June 2, 2008

Nduo nneke nda ideghe iduo, nna mmianga ideghe udut ( He that falls and rises again does not truly fall but he that struggles on the ground after a fall cannot claim to be powerful)

Falling down is a common occurrence. Individuals fall for a variety of reasons. Sometimes people fall because they have lost their balance, at other times people misjudge their step or gait, especially when it is not steady, and this results in a fall. People are more susceptible to falling at some points in their lives more than others. As children learn to walk, falling down is common. During periods of illness and as strength diminishes, people also fall more than when they are healthy. At the sunset of life and as the body deteriorates, the elderly fall more than the young. The knowledge that people fall down is common place and so through the generations, individuals have encouraged each other to get up, dust themselves and continue moving. Thus the ancient Annang concluded that falling down may be a little disruptive, but does not end the journey if the individual gets up again. Those who remain on the ground after such a fall are the ones who have truly fallen for such a fall not only disrupts the journey but is capable of bringing it to a halt. The knowledge that one could get up after a fall has always been interpreted as a metaphor of hope and the opening of another opportunity, but only those who fail to rise miss the opportunity to go on.

Very few things in life flows very smoothly at an equal pace without an interruption, and very few things occur in nature without a hitch. As youngsters in an art class we thought that the best way to learn to sketch was to make the tree limbs and branches perfect and so we used our rulers to draw straight lines to represent the trunks. As the old art teacher walked around examining our drawings, he taught us one important lesson that nothing in nature that is seen with the eyes has straight lines. The tree growth is often interrupted by the wind, the direction of the sun or by the canopy above. Human life follows this universal law. Growth is often interrupted and plans are often derailed when other things occur. The weather changes, accidents happen, political and economic conditions change, and people get sick. Those who allow these conditions to bring their plans to a halt, our people reasoned, are actually the ones who truly fall, but those who consider them a temporary setback and rise up again to continue are the ones who win.

We live in an imperfect world and instead of conforming and being sensitive to the laws of this universe, we sometimes want the world to change and follow our plans. Falling, having disruptions, setbacks and errors are part of the world and lived experience. Others who lived before us knew about these and so the insurance business is a recognition that adverse changes do occur in the world. Things happen. The problem is not that they happen, but the problem is your attitude towards adverse changes. The fact that you have experienced a temporary setback in love, marriage, business dealings or your health is not the issue; the biggest thing is your response to any of these changes. The choice is allowing the temporary disruption to define you and your future or rising above it and learning from it. As long as you are alive, the changes would come for change is a part of being alive. To fall carries a connotation that it is an accident, so falling down is accidental but getting up and trying again involves a conscious effort that you have refused to be defined by an accident. Falling down is accidental but redemption requires strength, determination and grace.

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Annang Wisdom is an inspirational letter produced as a service of the Annang Heritage Preservation Project. No part of this publication may be transmitted, forwarded, copied, stored or recorded without the permission of the Annang Heritage Preservation Inc. Please send all comments and requests to ancientwisdom@annangheritage.org.