The First Achievement; Lead By Patrick Adjei Nketia

The leadership of the National Service Personnel Association (NASPA, Sefwi Wiawso) was poised to leave an indelible mark during their term of office. After putting together their plan of action for the year, they hit the running with the implementation of various projects and programs.

The first task on the bill was for them to organize a Career Guidance Seminar, with rationale that, it was to serve as a platform for the Senior High School Students (S.H.S) to know how they could fine-tune their minds and activities towards realizing a formidable foundation for their career.

This challenge exposed them to many other learning opportunities (problems) and how they could resolve conflicts, deal with grievances, improve upon their attitudes and how they could conduct themselves as budding professional leaders.

Some of his executives had leadership experience whilst others did not. Patrick kept an open mind to adapt to the new personalities he is to work with. Patrick had excellent human and interpersonal relations skills, which was coupled with some knowledge from a book entitled, “How to win friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie”.

The implementation of this program was not new to him, however, he was in an absolutely new environment and needed some assistance as to the right people to offer them the support to make things happen.

Fortunately, out of the five executives, three were from the town. God been so good, they were able to locate some philanthropists, whom they distributed their sponsorship letters and were gladly granted.

Almost everything was set to go for the program dubbed “NASPA CAREER GUIDANCE SEMINAR” to happen on the 28^th January, 2012 at the auditorium of Sefwi Wiawso Senior High Sch(SEWASS). However, there was one hurdle to be jumped. Patrick and his crew had done all the donkeywork but were left with a chairman for the program. All proposed chairpersons had turned their invitation down due to their attendance to other equally important duties on the said date.

Two days to the program, Patrick had a flash in his mind to call upon a man he met couple of weeks ago at a ceremony organized by the district assembly to congratulate some beneficiaries from a government initiative.

This man was attracted to Patrick by a book he was reading, ‘Giant Steps by Anthony Robbins’, from that time they had tried to acquaint themselves to each other marvelously. Patrick was amazed by the incident that brought them to know each other but latterly realized that everything in this life happens for a reason or a purpose.

This man was suave and affable, he was about to hit his fifties. As Patrick informed him about the event and the proposition, he gladly agreed and required a formal letter to that effect. Patrick didn’t hesitate but smartly drafted the letter and presented it to him in his office, where they both talked at length. The man admired Patrick for his leadership expertise and his passion for community service.

The day before the program, Patrick and some of his executives went to the venue and made the necessary preparations to pave way for the event.

On the actual date of the program, Patrick dressed exquisitely in his suit and rushed to the venue to see how the other executives were doing with the final preparations for the commencement of the program.

It was not long ago, when one of the selected schools reported. They were welcomed and ushered in, other dignitaries and the keynote speakers trooped in shortly. A few minutes later, the host school joined their other counterparts to fill the auditorium.

The opening prayer was said and the program begun. The keynote speakers were adept and the chairman iced it with his wonderful, sensational choice of words that brought the whole auditorium into a state of riant.

There were over 500 participants and after the program, the comments and the questions posed by some of the participants signified that the program really served its purpose.

Patrick and his executives were commended tremendously for the wonderful efforts in bringing the event to fruition. They were also edged to extend it to the other schools that were not able to attend by the chairman and other teachers who were present at the event.

Patrick sat on a bench under a tree after the program and said to himself, “at the end of the day, success is helping to better someone’s life.”

Why A Child Asks Questions; You Need To Know.

“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity.”- Albert Einstein

Couple of weeks ago, I observed a woman, who was dressed in an African print and might be in her fifties. She was with her three year old daughter at a bus station where I was waiting to board a bus. As I sat beside them on a pew, the woman was rubbing a cream from a paste-like tube on the bare chest and stomach of her child.

What caught my attention was, after a chewing stick vendor came and spoke with the child. She also interacted with the woman for some seconds. This little girl kept talking whilst her mother smeared the cream on her tummy. I could hear her little voice sounding but could not understand what this little angel was articulating.

I stopped to take a glance at this little angel and her mother. To my amazement, this little angel was asking her mother questions about virtually anything that caught her attention and her mother took time to explain things to her as she gradually kept smearing the cream on the little soul.

I kept a smiling face as I observed the little angel even asking about when her mother was going to buy a new cream as she could see the pomade was getting finished. I am saying, some children even ask, “what makes rice sweet and if a man had a pot belly, if he was pregnant?”

A willing and ready soul to learn seeks answers through questioning. The likes of Plato, Socrates and others were used to the asking of questions to find revealing answers to some mind boggling issues about the world.

Anthony Robbins says, “thinking is nothing but a state of questioning and answering in the mind”. Have you ever made a point to ask yourself a question about, why an unfortunate situation you experienced happened? What was the benefit you derived from that humiliating moment of your life?

Have you asked yourself what is good about your partner? In a relationship, most of us at times ask negative questions about some incidents and we get negative answers which makes us think that, we are not with the right partner and nothing good will come out of the relationship.

However, if we could make few minutes and ask ourselves positive questions like, ‘what does this unfortunate situation teaches me, what I can do to help my partner so that we can go far with this relationship?

My reader, what I am saying is true. Whatever it may be, if you could ask and seek the positive side of every encounter, you will not be perplexed but you will be filled with an intrinsic joy to learn something positive from a regretful moment and the unsound times in your relationships.

If you are willing to learn, be inquisitive as a child and you will always be on a swinging wheel and life will become an unending study of joy and pleasure.

Thanks for your time and keep up living with a positive mental attitude. Have a good one and cheers.