Dedication – To my cousin, co-hustler and road manager; Joseph Ernest Buah.
I am really struggling through my burning ambition to emerge as a world champion in the writing fraternity. You know why? I have taken seemingly ridiculous risks because I do not believe in playing it safe as I pursue my priceless aspirations. Most folks think that I am simply immature to have developed a highly risky attitude since that will definitely open a Pandora’s box of chaotic struggles.
They fear I may not be able to conquer my present and impending struggles, mainly because I am too young as a 19 year old guy. Hey, maturity is never about age; it is all about percipience and the ability to deal with issues of life. Also, I am a start-up writing entrepreneur with virtually no assets, so my struggles are actually of enormous dimensions. But the good news is that the clarity of purpose (I emphasise “the clarity of purpose”) I cling on to invigorates me as I strive to surmount my sickening struggles.
Yes, that is why I am compelled to inspire people with true potentials to trust their struggles. Struggles, hard or difficult fights to purposely achieve something, are mostly not evil or destructive as many people think. Struggles are actually meant to challenge and test the strengths of our passions. They are designed in problematic ways to help us build perfectly resilient spirits. And if you do not encounter real struggles, then you have gone astray or you possess a weak passion. Meeting struggles is mostly a positive sign of following the right path or trying to effect a change. So we do not have to label our struggles as an enemy of progress but rather a huge blessing in disguise, which we ought to overcome tactically. In fact, trust your struggles and never curse them.
Moreover, do you know Strive Masiyiwa, Zimbabwe’s richest man worth over a billion dollars? He planned to establish his own telecommunications enterprise, Econet Wireless, in the mid 1990’s, but Mugabe’s socialist government which had absolute monopoly on the telecommunications industry rejected his ambition. So Masiyiwa went to court but lost initially; he persisted in the historic court case for about five years until the court finally granted him the legal right to operate Econet Wireless in the late 1990’s. Today, Econet Wireless is a multimillion dollar company operating in several African countries. The lesson is, “Believe me, the reward is not so great without the struggle,” Wilma Rudolph asserted.
Indeed, “Strength comes from struggle. When you learn to see your struggles as opportunities to become stronger, better, wiser, then your thinking shifts from ‘I can’t do this’ to ‘I must do this’,” as Toni Sorenson, a Danish entrepreneur, revealed. Strive Masiyiwa strove to become triumphant in his frustrating legal battle without feeling too enervated to resist that long struggle. You certainly need to do same if you are faced with continuing struggles. Do not be a coward to confront your struggles no matter how intense or big they look. Remember that there is rare power in persistence. Besides, your potential is greater than your struggles. Believe it and act fearlessly yet wisely. Muster up the courage to tackle your struggles as they occur.