wife because he can't afford to support them. Nonetheless, he was optimistic that when he gets the lump sum rent money from the high court settlement, he hoped that he will marry and have children. With the money he will buy a car and a caravan, and as a traveller will go see places, in particular visit game reserves to see wild animals - this he will do with his future wife. Of interest also was the brief discussion about his other favorite livelihood activity. He enjoys fishing and usually goes to Port Elizabeth to do fishing. As he does not own a boat, he hires one, after a catch, he shares the proceeds with the owner of the boat based on a proportion of 40% to Kitte and 60% to the owner of the hired boat.

In brief that is the life of Kitte. I enjoy talking and interacting with people such as Kitte because their life stories are rich, full of lessons, they are fascinating. Over the years I have learnt that inspiring life stories come from both widely acknowledged successful people, who are regarded highly by society. Nevertheless, powerful stories also come from people like Kitte as well. Such people are often despised by society as failures because they would not have reached the standards of success as defined by society, such standard mainly calibrated on a financial and asset ownership scale. In as much as I don't argue against such ways of evaluating people's success, I have to come to realize that success in life as measured by such measures alone are exclusionary, they exclude people that have achieved in their own right. Such is a story of Kitte, people often not understood by society, they do things differently - they are not part of the general. Interesting is Kitte's story when you listen to him, more interesting as well is his  "vehicle", the one I mentioned at the beginning of the story that it is the subject of this story. I will call the vehicle the "scooter mobilehouse".

Kitte's scooter mobilehouse

Kitte on his vehicle

The description of the vehicle

8 horsepower concrete mixer engine powering Kitte's vehicle

From my own assessment, Kitte is an innovator par excellence, his "scooter mobilehouse",  otherwise referred to herein as the vehicle - is a an elongated vehicle with a front that is taken from a scooter and three wheels at the back. The elongation is because there is a small bed - it is his house as well, hence why I called it the "scooter mobilehouse". It is a combination of different parts some recovered from the garbage sites. Kitte's vehicle travels at a speed of up to 25 km per hour powered by an 8 horsepower concrete mixer engine salvaged from the scrap yard. Some of the things that can be seen carried on the vehicle include a paraffin stove, fishing line, pots, water containers, and blankets.

The need to embrace innovation

I believe for Africa and other developing countries to prosper, grassroots innovation is more important. The reasons being that grassroots innovation uses mainly locally available resources and material which are usually cheap and easily accessible. Kitte used thrown away pieces and parts to build his "scooter mobilehouse". The fact that this vehicle can take Kitte from point A to point B, is a sure fact that it is fulfilling a need. Kitte travelled from Johannesburg to Pretoria to sort out his issue at the high court. This vehicle provides him with transport and accommodation (though not secure).  As he is able to meet his goal of travelling in an affordable transport means - is an achievement on its own. Regardless of how the vehicle looks, it's meeting and fulfilling some of Kitte's needs. The ingenuity is not the vehicle per se but in being able to design and make a vehicle from scrap (otherwise useless material).

Shakes trying to understand from Kitte how the vehicle works

The point I am trying to make and the significance of this story is that there are many people like Kitte, able and innnovative, who with the necessary support from various stakeholders are able to contribute in finding solutions to some of the challenges nagging development practitioners the world over. In a paper I co-authored with my professor (Prof Mammo Muchie, an innovation professor), that was published in the Innovation and Development Journal, we noted that,

"African governments and other stakeholders should aim at developing and enforcing strong institutions that are conducive for innovation especially innovation activities that seek to overcome widespread poverty and underdevelopment. On that account, the promotion of grassroots innovation is essential."

Kudzai Makwanya (my cousin) marvelling at Kitte's vehicle

Kitte made his vehicle from discarded material, with few resources and limited support. Such innovators are often excluded from the formal innovation system - they are grassroots, underground, hidden innovators. I believe with the necessary support, many innovators like Kitte will contribute more meaningfully in society. An interesting aspect that I picked from the brief chat with Kitte, is that he is full of hope and optimism - nowadays, these attributes are generally scarce in many people. Being hopeful and optimistic provide the critical impetus, which I believe is the driving force that enable us to want to get to the next day, the belief that tomorrow has its on promises and truly our dreams are gonna be achieved.

