Stay hungry, Stay foolish

“Everyone for himself but God for us all.” This is a common saying accepted and lived out by many around the world. Indisputably though, this brazen and antiquated belief is partly responsible for the coldness and callousness exhibited around us.

To put this in context, consider a company setup. At the slightest incidence of an isolated and unintentional action that affects the business image, staff are laid off without a second thought, even the most trusted and well-performing ones, who are often deemed as ‘assets’. When profit margins are not met, when the operational costs are ballooning and consequentially threatening their hefty year-end bonuses, you’ll realize that the seductive rhetoric “We are a family” used by the ‘big boys’ during meetings was nothing but a delusion.

I don’t understand why but I have also observed the disrespect that some football players face when they have outlived their usefulness and their presence is no longer needed. The same people who once bid millions of dollars just to get an athlete’s signature are the same ones who demonstrate heightened disregard and acrimony. I cringe at admitting the truth that we live in a culture that normalizes this painful fact of life, one that we know of but tend to easily forget: “Most people are only interested in you not because of who you are but because of what you can offer. As soon as your efficacy is no longer appealing or a replacement can be found or their survival is threatened, you’ll be thrown under the bus without a taint of regret.”

So, what’s the antidote? Is it emulating the majority’s way? After all, the sages from the East African Coast told us, “Dawa ya moto ni moto” loosely translated to mean the remedy for any tension-causing situation is also contributing to the tension. Far be it!! Martin Luther King wisely quipped that “Darkness cannot be overcome with more darkness, only with light. Violence cannot be overcome with more violence, only with peace.”I recommend a lesson that was verbalized by Steve Jobs in his commencement speech at Stanford University back in 2005: “Stay hungry, stay foolish.”

Over the course of your life, you’ll get innumerable rejections, many will overlook, demean, or mistreat you. They’ll offer nonsensical excuses to deny you opportunities for growth and advancement. Some will do this because of the color of your skin, your religious beliefs, your personality, your ethical principles, or sometimes because of no reason at all. Nevertheless, stay hungry, stay foolish: Exhibit a hunger for greatness and excellence, not to prove to them that you are better but to prove to yourself that you can be better. Yes, showcase your ‘foolishness’ as one who neither sees nor hears any evil. Choose to turn the intended frustration to your advantage, to fuel your ambitions and drive your success.

Probably this timeless prose by Mother Teresa summarizes it best: “Life is an opportunity, benefit from it. Life is beauty, admire it. Life is a dream, realize it. Life is a challenge, meet it. Life is a duty, complete it. Life is a game, play it. Life is a promise, fulfill it. Life is sorrow, overcome it. Life is a song, sing it. Life is a struggle, accept it. Life is a tragedy, confront it. Life is an adventure, dare it. Life is luck, make it. Life is too precious, do not destroy it. Life is life, fight for it.”

Cheers, good people, to a week and lifetime full of elevated ideals.