THE MAGIC OF ASKING QUESTIONS

Life is not a mystery. There is a meaning to life. If you know this, you will ask the right questions - Terry Mante

QUESTION DEFINITION
A QUESTION is a mechanism we use to seek information, clarification or opinion about matters of interest. Students use questions to expand their knowledge base, teachers employ questions to assess their students, while journalists ask questions to derive information and clarification from policy makers. Researchers ask questions to gather and analyse data in order to contribute solutions to the problems that perplex humankind. In daily human interactions, we ask questions. Questions are fundamental to the human experience.

Some of the questions we ask daily are: What is your name? What’s for dinner? How is she? Where are you going? What is the agenda for today? How do I raise money for utility bill? Who should I marry? How many children do I want to have? How do I get a job? Which course should I study at school? Why is the earth not flat? Question upon question we ask.

When you ask a question, you expect to get an answer. Thus the answers you get reflect the questions you ask. You may not get the most ideal or desirable answers to all the questions you ask but one thing is for sure; no question, no answer. If you don’t ask questions, you will not have answers in your life. If your life is not moving on the track you desire, then you have to check the questions you’ve been asking.

QUESTION DYNAMICS
1. Wrong question, wrong answer: Of course, if you ask me “Terry, how old are you?” I shall answer appropriately by telling you my age. But perhaps, what you really need to know is not my age but my weight. So in my mind I would have answered your question well but you would have no use for the answer. If you think life is not responding to you the way you expect or desire, then turn and look at what you have been asking life to do for you. If you ask wrong questions, you will get wrong answers.

2. Right question, wrong answer: Sometimes, you may be asking the right questions but you’re getting crooked answers. If you deem the answers you are getting inappropriate, then perhaps you may want to reconsider the direction of your questions. What is the source of your answers? Do you know the basis of the answers you are getting? When you want to ask a question, be sure you are asking the right person. Be sure your source is credible. At other times however, the problem may not be with the answer but with you. Do you understand the answers you are getting? Do you have a frame that is able to correctly analyse and interpret the answers you receive?

3. Right question, right answer: Asking the right question is important but getting the right answer is even more important. When you act on the basis of the right answer, your life moves in the direction you desire. The quality of your life is directly linked with the questions you ask and the corresponding answers you receive. To drive your life positively, you must ask the right questions to the right people at the right time.

QUESTION DESIGN
HOW do you get to ask the questions that pertain to your life?
1. Know life: How can you ask questions about a concept you don’t know about? If you have a general idea of life, you can ask specific questions about life. Life is not a fluke. It is a carefully designed system that can be studied, observed and understood. Life is not a mystery. There is a meaning to life. If you know this, you will ask the right questions.

2. Know yourself: Every person has things that satisfy, annoy, excite, interest or exhaust them. You’ve got to know those specific things about yourself. This will cause you to ask the exact questions that relate to your life. Who are you? Why do you exist? What are your strengths and weaknesses? These are questions you need to ask about your life. And the answers you get will produce order and meaning in your life.

3. Know people: Your friends, family members, business partners, school mates, neighbours – these are people you interact with all the time. How well do you know them? Do you know what their values are? Have you checked what they have been reading? If you get to know these about those around you, you will know what to ask and what not to ask them.

IF YOU want to gain mastery over your life, you must constantly ask questions and seek answers to those questions.

© 2011 Terry Mante
PEDNET
Accra, Ghana

APPRECIATE YOUR WORTH

We are human beings, not doings. Who we are shapes what we do. Our worth transcends our works - Terry Mante

ONE day, Jesus posed a rhetorical question, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?” In this question, Jesus juxtaposed the value of one human soul with the whole world. He considers the rich oil fields of the Arabian Peninsula, the pyramids of Egypt, the magnificent Buckingham Palace of England and says that none or the amalgamation of all of these is worth more than any individual. The value of a human being outstrips the value of the entire universe. That is why human trafficking is such a major crime. There is no commensurate medium of exchange for any individual. You are priceless.

If you own everything in the world and lose your sense of identity, no benefit will accrue to you. But if you have a good sense of identity, you can create your own world. Without people, the world is nothing. The world works because people work. The world derives its value from the people who inhabit it. Without the ingenuity of humans, diamond would simply remain a colourless stone. Human intellect makes it valuable by processing and polishing it. Crude oil is a dirty black liquid found under the earth. Yet, it is a major driver of the global economy. Why? The human intellect! All the technology and processes that are adopted to refine oil and generate several hundreds of useful commodities originate from the human brain. Thus you don’t have to evaluate your worth on the basis of your possessions but do so on the basis of your person.