Stories of high-tech, advanced innovation are interesting and of great impact, nonetheless these stories are usually  over written - every newspaper, small and big want to carry such stories. However, of value as well, are stories such as that of Kitte, without the glitz and glamour in the story itself or the innovation per se, there is something shining or that has potential to shine if polished - that ability to do things, the process to create, to modify and make something fit for purpose, to meet a particular need. There are lots of Kittes around the world, a valuable resource - the rough diamonds. If they are not discovered they remain buried in the ground and of less value. Nevertheless, if discovered they can be polished to bring out the giltz, the shining, the sparkle, the value embedded within. Now is the time not to  only rely on already polished gems, there is need to discover and identify the unpolished ones too. They can be polished through creating an enabling environment and providing them with the necessary support. That is the story of Kitte.

Safe journey and all the best Kitte, the traveller, the underground innovator !!!

References

Shakespear Mudombi & Mammo Muchie. 2014. An institutional perspective to challenges undermining innovation activities in Africa, Innovation and Development. DOI: 10.1080/2157930X.2014.921272

Discover your purpose in life

#motivation,  #inspiration, #mudombi, #shakespear

by Shakespear Mudombi

Why have a purpose in life?

If you do not know your purpose in life, your life will be like a rudderless ship. It will be moving, however, its direction will not be clear. It can be easily tossed around by wind, without having a particular point where it wants to get.When I was young, growing up I had dreams, one of which was to be a great person, nevertheless, I never took time to think about what I really wanted to do, how that greatness was going to be achieved. Thus, while I was a hard working person my energy was not focused on a particular goal, aim or purpose. I wanted to be great or do something of meaningful impact but not knowing what it was. From that experience, I realized that I wasted a lot of energy, time and resources as I was not focused, I was more like a rudderless ship.
 

Do not waste the valuable time, it is non-renewable

I will explain the need to know your purpose in life using my own personal experience. When I finished my Master’s degree it was that period in Zimbabwe of great economic meltdown, around 2007-2008. A period when even ordinary people were millionaires and billionaires, though worthless. During that time the inflation was very high, it did not make much sense to work especially formal work because the salaries were low, and by the time you get the salary it will be worthless. Those who thrived were those doing the informal activities particularly the illegal ones. While I was looking for a job I made a deliberate choice that if I didn't get a job with a local or international non-governmental organisation (NGOs) then I will stay at home. People working for NGOs were earning better because most of them were paid in foreign currency, US$ in particular. The advantage was that with US$ you could buy more, as the forex was exchanged at the thriving black market .

While my choice of not working was rational especially from the cost-benefit analysis point of view, which made sense as an economist. Nevertheless, in retrospect I realized that it was a wrong choice because the time I remained and spent at home was not used productively. During this period that when me and my brothers had an interest in providing sound system services. As a person who grew up with a passion for art, I wanted to do painting, I later shifted my interest to music. That time I wanted to be a music producer and a DJ specializing in instrumental afro-techno-dub sound. However, most of my time at home was spent mostly drinking, which is why I say in retrospect, I could have used that time more productively.

Shakespear Mudombi dreaming big - wanted to a top class DJ

This background is important because the focus of my talk is when you know your purpose in life, it easier to know where you want to be and what you want to achieve, thus it will be easier to have clear goals and a vision. 

I have learnt that in life there are various categories of people in terms having or knowing their purpose in life. The first category, though limited in number, have clear goals from the outset, they are focused from an early age. The other category comprises of people who tend to be focused as they grow up, though confusion will appear here and there. The last category comprise of people who will never get focused, up to old age the confusion will still be there. This categorisation is not the focus of my topic, but it forms an important background to what I want to dwell on, which is how or what can make us get focused and realize our true purpose in life. In this regard, many factors can be noted which include, circumstances, being at the right place at the right time partly refered to as chance, as well as being taught and learning. The learning includes learning by doing (which includes trial and error, experimentation) and also learning by observing other people. As alluded to earlier, I mainly use my personal experience to draw lessons.

