Opinion
Is it possible for one to become a perfectionist in this 21st century? If so, what are the ways by which one can become a perfectionist?
This is the question a friend mailed it to me a couple of weeks ago.
I sighed very high after reading it. I asked myself, would I be able to answer it. After sleeping on the question and reflecting on the experience I had with the Turkish, below is my answer.
The answer to the above question is simply yes. Beloved, believe you me. You are more than capable of becoming a perfectionist. Yes I mean it. Because, you have the most powerful organ in your skull and it is capable of doing any breathtaking activity one could think of.
For God's sake, a perfectionist is a motile being. I mean a perfectionist is not a superhuman. It is not only angels who are perfectionists. Human beings are also capable. None of the perfectionists we have in this world are better than you and I. Don't they all eat and drink, ease themselves every now and then? Don't they breathe in and out every second just like you and I do? Don't they have the same number of limbs as you and I are having? Never say you can not become a perfectionist. You will be underestimating your capabilities should you say that.
All the perfectionists on earth, were at one point in time ordinary men in the street. But their over indulgence in splendid activities and their unsatisfactory attitude until success is achieved or until the right thing is done, is what has made them perfectionists today.
Beloved, you just need a brain and a heart to become a perfectionist which you are having already. That is why I said you are more than capable.
Never say it is expensive for one to become a perfectionist. It is absolutely cost-effective because, one does not necessarily need to go to lectures, seminars, workshops and conferences before becoming a perfectionist. This then means that, anybody at all can be a perfectionist.
You also need to meditate a lot in order to be there.
God Almighty never destined some individuals to be perfectionists. That is why He gave all of us the same size of grey matter and the same number of limbs as well as the same size of heart.
He is aware we can accomplish whatever we want with the endowments He bestowed on us.
It is only just up to you and I to use them expeditiously to achieve whatever we want.
Is it common to find a perfectionist in Ghana? This is the question my Turkish employers asked my friends and I in 2012 when we had scholarships to study in Turkey.
As a matter of fact, one of them also said our problems will be solved if we as Ghanaians, are to have five trustworthy, selfless and honest people to run the affairs of the nation.
We were all furious after his statement. But after spending a week in Turkey, we understood very well why they made those statements when we were in Accra.
They also said we claim we are highly religious and yet almost every one of us is suffering.
I will like to state reasons why they made those statements after been with them.
Unarguably, I had my best moments on earth when I was in Turkey. No wonder Stephen Appiah once said the Turkish league is the best in the world all because of the treatments he had from the Turkish when he was playing football in Istanbul.
Undoubtedly, Turkish are not highly religious as we Ghanaians are. They do not spend much time in prayers as you and I normally spend.
They are not having a quarter of the natural resources we are having. Their population is three times that of Ghana.
But Turkey is a developed country whiles Ghana is a developing country. Why? Is simple.
It is the attitude and selfish interest of most of us which is retarding the development of the country.
When I was in Turkey, for over a month as a visitor, my friends and I ate in people's houses. Individuals were yearning and competing with one another to host us as guests. We were given first glass treatment in all the houses we had dinner. In some of the houses, we counted over sixty plates with different kinds of food on the dinning tables. We were also dinning together on the same tables with our hosts. And until all the food on the tables are consumed, they will never be satiated. In one of the houses we visited and after the dinner, the landlord gave every one of us hundred Laira for honoring his invitation. In fact, we least expected it from him because, his house is one of the ordinary houses.
Turkish spend much of their time and money on one other. What they love most is philanthropic works. At this moment as you are comfortably reading, a single man is sponsoring over two thousand students across the globe from primary to the university. In one of his books, I quote him "Should one find hundred Laira in my pocket after my death, let him curse me" He has built schools in almost every country in the world. Even here in Ghana.
I also know the Turkish government and some Turkish philanthropists have been sponsoring Ghanaian students for the past three decades. Some of the beneficiaries are now working at thirty seven military hospital and komfo Anokye teaching hospital. I personally know some of them. One of them gave us advise before we left Ghana. I also met several students from Africa who were also studying in Turkey with scholarships.
This is humanity and what God assigned you and I to be doing here on earth. Children respect adults over there and adults also show mercy on children.