We are human beings, not doings. Who we are shapes what we do. Our worth transcends our works. Our value as human beings does not emanate from the grades we attain in school, the friends we have around us, the positions we attain in society nor the size of our bank account. It is completely wrong for anybody to devalue themselves simply because they have not achieved much. The richest person in the world is not more valuable than the poorest person. The president of a country is not more human than other citizens. We are all humans and each of us has the same intrinsic value as other humans. When you see yourself in terms of who you are rather than what you do, you can appreciate yourself better. After all, is it not because of who you are that you are able to do what you do? Don’t look down on yourself because of what you lack or what you haven’t accomplished. As a person, you are worth more than everything that exists in the world.

Life is not measured by how much you own. Your confidence in life should not be based on your achievements, acquisitions and awards. It should be based on your humanness. Humanity derives value from God who created human beings in His own image. The same God who made human beings also created everything else that exists in the universe. If God made both humans and everything else, then He is definitely greater than all. But then, He imparted His image and likeness into human beings. The other creations of God do not have the benefit of this impartation. This impartation automatically bestows greater value upon every human being above everything else that exists in the world.

When you feel tempted to look down on yourself, remember your intrinsic value. See who you are and deploy yourself accordingly.

© 2011 Terry Mante
PEDNET
Accra, Ghana
http//terrymante.blogspot.com

HUMILITY IS NOT TIMIDITY

“Humility is a choice we make to focus on higher issues. It is not a sign of weakness.” - Terry Mante

YES, I agree that humble people are expected to respect people, give consideration to others and exercise a great deal of restraint. Because of these attributes, humility has often been misconstrued as passive involvement, unbridled acquiescence and obvious timidity. Such misconstruction has caused a dilution of the virtue of humility. Hence the value of humility has been lost on many people, as if it is an attribute of weak people. On the contrary, true humility is real strength. It is strength under the clothing of composure, circumspection and consideration.

COMPOSURE
AFTER being unjustly incarcerated for nearly three decades (1964-1990), Nelson Mandela stepped out of his Robin Island cell to the cheers and applause of the entire world. The whole machinery of the South African state was at his disposal and the wider international community on his back. He had every opportunity and justification to exact his fair share of retribution against his jailors. Instead, Mandela adopted a gracious posture and let bygones be bygones. He chose to focus on weighty matters of reconciliation, development and other issues critical to the positive evolution of his country South Africa.

Mr Mandela composed himself. He did not allow himself to be driven by the pain and stain of his unjust incarceration. He remained calm and steadily controlled his emotions. He did not allow his emotions to drive his actions. That is what humility is; choosing to pursue what you believe to be right without necessarily responding to the provocation of circumstances within which you find yourself. By not pursuing vengeance, Mandela got the nation to focus on issues that would engender development and progress in the country. Humility is a choice we make to focus on higher issues. It is not a sign of weakness. It is a choice only strong people like Mandela can make.

CIRCUMSPECTION
HOW do you arrive at your decisions? Do you carefully consider the pros and cons as well as risks and consequences of your choices before you proceed to act? I know that in many circles, the ability to make decisions quickly, firmly and clearly is a celebrated virtue. It is called decisiveness. Inasmuch as I don’t discount decisiveness, I equally believe that taking time to weigh options and assess potential risks and consequences to arrive at a moderated answer is even worth more than gold. As a matter of fact, it cements and consolidates the decisions you make.

However in certain places, when you take time to decide, you are likely to be seen as slow and timid. But it takes a lot of discipline, intellectual dexterity and maturity to be able to hold on and make decisions. A weak person cannot do that. A strong person can do that. If you choose to be humble, you choose to be strong. You elevate yourself above your emotions and the circumstances around you. You are able to coordinate your responses to situations and live more purposefully.

CONSIDERATION
IN ONE sense, the Encarta World English Dictionary (Bloomsbury Publishing Plc., 1999) renders consideration as “thoughtful concern for or sensitivity towards the feelings of others.” Consideration is about paying attention to the feelings, difficulties and circumstances of others before you embark on an action.
Think about Jesus; a man considered to be part of the Triune God. As the second person of what Christians call the Trinity, Jesus has all power at His disposal including power over life and death. He has power to restore life to the dead, command the storms of the sea and walk on water. He is the one who died and resurrected on the third day of His death – a man of tremendous power and authority; a man who was also God.

