By Charles Leyman Kachitsa Asked about Christmas festivities, one immediately if they are older go back to their childhood years as that’s the era the period it was all ignorantly exciting. I can not speak for the youth of today, but to us Christmas was something aligned with eating special food and drinks you could otherwise only dream of the rest of the year. Without any burden or responsibilities as children, we expected these food plus drinks including now and again new clothing to materialise however that is done by parents or guardians. In this sense, Christmas meant ‘rice and chicken’ which would only be eaten on that one day throughout the year, in such combination with a bottle of Fanta that was either shared between two or three but taken full bottle individually only heaven knows after whatever miracle made that happen. Although on any normal days sharing of meals between households was something showing a mark of kindness or generosity or ‘Christianness’, this was something forbidden on Christmas day meals. On this and only on this day, each family was left to have their own which in a way depending on the richness of the food and quantity, climaxed in showing how hard or not the bread winner of the family has faired during that particular year. For children there would also be the other part days before Christmas which now because our eyes are open, we may call ‘internal tourism.’ This I don’t know what it depended on but could have been rotational, involved bus rides on the famed Stagecoach buses visiting the tea plantations areas of Thyolo or Mulanje. Some other years it could be a Christmas train ride on a same day return journey to Balaka or Bvumbwe. With either, the bus or train ride, it was accompanied by an avalanche of Christmas carols in the cabin (s). Such were the childhood joys of the Christmas period albeit to say without understanding it’s full significance, not sure even if most adults understood it especially when one realised as they grew up that to most it meant a period of binge alcohol intake. The quotes for this week are from a book written by a career diplomat given responsibility in what in our modern days is or was the centre of commerce and trade for so long especially the city he took station in. Interesting how he describes ‘Britishness’ which I believe is saying get a copy of the book and read it in its entirety perhaps your Christmases will take on a new meaning. I am sure that the selected quotations below from the book will enlighten you to one or two life lessons. Read and enjoy: THE LAST POST – A MEMOIR OF A HIGH COMMISSIONER IN LONDON by Kena Mphonda “One would hardly see a minister gracing a national day for an African country, and I was perplexed that the Africa Minister, Harriett Baldwin, spoke on behalf of her government on November 12, 2018, during the national day reception for Angola. This only pointed to the interest of the British in the minerals in Angola, not to the exclusion of oil. She had visited Angola in April earlier the same year. ——- Andrew Stephenson, who succeeded Baldwin, visited Angola as well in January 2020. This would be more characteristic of sub-Saharan Africa rather than North Africa. If you went slightly beyond the functions, it would be visits to Africa by the PM, Foreign Secretary, and a Minister for Africa that would tell the story as to where the strategic interest of the UK learned.” “Looking back to the 1960s, the British started to look into civil rights issues, especially coming at the helm of the passage of the American Civil Rights Act of 1964 and voting Act of 1965, and I look at this issue with the FCO lens. Noteworthy is the fact that it was only in 1973 that Eleanor Emery became the first female to head a British diplomatic mission. Then come 2018, the first black female British career diplomat to be appointed a High Commissioner. She went to Botswana for the assignment. In 1987, Veronica Sunderland became the first married woman to be appointed as Ambassador to Cote d’Ivoire. Malawi had the first female British High Commissioner in 2017.” “A British citizen criticised a picture in a daily local newspaper showing a woman in a village for ‘throwing’ herself at the feet of a senior politician. In essence, the woman laid flat on the ground on her belly. This was a traditional way of expressing gratitude following the politician’s support for a cause. The person did not appreciate such a gesture and thought it was out of the way. The issue brought an avalanche of reactions from a lot of Malawians, most of whom questioned how anyone could question the Malawian culture. Indeed, the British would have their own way to show gratitude. Examples or contrasts were given relating to the Queen where, when persons are knighted, they kneel before her, and she places a bayonet on the recipient’s shoulder. Of course, there are a lot of things that can be picked as illustrations, but the bottom line comes to what is it that is Malawian culture, and, ………., what is it I picked up as Britishness.” “Outside politics, it became increasingly difficult to really discern who is a British Citizen, especially from a casual perspective when you go to public places such as restaurants, hotels, and bars. The accent that you would get would be as varied as it could get, stemming from a Nigerian to an Italian to Japanese. One very interesting case was that of my office neighbourhood restaurant, Rugby Tavern, where there was one British bartender, one Brazilian bartender and another bartender who never at any point greeted me, much as I frequented the place. Yet one day he smilingly greeted a dog; simply unbelievable. Of course that is not Britishness.”
