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Build It

By Ukinebo Dare
21 March 2015   |   1:07 am
“Have you ever wanted something so badly, but when you got it, it only lasted such a short time?” Haruna knows exactly how that feels, here is his story.

“Wow, I prayed for this.”

Haruna thought as he reverently kicked in a puddle of water. He stood as the rain clouds moved away slowly; it was the first rain in almost 2 years. He barely heard Chike’s happy response “Me too”. He was ecstatic and expectant that this rainfall was the beginning of a change. He had prayed for so long, yet the clouds had been so dry and all his crops and that of those in his town had died of thirst. Now, all of that was beginning to feel like a distant past, the rain was finally back and this first one was more like a storm. Suddenly he was stuck by a realization. “We need bowls! Lots of them! So that by the time the rain comes around tomorrow, we will be able to fetch more than these five buckets!” Chike agreed “Let’s go.”

He rushed around his farm looking for materials to use in making water collection devices, of course no one would we willing to loan out a bucket at a time like this. Haruna and Chike, his friend walked to see a friend as they strategized on how many of their pots and pans they could use to collect water, they halted in their tracks as they took the bend into Obaro’s farm. There were at least 200 drums full of rain water from the recent unexpected storm. “How?! This rain was unexpected na!” While their eyes smarted at the sight of so much water, they noticed some kind of commotion involving about 20 people. Obaro walked towards them, “Guys, how far? These guys are helping me dig a pond to collect some rain water in case it rains again.”

Chike responded, “Ah! Ah! This is too much now, are you a babalawo? How did you organise all this in less than two hours? Did you know it was going to rain today?”

“Not at all oh!” Everyone has been praying for heavy rain now, and one day I just thought to myself…

“Where will I put it?”

I could not afford to buy buckets so I went to all my family and friends in the neighbouring villages and they agreed to come with their drums and shovels whenever the next rain would fall. In return, I agreed to give them half of the proceeds from the water sold from their drums.”
“What!?!” Chike asked.

What are you hoping for?

You may seriously be seeking a job, a promotion, a relationship, a business e.t.c but have you asked yourself the most important question? If I get it today, where will I put it? If everything I am working towards falls into my laps right now, will it fill a drum or just make puddles.

There is a difference between a windfall that brings growth and a windfall that just has temporary impact. The difference is ‘PREperation, organisation and planning’. In the words of a friend “there is no amount of food you can give a monkey to make it grow into a baboon.’ If you do not plan and organise for growth, when it comes, it will not last. If you do not build the skills for a lasting relationship, when you meet the partner of your dreams it may not last, large orders do not turn small businesses into multinationals, structures, standards and processes do.

In summary: If you do not grow before the need arises, you may miss it when it comes. Obaro had a plan on autopilot and as soon as the rain fall started, his plan went into action.

While waiting for the change you desire, you need to build your capacity to manage it. While praying for a blessing, assess your capacity to contain it. If you do not yet have what you need in order to transform a windfall into growth, please…

BUILD IT!

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