On numerous occasions, I set my eyes on the Turkish apologizing to the Africans after offending them.
Even walking on the streets as a visitor, they still yearn to exchange pleasantries with you. The commonest gift you can take from a Turkish is a cup of tea and a conversation afterwards.
Do not tell me the value of the Turkish Laira is higher than the cedi. As at 2012, the Laira was the same as the cedi when converted to dollar. In fact, we were informed even before we left Ghana.
If you are with a Turkish, you dare not fabricate fallacies to him. Should you tell him one thing today and say another thing tomorrow, until doomsday, he will never believe you again. If you say to a Turkish, you are the president of Ghana and if he does not know who the president is, he will believe you completely irrespective of how ugly, diminished and young you are. Lying is highly not tolerated by Turkish.
The rich eats and hugs with the poor.
No ethnocentrism and favouritism in Turkey. They live harmoniously with one another. In a day, one could just be fed up with hugging and laughter. They are also very jovial people.
Unarguably, that is Godly hallmarks at it best and why won't they be developed individuals.
According to me, we Ghanaians are highly religious only in prayers but in actions we are not. That is why most of us are still suffering.
When I arrived back in Ghana, it took me less than thirty minutes to realized something is really wrong in the country. At the neoplan station at circle, I gave five cedis to a gentleman who carried my luggage to the station. He told me he will return to me a change of two cedis. I waited for twenty minutes. He never showed. The bus took off and he was nowhere to be found. I shook my head in the bus on the way returning to kumasi. Abruptly, I remembered the moment I left my phone in a taxi but was called back by the driver for it on my way to the Ataktur international airport in Istanbul.
You and I know very well that petty stealing is common in Ghana. Almost all of us think short changing one another is the way to make it in life.
Just last month at the kumasi central market, I set my eyes on a couple of guys dragging a suitcase from a Japanese. He was saved by the few people who were present at the scene waiting for bus in the night.
Please beloved, when was the last time you issued money to a genuine beggar? When was the last time you hugged your neighbour? When was the last time you clothed and fed the poor and the needy? When was the last time you spent good time with your neighbours? Have you ever paid the fees of your neighbour's child before.
If you put a smile on someone's face, God will also put a smile on your face one day.
Do not say your amount is insufficient and for that matter you will not extend a helping hand to the poor and the needy. Just issue out and I promise you that, you will never lack anything. It is a promise God Almighty Himself made in the Scriptures.
At this juncture, I want to conclude by throwing more light on what you and I must do and must not do if only we want to become perfectionists.
If you want to be a perfectionist one day, firstly, you must not breed in you contempt, neither must you breed in you hatred, jealousy, nor envy. These characteristics darken the heart as well as the brain and deprived them from performing their normal functions.
You can never be a perfectionist by thinking of how to defeat your enemies. You rather pray for light and guidance in their life.
You can never be a perfectionist by seeking for vengeance after having an awkward encounter with your friend. If you think someone has offended you, just dialogue with him and smoke the peace pipe. Bury the hatchet. It is about time we forgot that perception of he is not one of us so we must not forgive him or employ him to work for us. It is of time we Ghanaians lived harmoniously with one another as brothers and sisters. It is about time we eradicated ethnocentrism and favouritism out of the country. Have you forgotten that, together we stand and divided we fall? Never feel big to apologize if you have to. Never go home thinking about the awkward moment you had with a friend. It is an ill health attitude.
Furthermore, never go to bed without forgiving those who offended you.
Never pinpoint certain folks as your enemies and for that matter relate well with all people irrespective of their race, tribe, sex, religion and height.
Last but not the least, never hesitate to criticise whenever something wrong is going on in the country. Remember it will benefit all of us. Do not be intimidated by people's status. Just criticise them constructively when you think what they are doing is detrimental to the development of the nation.
Finally, be altruistic and selfless person and always empathize and sympathize a lot with the poor and the needy.
May God Almighty grant us the zeal to engage in activities that will push the nation in the right direction. Long live Ghana. Long live Africa.
Abdul Rashid Suleman
Fourth year nursing student. Knust.
Email [email protected]