Category: Inspirations
Inspirational Quotes for the WEEKEND
By Charles Leyman Kachitsa Culture defines us and safe to say follows us where ever we are. It is interesting to have such questions as where did it all began, where did it all start for people to have different cultures? In searching for the answers, one explanation stood out as the most probable one especially that shade light as to why the differences, the environment and temperature one is born in determines the culture one adopts. Of course, it does not mean that those people born in hotter regions are predominantly hot tempered, experience would turn to dispute that. Nature has its own ways as the opposite may be true. People born in hot region may be the most cool headed while those from areas supposedly very cold, freezing as to cool off the head, may be the most hot tempered. The environment in affecting culture does that as it influences people’s choices. From such things as food to how people use time, is all dependent on the environment which then informs on the culture of the people. Perhaps this is why a lot of people insist on compliance and adjustment on ones conduct to suit the prevailing environment, as they say, ‘When in Rome do what the Romans do.’ The quotes this week are from an author who through his career memoirs open up the most amazing of insights on how really a diplomat in a foreign land views the host country. I am sure that the selected quotations from the book as listed below, will enlighten you to one or two diplomatic life lessons, read and enjoy: THE LAST POST – A MEMOIR OF A HIGH COMMISSIONER IN LONDON by Kena Mphonda “From another perspective, the common language for most heads of missions in London is asking about where you go next after a London posting. The obvious answer, indeed, amongst ourselves was always that there is no other place to go to since we regarded London as the ultimate and final post. Of course, a number of our colleagues moved on to other capitals, Lazarus himself moving on to New York in May 2018. My other close colleague Muyeba Chikonde, High Commissioner to Zambia also moved on which made quite a difference. I literally went to every corner of London using my official vehicle, the tube, taxis, uber, trains, and buses.” “My immediate neighbours, Ben and his wife Lesley, retired British citizens, were jovial and engaging personalities. They had lived in their home for more than 20 years. He loved his white dog, a herding dog, likely a Belgian Shepherd, like his other compatriots. The other next-door neighbour, a complete turnaround, was insulated and opaque. At one point, it had to take Ben to ask our other neighbour to stop parking their vehicle right in front of our house, as that was our only parking bay. In essence, our neighbour was using the parking for two cars. They obliged. I simply ignored the family, except once when we had to talk to the wife. I later realised that not talking to your neighbour is really not unusual, …………” “The British monarchy is perhaps the most active and noticeable monarchy worldwide, which gives an extra gear to diplomacy. It is also regarded as the most expensive of all European monarchies, with the Spanish monarchy as the least expensive. —— But what always mesmerised me is the reverence and how magnetised the society is to it, to the extent that it has become so embedded in British life. Somehow, some form of puffery. The British even looked towards them for leadership during the COVID-19 period.” “As a Malawian, I do not forget the fact that when the state of emergency was declared in Nyasaland on March 3, 1959, by Sir Robert Armitage, this resulted in the death of 44 persons and none of the British soldiers died. Even the soldiers who died during the World Wars died for the cause of the British and there has never been any compensation as was in Kenya. The Malawi soldiers and those who were killed should indeed be remembered, but not using the poppy, which is only symbolic.”
Inspirational Quotes for the WEEKEND
By Charles Leyman Kachitsa In our youth there were some pointers to one being creative and adventurous, virtues that became useful as one discovers when grown up. Climbing trees and not just climbing but being able to find a fruit hidden in a tree that seems to have none, would be a great example of these practical signs of creativity. One of the signs of adventurousness was on occasions one got bitten by a hornet, ‘Mavu.’ It was something that indicated you were on a path of discovery mostly on climbing trees as that’s where you would mostly encounter a hornet nests and if you are unlucky arouse them to bite you. To be bitten by a hornet was a nasty experience because it caused itching and hardening of the skin of your face or wherever part it has bitten you. As a result though it was unknowingly a show of creativity, you would hide it from others hoping it won’t show the following day. Another show of brevity was losing ones toenails, often came off as a result of adventurous running or play without shoes. Painful but acknowledged by all seeing your pain as a sign of adventurousness and courage. More brevity was shown when salty water was poured on the open where the toenail had come off as that was the only anaesthetic treatment one could get to avoid infection. Just like in many things to fail and try again and again is a mark of resilience, our youth had these marks of resilience that separated adventurousness or courage and not trying at all. The quotes for this week are from the book whose author created the first ever differentiated banking experience coming after more than a decade of traditional bank dominance in the UK. In the book he shares his experiences in overcoming the usual assumptions of people not believing in something new and out of the box. I am sure the selected quotes below from the book will enlighten you to one or two life lessons, read and enjoy: FANS NOT CUSTOMERS – HOW TO CREATE GROWTH COMPANIES IN A NO GROWTH WORLD by