‘No Man is an Island’
No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as any manner of thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. John Donne
While it is true that technology has reduced the world to a small village,it has also drawn us farther apart in our human interactions. This is because we tend to prefer technology over human interaction. For instance, it is not surprising to find a group of friends who made plans for them to hang out because they probably had missed each other yet when they meet, each is on their phone. We therefore fail to learn from one another especially through observation because we are so keen to not let anything happening on social media pass us that we ignore the people we are in company of. I've heard people the age of my parents, say in their fifties and sixties, complain, sometimes to me, of how undisciplined and detached my generation is because about 90% of our free time is spent on our phones. We don't know how to have conversations. Our interpersonal skills are wanting to say the least. We barely even have things to talk about beyond the very superficial "hi, how are you?" I however think that the rubber has not just began meeting the road. It began a while ago only that we were not too keen to notice. While our parents were too busy trying to make a living and ensure that we get a better childhood than they did, we were left to spend our time on technology and our interactions were limited to that as we didn't get to go out as often. For some, it was as bad as you are not allowed to go outside or even play with the neighbours. I am however learning that experience tramps knowledge any day. It is important that we try, as much as it is within our control, to reduce the gap that exists in these generations. For instance, it is not surprising for us to have a really effective leader who executes a lot of policies in their area of assignment resulting in quite a lot of progress. However, once this person leaves the picture, everything that he had built comes crumbling. A very practical example would be the Michuki rules in the public transport sector. These rules were introduced in 2003 when the late John Michuki was minister for transport and communication. However, soon after Michuki left the docket, the rules came crumbling down and have only been reintroduced in 2018 after the bottomless pit of road carnage has swallowed quite a number of people. Needless to say, the minister who took office after Michuki and the one after him couldn't build up or even maintain the standard that he set in the transport sector. A while back at an inauguration service back in school, the speaker reminded us that the success of a leader is known truly by the success of the leaders who come in after the leader exits office. This is because leaders identify, develop and invest in future leaders. Investing in people transcends conventional leadership into all areas of life because there will always be someone who has gone ahead of you. The person is then tasked with a responsibility of guiding you so that you don't fall into the very same pitfalls they did... You learn from their mistakes and make wiser choices. Also, you do not have to take so much time figuring things out when you can always ask for help. A friend once called us out and told us that sometimes not asking for help is an element of pride and we all know that nothing good comes out of pride. When people invest in each other, the community at large stands to gain. For instance, companies won't go bankrupt thus shutting down just because the founders have passed on. This means employment opportunities are provided and the economy grows. If older men and women take time to teach the younger boys and girls what it means to be a man or a woman, we probably will have more mature and responsible adults who know what is expected of them rather than having young men or women who are told to be a man/woman while they know not what that means. Also, if those who have been married for a while intentionally decide to walk with younger couples, maybe the divorce rates in the country will reduce.
Each one of us has a role to play in the actualization of this. It is up to us to reach out and hold the hands of they that are below us and pull them up… If no one ever did it for us, we can do it for someone else.
So then I ask, will you hold my hand?
Love,
Quintessence.