There is an important incident that made me realize that I had never thought about my purpose in life. This happened when I was still a drunkard.  We had spent the whole night drinking with my brothers at a local pub, then went home and slept for a few hours when the pub was closed. I woke up around 8:00 am (that is early in the morning) then went to the shops, to wait for the bottle stores (liquor stores) to open so that I could continue drinking as I was still drunk. I got to one of the bottle stores and started drinking, whilst talking to few guys who were present. As we were drinking the owner of that bottle store came. She was a relatively old aged lady, I think she had just retired from government or the private sector - I picked from my talk with her that she was someone knowledgeable. As we were talking, we found a common interest (agriculture and farming). My attention had been captured by the packs of cucumbers and potatoes that she had brought for selling in her bottle store. She indicated that she was a new farmer and she was doing very well, and as a relatively drunk person, I also made effort to show her that I had agricultural knowledge as an agricultural economist (though I was not bragging). While my talk with that old lady is not very important, what is important and relevant to this topic were some of here parting words. She said something to the effect, 

"my son why do you waste your life like that, early in the morning you are already drunk, an educated person like you".

She referred to me as son because in our African culture mostly an older person can address any younger person as "my child". Those were simple but strong words from "my mother". While I tried to downplay the meaning of the words, deep inside I understood what the words meant – true, I was wasting time which I could have used more productively.

Everyone needs to discover their purpose in life

Some will ask, so what is the importance of the story to this topic of knowing and pursuing your purpose in life. This narrative is important because it highlights that there are some people no matter how educated or knowledgeable they are, do not have a clear focus and do not know what is their purpose in life. During that time, being drunk in the morning (as in this case at 8:00 am) was something enjoyable and funny; I had my own justification and defended myself for such behaviour. I was comfortable with it and never thought there was something wrong with what I was doing. However, it took that old lady, the bottle store owner, who told me words that later made me do self introspection. Many a times as individuals we waste time doing things that appear to be funny during a particular moment, however in retrospect one would realize that the time could have been used in other productive ways, having positive impacts in our lives and those of others. Having funny time is good and healthy but having too much of it, is detrimental - the opportunity cost is too high. Moreover, there is a danger of not realizing that you are wasting time and continuing to waste that valuable non-renewable time. The time is non-renewable in the sense that once wasted we can't recover it; we can only use the remainder in our lifespan as defined by God. It is important to bear in mind that, as time goes on (days, month and years passing by) less and less time is available for each of us to do certain life corrections. Just ask yourself these questions:

• Do the things you spent most of your time doing are they productive? 
• What is their impact - do they have any positive impacts in your life and that of others? 
• Can you use the time to do something better (are there better options)?

The earlier you realize your purpose in life and set clear goals that better. Nonetheless, don't worry if you do not have a clear purpose or goals in life, it's never too late, the time to do it is now, just believe in yourself and realize the potential within you.

Inorder to discover your purpose in life, Mark Manson said, "Discovering one’s “purpose” in life essentially boils down to finding those one or two things that are bigger than yourself, and bigger than those around you. And to find them you must get off your couch and act, and take the time to think beyond yourself, to think greater than yourself". The important point is ACT, ACTION - realising the need to have a purpose in life is one thing but the actual action towards that purpose is another. Often, lack of action is a common barrier towards the realisation of one's purpose in life, we know what we are supposed to do but we lack the drive to work toward it. Do remain fixed in one place, take action, navigate towards your purpose in life. To qoute John A Shedd,

"A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for".

In addition, it is critical to do things that you have passion for, as you explore your purpose. Shannon Kaiser noted that, "To lead a purposeful life, follow your passions. When we live a passion-filled life we are living on purpose, and that is the purpose of life. That feeling that something is missing goes away when you lead a passion-filled life. … To boil it down, remember this simple equation: Passion + Daily Action = Purposeful Life". To qoute Kemi Sogunle - "Your  passion sustains you. Your purpose is why you were created. Follow your passion but ensure you fulfill your purpose".

Find your purpose in life and leave a legacy

Like what the old lady, the bottle store owner, "my mother" said to me, I also say to you "do not waste your talents, skills and knowledge, the potential in you is great". While I do not know what your purpose is, one thing I know and am sure of is that your purpose was not meant to be wasted, there is something in you that is great, that is ready to be realized, just take time to discover your purpose in life and work towards it. A good quote that can be a constant reminder as we walk on this path of pursing our purpose in life is by Richelle E. Goodrich,

"You are here to make a difference, to either improve the world or worsen it. And whether or not you consciously choose to, you will accomplish one or the other."

Shakes making a presentation at the University of Arizona, USA

References

Mark Manson. 7 Strange Questions That Help You Find Your Life Purpose. September 18, 2014.
Shannon Kaiser. 3 Unexpected Ways to Find Your Life Purpose. April 19, 2014.