Vernon W. Hill II “Just like at Metro, at Petplan it’s about empowering the team, allowing frontline people to make decisions. Chris and Natasha help structure those decisions and protect the rest of the company experience. But they allow their people to make decisions. This approach breeds an environment where, instead of people just passing along problems, they come with solutions. Instead of management saying, ‘That’s what the policy is’ or That’s the way the system is built,’ Petplan’s leadership culture responds: What do you think would be right? What would you suggest if this were your company? How would you handle this situation?’” “Anyone who has created a true growth company – whether it’s Bill Gates with Microsoft, Ray Kroc with McDonald’s, or Warren Buffett with Berkshire Hathaway – has been an agent of change by creating a new industry; reinventing an existing industry; going against conventional wisdom; enduring the barbs of the competition, media, and a skeptical public; and thinking outside the box. ——— During the early days of Metro Bank’s opening in London, we were attacked and opposed by the British Banking cartel, business reporters, and skeptics. For most, we were too small to matter and they assumed we wouldn’t grow enough to warrant much attention. As for the competition, they convinced themselves that a service-focused model would never work in London. Soon, they said we were only getting the accounts nobody wanted!” “If you think about it, it’s not too hard to figure out how you would like to be treated in a bank, and that’s what Shirley is great at doing. You don’t want to wait in line forever; you want the store to be open when you can get there. And the Metro Bank logo is seen behind the cashiers so you know without a doubt where you are. —— Any successful retail business develops a unique, engaging, and fun environment. That is what turns customers into fans – every time.” “One of our biggest challenges is to make sure we continue hiring the right people. Some people like the comfort of 9 to 5 hours, being told what to do, punching the clock, and not making waves. Most bankers have risen in an environment where, if you keep your head down and don’t say the wrong thing, a job in banking is almost an entitlement. That’s not the attitude we look for. Sometimes it takes a while to convince people that working harder than they ever before, and being held accountable at a higher level than ever before, may be right for them.”
Inspirational Quotes for the WEEKEND
By Charles Leyman Kachitsa Knowing you are observing someone who does not know what they are doing and that the ignorance is deeply entrenched due to miseducation or no education at all, is the most painful thing one has to endure. Perhaps that’s nature, as we can not have all people at the same knowledge level. If we were all the same in intellect life would have been not as exciting as we know it. Knowledge is power as it is said! Enlightenment is not for all, it is only open to a few who put themselves forward with earnest abandon to follow life laws of nature. Survival as an instinct, is one of the things God implanted in all living things to desire and adopt for a harmonious and fulfilled life. To not want to survive, is therefore against the laws of nature and if one takes that path the end is disastrous. Apart from survival, another of the grandeur laws of nature is growth. We learn, acquire knowledge mostly for growth and survival. In the modern world today, it has become so pressing for one to speed up their acquisition of knowledge so much that in some instances people have wanted their five year old children to have had a university degree of some sort. This is driven not for want of prestige but for the supposed survival and growth of both the parent and child. Watching children make obvious mistakes is an example of what has been stated above where you feel pain watching and feeling within you a wish they knew more, they had much education earlier. However, they say patience is a good virtue, we need to let nature take its course and mistakes are part of learning. The quotes this week are extracted from a book written by the founder of one of the fastest growing banks. He gives a better understanding on what it means to have a customer focused business. I am sure the selected quotations below from his book will enlighten you to one or two life lessons that do not necessarily relate to business only but other aspects as well, read and enjoy: FANS NOT CUSTOMERS – HOW TO CREATE GROWTH COMPANIES IN A NO GROWTH WORLD by Vernon W. Hill II “Appearance matters, service matters, and convenience matters. —– You can never be too fanatical about service. We have a goal of 100 percent customer service every time, every day, always. While that is physically impossible, it’s what we really must strive for, and anything short of that is unacceptable. Once you start setting ratios of 98 percent satisfaction, it’s slippery slope to 96 percent, which is just not acceptable. You can never be too detail oriented. And it is everybody’s job to care about everything. Shirley, Craig and I always shop our stores. You have to treat the business like you own it. —— Metro Bank is the new and improved version of our American model. Think about it: where else will customers find a bank with extended hours that is open seven days a week? Or where the cashiers don’t go to lunch during the customers’ lunch hour? We encountered the odd London practice of branch training on Wednesdays, where they close for unannounced lengths of time to train employees about their products. Good for them, but customers don’t reliably know when their bank will be open and busy people don’t have time to waste waiting around. It will open whenever the bankers finish their training, which might be 10am, or, if training takes a little bit longer, 10.15, or even later. It’s insane, insensitive customer policy. It’s all about the bankers and what is convenient for them.” “In most large companies there are various silos reporting to chief officers of compliance, marketing, operations, and audit, and each has a point of view that reflects their fiefdom. But what do their individual concerns do to the brand they all represent? ——- There is a NatWest bank branch next door to the Metro store in Uxbridge, west London. During the first day of our two-day grand opening celebrations, NatWest put out a sign-board in front of their store that said, ‘NatWest customers, we are thinking about extending our hours.’ It didn’t say that they would do it – or when! ——- Another NatWest office did open on a Saturday to compete with us, but they would not allow banking transactions. So why were they open? Beats us! —— One of the other high street banks extended its hours during the 2012 Olympics, but once the Olympics ended, so did the extended hours.” “Customers can always expect us to keep our promises. And once they know they can expect this, we are in a position to shape expectation to match what we can do for them. —– Responsive and immediate action is more critical to success and creating fans than ever before. More and more businesses sell themselves on their commitment to getting things done quickly.” “To create a great business, create a persuasive culture that executes a differentiated model. And fanatically execute to exceed expectations. —— You can’t see someone’s values, but we can see how they behave and infer what their values are from that behaviour. —- We ask colleagues (staff) to attend to every detail, and to make every one right, and to ask a second person if they’re not sure about telling a customer ‘NO.’ ——- Our values and our behaviors are the same thing. The value is that we want to attend to every detail. And the behavior is that we attend to every detail. —-“
Inspirational Quotes for the WEEKEND
By Charles Leyman Kachitsa Nature and most things in nature thrive on the law of motion. Things move from one state to another and or change from one state to another dependent on the force that is being used. One dare say, money movement follows the same pattern as long as there are normal conditions. Where more force is being exerted, is where more money will follow if the conditions are normal. Of course all things have a source, we have to be certain of the source as it is where we need to connect in order to get whatever we desire. If you want money, identify with the source. A good example for the source of money is owning a business, or a job, or offering of a service. If all conditions are normal where one is offering their energy through doing business or a job, one expects to have money move to them. This is also true where one offers a service that others value, there will be movement of money towards them. At times it is better to present things this way, presenting them at a very domestic level. Man by his nature is a domestic animal if we have to take dwelling in houses as a qualification for a living thing to be termed domesticated. Like with all domesticated animals, order rules the way things are supposed to be conducted. Just as with all domesticated animals whose dictates include division of times into eating time, sleeping time, time to be locked away and time to appear to be exerting ones energy on some activity, motion means a lot. It follows that if you desire something, you have to know the order of its release. Money is no exception. The quotes this week are taken from a book written by one of the very successful chief executive of a growing international bank in modern times. He explains through the book what it takes to build a successful business empire. I am sure that the selected quotations below from the book will teach you one or two life lessons, read and enjoy: FANS NOT CUSTOMERS – HOW TO CREATE GROWTH COMPANIES IN A NO GROWTH WORLD by Vernon W. Hill II “It’s a customer service-centric business model that I believe can be applied to any business, in any industry. —— Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, believed in the highest possible levels of customer service but not necessarily in giving the customer what he thinks he wants. He told biographer Walter Isaacson, author of the 2011 bestseller Steve Jobs: —– Some people say, ‘Give the customers what they want.’ But that’s not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they’re going to want before they do. I think Henry Ford once said, ‘if I’d asked customers what they wanted, they would have told me, ‘A faster horse.’ People don’t know what they want until you show it to them. That’s why I never rely on market research. Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page.” “No model works without colleagues who believe and execute. We have recruited thousands of colleagues – and will recruit thousands more in the future – and they have seen the magic of a unique culture executing the right model. ——– In the retail business there are companies that grow rapidly, they attract attention because they create excitement. People want to get a thrill out of patronizing your business, whether it’s a bank, a retail store or even a pet insurance company. —– Metro Bank is on its way toward creating fans and redefining British banking. And I can’t wait to tell you how we do it. “ “We have never fired anybody for giving too much service. That will never happen. ——– In London, where customer service expectations in banks are so low, one of our CSRs started talking to a man about his background and where he grew up. Small talk, but he was so impressed by her genuine interest that he burst into tears of happiness in the store. He said that no one working in a bank had ever wanted to know that much about him.” “Any business can boast a great model with a reinforcing culture, but execution will determine its ultimate fate. Great retailers know that what happens at the store level – at the point of customer contact – and not at the corporate level, will determine the fate of a company. Retail is detail.”