In spite of all that, Jesus appeared on earth as a natural person, served God and humanity and got Himself unjustly maltreated and eventually executed by the Roman authorities. Why did Jesus do that? Why would such a powerful person allow Himself to go through such humiliation? Was it because He was weak? Definitely not! He thought about the impact His life, death and resurrection would have on the entire human race. He did not just look at His God-position, but He wanted the human race to have a dignified position in life. Certainly, any individual who purposefully gives up a privileged position for the sake of others is not a reed. Today, Jesus has become such a powerful phenomenon that His name is not just that of a person, but it is the centrepiece of the Christian faith – the largest religious ideology in the world. Jesus now lives in the hearts of many and is the first and final hope of many who are worn out, weak and weary.

HUMBLE people are not fumbled people. Meekness is not weakness but it is strength at its peek which is deliberately constrained. Choose to be humble and you will be strong.

© 2011 Terry Mante
PEDNET
Accra, Ghana
http://terrymante.blogspot.com

STRANDS OF TIME

"You don’t need the whole day to do the big things you want to do. You can do them in many few seconds" - Terry Mante

AS AN author I have come to discover that I don’t need to have eight straight hours to produce one script for publication. I don’t even need to have one hour to be at my disposal at a particular moment in order to put together one piece of literary work. All I need is what I call “The Strands of Time” – a minute here to do a sentence, another minute there to cross a ‘t’ or dot an ‘I.’ The strand of time is probably the most powerful concept that has dawned on me in my quest to manage time effectively.

A strand is a thin piece of something such as wire, string, rope or hair which is put together to make up a complex whole. The strands of time refer to the inevitable moments of time that are often vacant. They are the minutes in-between meetings, hours in the queue at the bank, time spent in traffic, the ten or twenty minutes you spend waiting for the waitress to make good your meal order, the few seconds you spend while waiting for the lift or when you are in the loo.

The line “I don’t have time” comes up a lot when I interact with people, especially young executives. They are so busy that they are unable to even make time to add value to themselves, pray to God, maintain friendships and stay in touch with family. But then, in-between their busy schedules, they could exploit some opportunities to take care of certain important aspects of their lives. When you have a meeting and the meeting has not started, what do you do? When you are in a queue at the bank, do you complain or use time well? You don’t need the whole day to do the big things you want to do. You can do them in many few seconds.

Bathroom time: When I was much younger, I used to read newspapers in the toilet. At that time I was not conscious of the fact that I was redeeming time. But as I kept reading the papers over time, I realised I had become quite abreast of current affairs and that I could discuss many issues. In my present life, I read not only the newspapers in the toilet but I also read the Bible and other books. So I am able to kill many birds with one stone. Sometimes, I use that time to meditate and pray. So while I attend to my needs in the toilet, I also get other things done. But hey if you are experiencing constipation and you find yourself on the white throne, this advise may not be good for you. Just stay focused on your mission for being there.

Waiting time: In Ghana, one of the ways we experience leakages in time is to be on time for a programme or meeting. You arrive on time for a meeting with a CEO and you are asked to wait because the person is engaged in something else. Or you arrive at 5:30pm for a programme scheduled to start at 6pm. What about when you arrive exactly at 6pm and the programme starts half-an-hour or even an hour later? In all these situations – waiting for CEO or waiting for a programme to start – how do you make use of the waiting time? When you visit the restaurant and place your order, do you just sit and wait? Have you considered the time you spend every Saturday waiting for your turn at the hair salon?

From my experience, I have seen that such waiting times could be used productively. Most of the time, you would find me reading a book at that time. Other times, I would be sending a text message or checking out what the latest news in town is or updating my Facebook page – courtesy my phone. You must also decide to make those moments of your life count. While you are in a queue at the bank, that’s when you could send a quick “I love you” text to your loved one, determine your shopping list, or read a few lines of an enriching book you might have on you.

In-traffic delay: Traffic situation in Accra gets quite annoying and frustrating sometimes. A simple trip that should last as short as 15 minutes could take over an hour to complete. How can you make the best use of such a situation? If you are driving your own car, that’s when you may want to catch up on radio stuff or play some uplifting audio – music, book, training material, sermon, etc. If you find yourself in public transport – taxi or what we refer to in Ghana as trotro – you may read, meditate or do something else that is practicable and important rather than merely being anxious or angry at the traffic.

REMEMBER that time that has passed is irrecoverable and that there will be moments when circumstances may want to push some of your time under the bridge. That is when you can redeem some time and use it to do a bit of something that you may not have the bulk of time to execute.

© 2011 Terry Mante
PEDNET
Accra, Ghana
+233.268.816.545