It's not tribalised yet...

N'ko, my dear friend! There's no tribalism nor tribalised politics in The Gambia - at least not as you would expect from reading some of the commentaries on social media. So, I don't know about y'all wye mann, I have decided neh ken duma horh.

It's just unfortunate that some who cannot reason, and some who dare not reason are often carried away by adverse judgments passed by those who cannot come to terms with change, and who go about judging others by their own inclinations and preferences.

And because we take our pens and keyboards for hammers, every problem we write about will resemble a nail. So, rather than caressing where necessary, we just hit hard at everything - sometimes doing more damage than good.

Word...

It's good to network, to be connected, to know and be known. But be reasonable in your quest. You don't want to spend your whole you tryna please some (unwelcoming) circle that you end up hurting those who genuinely love you... keep in mind that tables always turn.

Understanding...

When the reader's mental or emotional process of comprehension is constipated, the writer's thoughts get delimited.

So, I wasn't mad when my colleague went to my boss to read out a certain post I did on Facebook - you know, purporting reference to the boss.

Empathy...

Before the beginning of the demise of intelligent civilisation, there was so much empathy in humanity that once you've been there, gone through shit, your experience motivates a natural understanding of the thoughts, feelings, and emotional state of those going through the same shit.

Once that awakening, you cannot cultivate despair, neither do you have the heart to taunt nor vilify those enduring the same trying moment, because you know how it feels. I wish I could say the same for us today, especially seeing how even our news items are always about avoidable drama or someone else's misfortune.

The two types of friends...

When you have friends "in spite of," cherish them. Friends "because of," screw them; they deserve it. They'll do anything to be in the presence of celebrated and respected people. So, as long as you're influential or beneficial to them, they'll prioritise you over their humanness, their friends, even family.

Nbeh wo bootlicker'l ning kumangding jellelal leh la:

They can be overly nice to you, laughing at your unfunny jokes, showing amazement in everything you say or do, even if "my name is Omar" was what you said, usually using not more than two syllable words like: aww, chaa, dor-nit, ndeysan, wow, eskay, etc.... you think they're nice people? Check how rude they're to those around you that they expect nothing from.

Achievement...

So, if they become so self-important, strutting all over the place barking authority, thinking themselves the best of all who once had what they prolly just have, it's more than likely handed to them or was attained by accident.

About this, Raheel Farooq was said to have said this: "Consider an achievement accidental if it is not coupled with modesty. Because if the achiever had endeavoured for it, it would certainly have killed their pride."

Guarding yourself against deception is not cynicism. In fact, way to go if you want a timely detection, deletion or neutralisation of today's human-based viruses.

Refusing to let everyone walk all over you as if some doormat is not arrogance. You're just recognising and respecting your worth, making mama proud if you ask me.

From once it's legit and not intended to be attained by taking away from others, no self improvement drive is selfish... but we tend to confuse these things.