Inspirational Quotes for the WEEKEND
By Charles Leyman Kachitsa Control and discipline are some of the important virtues of life. A well balanced life means one is able to control themselves in all aspects of life. Too little or too much of anything is the enemy of life. Life likes the balance or some will say the middle, central point or tendency. Knowing that point with certainty is a balancing act itself and comes through much discipline in behaviour and conduct. A balance has to be stuck even for positive things such as joy and laughter. Too much joy often does not end up well as somewhere something has to give room to accommodate the excess joy. Same is true of laughter, a much lighter one or knowing when you need to stop is always a craft one has to learn and master. For laughter carried outdoors where one is walking alone though it may have started indoors in the company of another, may be seen as insanity. Eat too much and you have problems, some of which are not evident immediately but may come years later especially if doing such becomes a habit. Eat too little, there may again be a problem as then the body will not be adequately catered for which may create malade. Sleep too little or too much creates in some cases unrepairable damage to the body, just like all things in life this also require the balancing act. Not too much as well as not too little of anything. To know the right point for the balance requires discipline. One has to gauge the stage they are at and what the balancing act is at such a stage, for life is a balancing act. The quotes this week are a continuation of extracting from the book that highlights some of the aspects in life that we blindly communicate to others with, call it the hidden language without words. I am sure that the selected quotes below from the book will enlighten you to one or two life lessons, read and enjoy: THE SILENT LANGUAGE by Edward T. Hall “…. They mean for one thing that once we have begun to really understand another people by mastering their language, we will still find hidden barriers which separate one people from another.” “Probably the most difficult point to make and make clearly is that not only is culture imposed upon man but it is man in a greatly expanded sense. Culture is the link between human beings and the means they have of interacting with others. The meaningful richness of human life is the result of the millions possible combinations involved in a complex culture.” “Literally thousands of experiences teach us unconsciously that space communicates. Yet this fact would probably never have been brought to the level of consciousness if it had not been realized that space is organized differently in each culture. The associations and feelings that are released in a member of one culture almost invariably mean something else in the next. When we say that some foreigners are ‘pushy,’ all this means is that their handling of space releases this association in our mind.” “Variety enables us to distinguish between intervals such as short duration and long duration, or long duration and very long duration. Variety is a factor in boredom, while the degree of boredom experienced depends on how rapidly time passes. ——- We look for variety in occupation, careers, and hobbies. Our public ‘demands’ a variety of material objects, fact that few of us can say what we are going to have for lunch or dinner three days from now, let alone next year. Yet there are millions of people in the world who know exactly what they are going to have, if they are to have anything at all. They will eat the same thing they had today, yesterday, and the day before.”
Inspirational Quotes for the WEEKEND
By Charles Leyman Kachitsa There are some occupations that are for life, to be associated with the holder for until they are no more in this world. I got surprised that someone could be referred to as a former musician. Unless one loses their voice, being a musician is for life. You can therefore never really label someone a former musician especially one who at a point had done that as a profession. The above also relate to teachers, once a teacher you carry that until you are called back to earth where we all came from. The label therefore of one as ‘former teacher’ does not hold. Unless one loses their sanity, they can teach as a teacher at any stage of their life, in various circumstances. Perhaps others may say the same of a lover; male or female, could we call one a former lover, this is very debatable. Politicians are another breed that can not be labelled as former politician when they stop visibly doing what may be construed as active politics. This is for the mare reason that the label may be adopted tactfully by one who is just taking a rest as they want time to reflect on such a demanding career. After all they say man by nature is a political animal. Could be the correct word to be used for such life careers is ‘retired’. For one can easily come out of retirement to be once again a musician, where they had been a retired musician, or to be a teacher once more where they had been labelled as retired teacher and or debatably lover, once more where they had retired as a lover. Moreover, we could have just politicians for life and nothing like retired politician, for all of us are politicians from birth. The quotes this week are a continuation from the book that define language in communication as being vast and not only exclusively verbal or simply words. It is full of life lessons from our daily living that we are blind to though visibly are there. I am sure the selected quotes below from this book will enlighten you to one or two of these lessons, read and enjoy: THE SILENT LANGUAGE by Edward T. Hall “Speech and sex are linked in obvious ways. Let the reader, if he or she doubts this, start talking like a member of the opposite sex for a while and see how long people let him or her get away with it. Sex and territory are also intermingled. For many birds there are breeding grounds, nesting territories, and, for many species, areas defended by males against other males. For humans there are places where the behaviour of the sexes toward each other is prescribed, like the parlour or the bedroom. We can see an intermingling of sex and territory in pool halls or in the old-time saloon from which ‘ladies’ were excluded.” “The history of mankind’s past is largely an account of our efforts to wrest space from others and to defend space