Treating and wishing people well is investment...

Perhaps the reason why some people don’t like to be alone in their misfortune is because of the actions of those who tend to derive pleasure from the misfortunes of others, and that’s not so uncommon these days.

In fact, 'mo kiling-kiling’ol ka wandi successo' celebrate. 'Nteh malong' what fulfillment is there in seeing or hearing about a fellow 'Adama-dingo’s nhee torroh', especially one who had never treated you with a no?

'Barri wolatingna mo jamaa buka kor ku', because the good as well as the bad news is that life will go on, and how it goes on for each of us will depend on our individual behavioural investments.

That is to say, those who choose virtue will in the end be rewarded, but an ironically deserved retribution lies ahead of those who prefer the opposite of virtue.

In the interim, only God knows who’s real and who’s not, and He won’t talk. Or maybe He had - in the passages of scripture and through His messengers, but do we pay attention is what I doubt.

None is useless...

In my opinion, no individual is useless. I believe we’re all but different seeds. And like all seeds, we’re all blessed with the capacity to grow from seed to plant and from plant to fruit. But, the sprouting of every seed to seedling depends not only on rainwater and sunlight, but also on the fertility of the soil on which it is sowed.

However, when a particular soil is so dry and infertile and you cannot move to a better place, you improve the soil condition by watering and adding manure to it, and that’s where individuals outperform each other.

Those who’re avoidably hopeless will certainly want it, but will render every possibility improbable because they look at issues from a fixed point of view. Average people will wish it, but since they tend to hold God responsible for everything, they’ll sit with style and wait for Him to fix it. But I guess they don’t read Quran 13:11, especially the middle line of the verse: “Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves.”

In 2011, Barack Obama told his lawmakers that “In God We Trust” is their motto, but he said “that’s not putting people back to work”. He also said: “I trust in God, but God wants to see us help ourselves by putting people back to work” – and I think he’s right.

So yeah, creative people are alert to God and godliness, but to effectively use their God-given ingenuity, they also draw inspiration from wise people and stories of people of enterprise. Every break in their journey is seen as a lesson or a challenge, because they believe it’s never impossible to change things to what they could’ve been. So they’ll give their all to either succeed greatly or fail greatly and that’s why they accomplish greatly.

Some because they’re seeded too deeply will take time to sprout. Others will grow wrongly because of poor nurturing. Some are like the Cactus, Elephant and Palm Trees, or the beautiful Marigold and Desert Lily and will grow no matter what, because they’re solidly built to adapt to the toughness and extremity of any soil condition.

Laaa! See what usually happens when weekend starts and I am broke. I become SO philosophical, but I guess that’s because many lessons that gave birth to interesting things today were learned that way - the hard way. Have a wonderful Friday!

What you see is what you sow!

The thing about ridiculous attitude is that if you don’t get rid of it or if it doesn’t walk away from you, the people close to you will get sick and tired of the drama and walk away. Now hang on let me give an example:

Let’s say you’re famous for being famous - I mean you’re well-known for absolutely nothing; no known talent or career, you’re only almost educated, you’ve never done anything that was in any way, shape or form beneficial to anyone. But you start developing attitude because of your self-delusion habit on social media. You start thinking that all those 'Nangam' friends and followers garnered through stalking should be fascinated with what you’ve become.

Unfortunately, those close friends you used to IM/DM to 'like' of 'comment' on your pictures don’t buy that. Your friend Haddy doesn’t talk to you anymore, Kinneh thinks you’ve become so full of yourself, your onetime crutch Jainaba feels you’re thankless, Saffie that used to like everything you post is now sick of your drama, in fact she overtly expresses approval of everything on her timeline but yours, Penda thinks you’re a sellout, Abisatou says the only time you remember her Whatsapp contact is when you need help with something, even peaceful Ramou said she’s tired of you saying one thing this minute and contradicting yourself the next minute.

So shit got real like that and you think finding reason to call all these ^ people haters is the way out. You start putting up statuses, burning bad-minds and trying to harvest pity from new friends who barely know you. My friend if you ask me, ask yourself if you're not to blame. Dismiss the hateful assumptions, check yourself, revisit your deeds and words, and dig your heels against emptiness. I swear down after realising that you’re the reason, you will want to come on here to thank me.

Mann tamit namuma dara!

Pretending to be living large doesn’t bother me. In fact even if you’re evidently hungry, horny and lonely all at once and still claim to be yearn-free or worry-free, I swear down I wouldn’t judge you. But that’s because I am a cool guy. I know happiness is just a mental state and I also know that a fantasy world will require one to invent grandiose yarns and play them out like Hollywood scripts.

What I cannot stand is compulsive bullshitting. But if out of good manners I cannot tell you to shut the fuck up, I try to even the score. So today on the issue of “narrow escape” I told this dude that on September 11, at 8:46AM, I was at the World Trade Centre signing a business deal. I said I was on the exact floor of the North Tower that was the first to be hit by that tragic plane and all I got was a tiny scratch.

He knew shit was a load of bullshits, I could see the shock on his face but what the hell can he say - the Golden Rule says: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"

Do not eat from the potty...

If your food is served in a potty (potti samburr) and for some reason you cannot bluntly admonish the server, not eating the food will be a sufficient reaction. But if you decide to eat out of avid appetite and despite the ugliness of the potty, then any contempt that follows will be permissible and thanks to your own conduct.

