“The hardest thing to see is what is in front of your eyes”
-Goethe
In the last three weeks I have been trying to organise seminars on “Moringa Oleifera”, popularly known as wonder plant, for secondary school teachers in Osun state, Nigeria. “What is Moringa?” And why secondary school teachers?
Moringa, I discovered recently, contains 7 times the vitamin C of oranges, 4 times the vitamin A of carrots, 4 times the calcium of milk, 3 times the potassium of banana and 2 times the protein of yoghurt. Besides its nutritional value, it can save millions of lives and it could be used to generate bio-gas, among others. As a result of its enormous benefits to mankind, I decided to share what I know with others so that our society can be a better place to live in. So I made up my mind to first take this money-spinning idea to my former constituency – to teachers. I taught for six years before I moved on to other things in life. I was however shocked to find out that the way it was when I was still teaching, is still the way it is now. Despite the immense opportunities in Moringa that my people in “chalk and talk” business could tap into, they bombarded me with litany of complaints such as ‘we don’t have money’, ‘the money you are charging for the seminar is too much’ and so on. You may want to ask how much is the money? Just $6 to turn their lives round! My heart bled because those who are supposed to know are actually ignorant of what could fetch them additional income. Those we expect so much from cannot see what is right in front of them!
There is no doubt that we are blessed in Africa. But we seem blind to a lot of opportunities around us simply because of our scarcity mentality. We think of what we do not have rather than taking advantage of what we have. We complain we do not have money, thinking that it is only money we need to make money. We have forgotten that we cannot rise above the level of our thinking. If we think we do not have then definitely we may not have. Besides Moringa, there are other opportunities for us that we can take advantage of in Africa, but we still complain we do not have when we live amidst abundance. How then do we overcome this scarcity mentality that has tethered us down for a long time?
The first step to take is to renew our thoughts daily. What we think about, we become. Who we are outside is a reflection of who we are inside. If you see yourself as poor person inside there is no way you can be rich outside. Most civil servants in African societies more often than not see themselves as poor, and their appearances reflect their state of mind from time to time. So, to overcome scarcity mentality, you must consciously renew your thoughts. Rid your yourself of negative thought and thoughts of scarcity. Think abundance. After all, out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
Desires and confessions are intertwined; they are inseparable. While many have done their desires a lot of good through the words of their mouths, others have short-changed themselves with their confessions. You cannot be a poor person within and be rich without. You cannot be a gloomy person within and be cheerful without. What a man will be on the outside, he must first be in the inside. You must speak power to your desires which first exist as thoughts in your mind.
But beyond the renewal of your thoughts and your confessions, you must also put life to your words through action. Nothing moves unless we move. We may continue to complain we do not have if we do not activate what we have in our minds. This brings to mind the story of a man who lives in my new neighbourhood. I met this man sometime in 2008. He had a life-threatening experience during the Modakeke-Ife internecine war in 2000. He lost everything he had laboured for in the war – cars, houses, businesses! The only thing he had left was his life. This man, because of his pastoral calling, was fond of confessing positive things without taking any concrete actions. The result? He kept on complaining of lack! About a month ago, this man approached me for counsel. I had to be down-to-earth with him. I told him that what he needed was to take a concrete step. I advised him to sell one of his burnt houses to start a business. He did what I advised him to do and today he is a poultry farmer. He does not complain about not having what to eat again. He is gradually recovering what he lost during the war. It is not sufficient to confess positive thoughts alone; we need to back them up with action.
You may be thinking that taking action is not easy. I know. But it is possible to start with what you have from where you are. It is just a matter of starting small. It is little drops of water that make a mighty ocean. We may remain at the level of scarcity if we do not want to begin small. It may interest you to note that I started rabbit rearing with just 2 rabbits – 1 male and 1 female, but today I have a big rabbit farm. We do not just sell live rabbits, but also sell processed rabbits! What you do not start, cannot grow.
To overcome scarcity mentality therefore, we must consciously practise the following tips:
- Renew your thoughts daily; avoid negative thoughts as much as possible and think possibilities.
- Take a step beyond positive thinking; take action; and
- If you think taking action is not that easy, start what you have thought about in a small way from where you are.
With the steps above, you will begin to sing a new song. No more scarcity mentality; you will begin to see the immense opportunities in Africa. You are not created to lack; you are created to have everything in abundance.