from outsiders. A quick review of the map of Europe over the past half century reflects this fact. A multitude of familiar examples can be found to illustrate the idea of human territoriality. Beggars have beats, as do the policemen who try to get them to leave, and prostitutes work their own side of the street. Salesmen and distributors have their own territories which they will defend like any other living organism. The symbolism of the phrase ‘to move in on someone’ is completely accurate and appropriate. To have a territory is to have one of the essential components of life, to lack one is one of most precarious of all conditions.” “Today our species has developed extensions for practically everything we used to do with our bodies. The evolution of weapons begins with the teeth and the fist and ends with the atom bomb. Clothes and houses are extensions of our biological temperature-control mechanism. Furniture takes the place of squatting and sitting on the ground. Power tools, glasses, TV, telephones, and books which carry the voice across both time and space are examples of material extensions. Money is a way of extending and storing labor. Our transportation networks now do what we used to do with our feet and backs. In fact, all man-made material things can be treated as extensions of what was once done with the body or some specialized part of the body.” “Human beings have elaborated their defensive techniques with astounding ingenuity not only in warfare, but also in religion, medicine, and law enforcement. They must defend themselves not only against potentially hostile forces in nature but against those within human society. They also must cope with the destructive forces within their own persons. Religion is concerned with warding off both the dangers in nature and within the individual. Law-enforcement agencies have been developed to deal with offenders against societies. Medicine, too, defends the welfare of the groups as well as the individual against disease.” “…. This notion that there are significant portions of the personality that exist out of one’s own awareness but which are there for everyone else to see may seem frightening. The point, however, is a crucial one and will grow in importance as people begin to grasp its implications. What Sullivan said, in effect, was that the unconscious is not hidden to anyone except the individual who hides those parts which persons significant in his or her early life have disapproved. While they are dissociated or hidden from himself, they are there for trained observers to see and they can therefore be analyzed.”
Inspirational Quotes for the WEEKEND
By Charles Leyman Kachitsa Who could imagine that we all depend on temperature for our livelihood, behaviour and otherwise. It is something we want to ignore yet subconsciously it is with us always. From the time one wakes up in bed the first thing they do is to physically and mentally determine the temperature around them so that they do the needful behaviour to counter it. On waking up before getting off bed, if one adjudges the temperature outside their normal sleeping apparels or blankets to be cold, they would instantly jump to a warmer covering and make sure their plan for the day include covering themselves properly to avoid been ‘frozen’. On the other hand, dangerously if one feels the temperature is warm outside their blankets they would not mind much coming out of bed without thought of putting any coverings. I say dangerously because it is this feeling of thinking one is safe as the temperature is warm that has led men/ women to wake up not minding whether they have cloths on or not on them. Such is life. It is with the above in mind that the talk about climate change which has a direct link to the temperatures we experience as human beings, need to be taken seriously. Sometime next week or so prominent leaders are meeting in Scotland, UK to discuss the effects of climate change and the contribution of humanity to its adverse acceleration to global warming. They could not have chosen a better time of the year as they will all see how temperature affects us all, especially those coming from warmer climates, what with Scotland becoming colder as we edge into winter. We all need to take climate change issues very seriously as it affect our own existence and daily livelihood. The quotes this week are an extraction from the book that is a translation not of languages but from a series of complex, nonverbal, contexting communications putting them into easier to understand meanings as possible explanations based on facts. I am sure that the selected quotations below from this book will enlighten you to one or two life lessons, read and enjoy: THE SILENT LANGUAGE by Edward T. Hall “Culture hides much more than it reveals, and strangely enough what it hides, it hides most effectively from its own participants. Years of study have convinced me that the real job is not to understand foreign culture but to understand our own. I am also convinced that all that one ever gets from studying culture is a token understanding. The ultimate reason for such study is to learn more about how one’s own system works. The best reason for exposing oneself to foreign ways is to generate a sense of vitality and awareness – an interest in life which can come only when one lives through the shock of contrast and difference.” “Yet our tremendous brain has endowed us with a drive and a capacity for learning which appear to be as strong as the drive for food or sex. This means that when a middle-aged man or woman stops learning he or she is left with a great drive and highly developed capacities. If this individual goes to live in another culture, the learning process is often reactivated. For most Americans tied down at home this is not possible. To forestall atrophy of their intellectual powers people can begin learning about those areas of their own culture which have been out of awareness. They can explore the new frontier.” “Americans attach no stigma to work with the hands, but in many other cultures manual labor is considered to be undignified, a sign of low status. This difference alone creates innumerable difficulties and delays. Sometimes the role of the American is misinterpreted when they ‘pitch in’ or demonstrate how something is to be done. On other occasions the local nationals simply refuse to have anything to do with an occupation that is ranked so low that it has to be