In other words, if you want to blow off a buddy for a cooler buddy to and to facilitate your acquisition of things or to gain some form of social acceptance, opportunities (right or wrong) will present themselves, but if the consequence of your chosen means is going to lead to a bad reputation, then the noblest thing to do is to exercise restraint.

Otherwise, you’ll not only end up dissatisfied, but will also tend to make a scapegoat of, or pass your resentment and fury onto targets that are not the actual cause, and that’s not cool. 

Two types of friends:

There are two types of friends: a friend “because of” and a friend “in spite of”. The friend “in spite of” is the one that stays true regardless of your weirdness. The one who’ll stick up for you and your honour without your knowledge and won’t bother to tell you, because he expects nothing and probably don't want to upset you with a matter he’s already dealt with.

The friend “because of” is the one who’s there to reap, and the one you tend to accept with open arms because he can suck up, tell you the bad side of everyone but himself, feed you with miseries of what others say about you, but that’s just to bring your mood down on those people, and he’ll never say what he did or said in all that. In fact you may not know how undependable he is until you have a beef.

When in dire state, he’ll want you to pin your ears back for him, but never willing to do the same for you because your distress is not his concern. In fact if you come with your troubles, he’ll feel like he’s successfully drained your strength and now you’re making him a dumping ground. So he’ll depress you even more by ditching you for a new prey...Bloody Vermin!

May God give us guidance and overstanding...

B. F. Skinner said: “At this very moment enormous numbers of intelligent men and women of goodwill are trying to build a better world. But problems are born faster than they can be solved” – A shame if you ask me, but I think he is right.   

May God protect those who are trying to make it better and give them more strength to carry on – may those who have nothing but sorrow to offer be given guidance to know that just as virtue is rewarded, there will always be an ultimate punishment for vice as well.

In fact the reward for goodness may be delayed, but in view of the flood and speed of wicked behaviour these days, it seems to me that God has appointed a faster courier.  So before you know it, fate is twisted ironically and you start asking God what you did to deserve that.

I refuse to be a hyphenated Muslim...

Me, I don’t mind what religious order, movement or jurisprudence one approves of. Whether Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’I, Hanbali, zahiri or whatever it is, I wouldn’t question anyone’s motivation. If Wahhabism or Ahl al-Hadith is your movement, we’re good still. If Tijaniyya, Qadiri-ya, Muridiyya, progressive or liberal Islam is what you hold with, I still have no bones about that. In fact I respect the fact that you believe in something.

If you want to be a Christian-Taliban, a Muslim-Catholic, a Nyabinghi-Buddhist or a Bobo-Hindu, it’s your call, but for myself, I refuse to be a hyphenated Muslim.  I am a Muslim seeking peaceful existence through submission to my Creator and that’s it. If you bring a good vibe, I will listen to you and that’s because I love to learn, but the decision to act upon or refuse to comply with what you say is entirely mine.

I don’t deal with chicken hawk spirituality. In fact my favourite quote on religion was said by his imperial majesty and he was not a Muslim, so that’s how tolerant I am. In an attempt to urge people not to “interfere in the realm of God” he said: "No one should question the faith of others, for no human being can judge of the ways of God." 

How I wish all of today’s religious looking people were as openhearted as children and with no ridiculous cause to wrong one another. I am sure we wouldn’t have been in this clusterfuck that we are in today. This is what I woke up with and thought I should say it.

 

Money cannot buy friendship...

Money can buy a lot of things, including a sense of happiness in owing fine wheels, nicer clothes, great crib and better shoes, but perhaps one reason why I still respect Vybz Kartel is the affirmation of the fact that “money cannot buy friends” and regardless of the type of friend he meant in his lyrics.

Fine, I can confirm that money can lease friendship, but since the steadiness of the bond is anchored in the advantage therein, it will naturally end as soon as you cease to give regular incentives.

If you want true friendship or a good relationship, cultivating goodwill is what you need to do first, then goodwill will certainly create the type of reputation you need to appeal to everyone. This is why in accounting and business, goodwill is regarded as an intangible but a quantifiable asset and considered a part of the value of the business when it is to be sold.

However, unlike corporate goodwill, individual goodwill is all about an encouraging and tolerant attitude and an ability to induce and impart whatever one wants to convey without intentionally hurting the feelings of others. And cultivating goodwill is not as complicated as it may seem. As a matter of fact, there’s a built-in potential in everyone, we only need to be a little more considerate and reasonable to make the most of it.

But if we prefer to let ours gather dust in our rooms and wardrobes, hoping that cash is everything, I swear down we’ll always feel underappreciated despite all we have done for others. I know these things because I used to be a rich kid – relatively speaking that is.

Yahademic

I think I may have coined a new word and it is a noun. Actually, it is a portmanteau of 'yaha' (Wolof word for waste) and 'academic' in its noun form, but an uninspiring intellectual to be exact. The word is:

yahademic

/yahə’dɛmɪk/

A person who after all the money and sweat invested in his or her education is finally declared learned. And soon after all the excitement from family and friends, he or she chooses to return to regular mindset. You know, of everyone blaming everyone but doing nothing different from the same desperate hunt for convenience and distinction and in a conduct similar to what the Thirteenth Amendment abolished a long time ago.