Focus : BY DEDAN K. NKURANGA

Most of us scorn people or things we believe have little value in our lives. Whenever we encounter such people or things, we tend to ignore them. However, everything in this world, regardless of its status is wonderful and has a purpose. I had taken this for granted until last Sunday afternoon. While sitting on the balcony to escape the unbearable heat in the house, a group of ants crowding around some crumbs of bread seized my interest. My reaction was spontaneous; destroy them before they bite you. But something, I don’t know what, held me back.My eyes then settled on two ants, which were struggling to climb a wall while carrying crumbs. The first one had picked a sizeable piece and was struggling with it up the wall. The ant moved the piece, which was quite big, resolutely and had covered a considerable distance in a short while. Meanwhile, the second ant had selected two pieces of crumbs, both of a similar size to the first ant’s load. Holding firmly on them, it too tried to scale the wall. However, each time it attempted, the crumbs fell and it had to start afresh. While the first ant easily accomplished the task, the second ant, despite working untiringly, failed to climb the wall. In what the ants were doing, I saw a mirror image of many of us, including myself. Do we satisfactorily accomplish tasks that we do at home or at the office? Do we work like the first or the second ant? Definitely, majority of us work like the second ant. We pick on heavier tasks that we believe we can complete on our own only to fail miserably. Some of us pick several tasks hoping to work on all at the same time but we leave most of them unfinished. And while doing this, we end up getting frustrated, disappointed and being labelled unreliable by those who once had faith in us. It is important to focus on one task and do it to your perfection and satisfaction. When we do this, we certainly build our image especially at work places. A story is told of a businessperson who destroyed his nascent business while striving to satisfy his ego. The man was running an events management company. Though he had big dreams, he did not have the capacity to handle many jobs, some of which were big. Yet, he always consented when clients gave him contracts. In the end, he did shoddy work and lost all his clients and business. By purporting to have the ability to handle numerous events, the businessman walked himself to the path of self-destruction. How often do we overrate ourselves? We chest-thump saying we can do this or that yet sometimes we do not have the knowledge. We need to learn to say NO when our hands are full or when we do not have the capacity. Yes, it may not be easy to say the two-letter word to people who hold us in high esteem, for instance, our children, our dear ones or our employees. It is responsible to politely turn down an assignment than take and fail to do it or do it below the required standards.And while working, do not take shortcuts, more often than not, they compromise on the quality and output of our work. Let us work diligently but tactfully like the first ant. This we can do by sharing responsibilities, delegating, consulting and being willing to learn because there will always be people who are more skilled than us. Like, the second ant, do not kill yourself with work. Let it be your source of happiness and success. dedantos2002@yahoo.com