done with the hands. For years throughout Latin America nursing was retarded because it ranked so near the bottom of the scale that only uneducated girls would become nurses. The handling of bedpans as well as many other duties normally linked with nursing were considered menial and dirty. Similarly, attempts to teach industrial safety in Latin America foundered on cultural reefs when it was discovered that safety engineers had to wear coveralls and ‘demonstrate’ safety measures on machines in the plant.” “One of the first things that must be known about an animal is whether it is male or female of the species. The fact that behaviour in animals is predominantly sex-linked has led to certain misconceptions concerning the role of sex in humans. It is a great mistake to assume that the behaviour which is observed in people is linked to physiology. Studies of culture have shown us that this is usually not the case. Behaviour that is exhibited by males in one culture may be classed as feminine in another. All cultures differentiate between men and women, and usually when a given behaviour pattern becomes associated with one sex it will be dropped by the other.” “In much of Latin America it was long thought that a man could not possibly suppress the strong urges that took possession of him every time he was alone with a woman. In the eyes of the Latinos, women were considered unable to resist a man. The result was that the pattern of association contained safeguards and protective measures. Americans who were going to Latin America had to be cautioned that if they let themselves get into a situation with a member of the opposite sex where something could have happened, it would be no use to tell people it had not. The Latin response would be, ‘After all. you’re a man, aren’t you? She’s a woman, isn’t she?’ The point the Americans couldn’t get through their heads was that these people
Inspirational Quotes for the WEEKEND
By Charles Leyman Kachitsa In life there are things that seem obvious and basic yet not most capture their essence. Take for example the importance of practising or training what we want to excel at. A much better example is one wanting to be good at a particular sport like football, they would set abundant time to train themselves trying all the manoeuvres and tactics that they believe would make them a great sportsman or woman. Yet the same person wanting to be good at another thing other than sports will not take time to train or practice, say one wants to excel in business. The above is not only in relation to intensive practice or training on those things we want to excel in. It also relates to the discipline required. To be a great sports person requires observance of certain things for instance dietary issues in content and scheduling. Just like in sports most things in life require us to observe some discipline in defined areas. Yet if it’s not the sports, most people would not take time to comply with necessary requirements to the letter. Of course like in all things in life some people like to take short cuts albeit to the detriment of their reputation and or own personal health. Here things like performance inducement drugs in sports could be mentioned where some take such as short cut in conditioning their body to have supernatural strength than would be acquired by training or practice alone. If we go to work or jobs, most people believe in training only once, believing that as they do their work it’s practicing itself, which is true to a point but you still need formal training or exercise once in a while to learn new tricks from current standards. We all need training and practice. Even the soul or mind to be in the habit of love and kindness needs to practice and train regularly before getting into the playing field of actually doing. The quotes this week are from a book which one commentator in describing what it portrays, suggested it shows how cultural factors influence the individual behind his back, without his knowledge. I am sure that the selected quotations from the book given below will enlighten you to one or two life lessons, read and enjoy: THE SILENT LANGUAGE by Edward T. Hall “The Voices of Time – Time talks. It speaks more plainly than words. The message it conveys comes through loud and clear. Because it is manipulated less consciously, it is subject to less distortion than the spoken language. It can shout the truth where words lie….. —– Different parts of the day for example, are highly significant in certain contexts. Time may indicate the importance of the occasion as well as on what level an interaction between persons is to take place. In the United States if you telephones someone early in the morning, while he is shaving or she is having breakfast, the time of the call usually signals a matter of utmost importance and extreme urgency. The same applies to calls after 11:00 P.M. A call received during sleeping hours is apt to be taken as a matter of life and death, …… “ “After years of performances such as this, no white man in his right mind will hazard a guess as to when one of these ceremonial dances will begin. Those of us who have learned now know that the dance doesn’t start at a particular time. It is geared to no schedule. It starts when ‘things’ are ready!” “……. Honest and sincere people in the field continue to fail to gasp the true significance of the fact that culture controls behaviour in deep and persisting ways, many of which are outside of awareness and therefore beyond conscious control of the individual. When anthropologists stress this point they are usually ignored, for they are challenging the deepest popular American beliefs about ourselves as well as foreigners. They lead people to see things they might not want to see.” “People of the Western world, particularly Americans tend to think of time as something fixed in nature, something around us and from which we cannot escape, an ever-present part of the environment, just like the air we breathe. That it might be experienced in any other way seems unnatural and strange, a feeling which is rarely modified even when we begin to discover how really differently it is handled by some other people. Within the West itself certain cultures rank time much lower in over-all importance than we do. In Latin America, for example, time is treated rather cavalierly. In Mexico one commonly hears the expression, ‘Our time or your time?’ ‘Hora americana, bora mejicana?’”
