So recently I read
this article and I was totally appalled. For those of you who do not want to read it, I will
summarize it for you. The author is basically complaining that he is not
revered, and has thus not prospered, despite being above 65% of people in his skills,
knowledge and integrity. He attributes this to the fact that with the majority
of people being mediocre (in a place he calls the safe middle – 40% to 60%),
they prefer to expend their energy on ridiculing him and trying to pull him
down to their level so as to feel good about themselves. He was prompted to cry
out when @cobbo3, a person he thinks is enlightened and sophisticated, made
some comments that seemed to suggest he agreed with the status the world accorded
@TimKalyegira. The thing that really got me was when he claims he has been
denied so many opportunities that others less talented or less educated or less
innovative than him are getting.
I am a big fan of
football and many times people have used the expression the table does not lie.
This is in reference to the league table and the fact that every team deserves
to be where they are in the table at that time. So that guy @TimKalyegira is
suffering because he chose a certain path. Other people chose a different path
and it worked out for them. He cannot seriously expect the rest of the world to
lift a finger to make things work out for him just because they recognize his
excellence. We are all trying to get ahead, so it is only logical that some of
our actions in trying to get ahead end up pulling others down.
Think about a
mid-table team. No real prospects of continental football and no danger of
being relegated. According to @TimKalyegira, when that team plays a team
fighting for the title, they should simply lay down and loose the game. If that
team, because of a natural desire not to loose, actually goes ahead and wins
that game or even just gets a draw (night mares of @CPFC vs @LFC in 2013/2014
season), then @TimKalyegira sees that as the mediocre hating on the
exceptional.
I consider it the
height of arrogance when people insinuate that the world owes them something. I
think @TimKalyegira is being self-centered when he asserts that the world
should accord him a status higher than where he finds himself. Rather than wait
for the world to accord him status, I think @TimKalyegira should take
inspiration from other exceptional people, like Steve Jobs and Albert Einstein,
and actually take action that will force the world to accord him his desired
status. Nearer to home, @KagutaMuseveni went to the bush to ensure he was where
he felt he deserved to be (all that other stuff about doing it for the good of
Ugandans is hogwash in my view).
We are all selfish
beings. We all expend a lot of energy to get to selfish ends. The sooner we
realize that our neighbor is just trying to make it better for himself, rather
than worse for us, the sooner we shall adjust our strategies to create win-win
situations that will make other people our engines, helping us to get to where
we want to be; rather than our anchors, slowing us down.