Inspirational Quotes for the WEEKEND
By Charles Leyman Kachitsa Why do we need to follow laws? Naturally in normal circumstances human beings don’t like to have hedges put around them. We feel the expanse of the skies give us all the freedom to do as we please. However, as that freedom at the beginning meant people could do to others anything they like, laws were introduced. Tracing the records for their advent takes us to Moses in the Holy Book, the Bible, he received the first written laws from the creator Himself, God. Laws regulate life, though with time as people felt pleased, they started looking for loopholes in every law given them. The result is that we have had, still have sometimes people appearing very obedient to laws whose only remembrance of innocence before it is their own witfulness in finding loopholes where tighter laws exist. Of course life is not straight certain as what we would call law in other cases are not, but only ways to advantage the few in position to enjoy their side of the same laws. Nature has laws, natural laws in every area which when observed to the letter produces the expected results regardless. It has been so from time immemorial that if we observe natural laws to chart harmonious environment, we get to that result without struggle. If we follow such natural laws resulting in human happiness, starting with the first set as given by God to Adam and later to Moses, the world will be a better place for everyone living in it. Everything has a law that need to be followed, life of abundance, health living, happy living, social harmony and all the nice certainties of life. It’s only that we have grown wiser and have invented our own laws and abandoned the natural laws or at least draw them following the natural laws. The quotes this week are another extraction from a book that should make one when read to admire at nature and the things we know that we do not know. I am sure that the selected quotations below from this book will enlighten you to one or two life lessons, read and enjoy: A MESSAGE TO GARCIA AND OTHER ESSENTIAL ESSAYS ON SUCCESS by Elbert Hubbard “Do not fear being misunderstood; and never waste a moment thinking about your enemies. Try to fix firmly in your own mind what you would like to do, and then without violence of direction you will move straight to the goal. ——- Fear is the rock on which we split, and hate the shoal on which many a barque is stranded. When we become fearful, the judgement is as unreliable as the compass of a ship whose hold is full of iron ore; when we hate, we have unshipped the rudder; and if ever we stop to meditate on what the gossips say, we have allowed a hawser to foul the screw.” “Character is the result of two things, mental attitude, and the way we spend our time. It is what we think and what we do that make us what we are. “ “These truths I hold to be self-evident: That man was made to be happy; that happiness is only attainable through useful effort; that the very best way to help ourselves is to help others, and often the best way to help others is to mind our own business; that useful effort means the proper exercise of all our faculties; that we grow only through exercise; that education should continue through life, and the joys of mental endeavor should be, especially, the solace of the old; that where men alternate work, play and study in right proportion, the organs of the mind are the last to fail, and death for such has no terrors.” “There are those who never do a thing until they are told twice: such get no honors and small pay. Next, there are those who do the right thing only when necessity kicks them from behind, and these get indifference instead of honors, and a pittance for pay. This kind spends most of its time polishing a bench with a hard-luck story. Then, still lower down in the scale than this, we find the fellow who will not do the right thing even when some one goes along to show him how, and stays to see that he does it; he is always out of a job, and receives the contempt he deserves, unless he has a rich pa, in which case Destiny awaits near by with a stuffed club.” “…….. Sympathy and imagination are twin sisters. Your heart must go out to all men, the high, the low, the rich, the poor, the learned, the unlearned, the good, the bad, the wise and the foolish – it is necessary to be one with them all, else you can never comprehend them. Sympathy! – it is the touchstone to every secret, the key to all knowledge, the open sesame of all hearts. Put yourself in the other man’s place and then you will know why he thinks certain things and does certain deeds. Put yourself in his place and your blame will dissolve itself into pity, and your tears will wipe out the record of his misdeeds. The saviours of the world have simply been men with wondrous sympathy.” “That the possession of wealth can never make a man exempt from useful manual labor; that if all would work a little, no one would then be overworked; that if no one wasted, all would have enough; that if none were overfed, none would be underfed; that the rich and ‘educated’ need education quite as much as the poor and illiterate; that the presence of a serving class is an indictment and a disgrace to our civilization; that the disadvantage of having a serving class falls most upon those who are served, and not upon those who serve – just as the real curse of slavery fell upon