Ambition

 It is a Friday and, in a bid, to keep consistent, we are starting the first one with an article. Let’s start with a story I found on and copied from the internet.

One day a fisherman was lying on a beautiful beach, with his fishing pole propped up in the sand and his solitary line cast out into the sparkling blue surf. He was enjoying the warmth of the afternoon sun and the prospect of catching a fish.

About that time, a businessman came walking down the beach, trying to relieve some of the stress of his workday. He noticed the fisherman sitting on the beach and decided to find out why this fisherman was fishing instead of working harder to make a living for himself and his family. “You aren’t going to catch many fish that way,” said the businessman to the fisherman.

“You should be working rather than lying on the beach!”

The fisherman looked up at the businessman, smiled and replied, “And what will my reward be?”

“Well, you can get bigger nets and catch more fish!” was the businessman’s answer. “And then what will my reward be?” asked the fisherman, still smiling. The businessman replied, “You will make money and you’ll be able to buy a boat, which will then result in larger catches of fish!”

“And then what will my reward be?” asked the fisherman again.

The businessman was beginning to get a little irritated with the fisherman’s questions. “You can buy a bigger boat, and hire some people to work for you!” he said.

“And then what will my reward be?” repeated the fisherman.

The businessman was getting angry. “Don’t you understand? You can build up a fleet of fishing boats, sail all over the world, and let all your employees catch fish for you!”

Once again, the fisherman asked, “And then what will my reward be?”

The businessman was red with rage and shouted at the fisherman, “Don’t you understand that you can become so rich that you will never have to work for your living again! You can spend all the rest of your days sitting on this beach, looking at the sunset. You won’t have a care in the world!”

The fisherman, still smiling, looked up and said, “And what do you think I’m doing right now?”

End of story.

Last night I found myself thinking about my experience from last year. At some point, I found myself looking for air tickets to travel from the UK to Malawi and back for my wedding. This was the first time I had to buy air tickets out of pocket as all previous flights had been sponsored by some organization or individual. The reality check which came with the prices of the air tickets had me wondering why I lived half a globe away from my loved ones; family and friends, all in the name of the pursuit of doctoral studies, which, to be fair, I could also get at Chancellor College, albeit under different conditions. In the poverty for answers, the best I could come up with is that my ambition to do more brought me here. In other words, I felt like getting the best education offered here was my way to where I want to be in my career, years down the line.

The challenges with travel were not a unique experience. My maiden travel to a conference in 2016 was marred financial challenges and so was the outward travel to the UK for my master’s studies. The latter was further compounded by the fact that I travelled at a time when there were travel restrictions that required hotel quarantine at the cost of the traveller. A year later when I wanted to return for my PhD, the issue resurfaced.

In all the cases where I have had trouble sourcing funds for travel, I found myself wondering whether I would miss much if I couldn’t make it for the trip. If you think about it, my 2016 trip to a conference wasn’t really an essential one. The conference was nice, but really, the necessity of it is questionable.

Then there were the times I had to travel to start my MSc and PhD. I know many people who are building better careers on the MBBS degree which I obtained close to eight years ago. They also have better pay and job security than I do in the academia where such things are fragile and unpredictable. I could still go through adulting and live a life with security, which makes the extra qualifications optional, to an extent. But as ambition would have it, I am here, doing what I am doing with the hope that the extra papers will bring something the MBBS couldn’t.

Back in 2016, I found myself working for World Vision in what was a nationwide assessment of their programs. One of such surveys took me to a place called Lulanga in Mangochi. They may have told you that Makanjira is far, but Lulanga is a 30-minute drive from Makanjira. At some point I found myself chatting with the locals in these small fishing and farming settlements, only to learn that some of them had never bothered to go to Mangochi Boma or Salima. When I think about these laissez-faire souls from Lulanga, I wonder why I find myself struggling with cold winters and spending a whole 24 hours on the road in a bid to go home from a place called school. Life, surely, could have been simpler than this. Yeah. Simpler, but again, it would have been boring.

In my naivety early on, I used to think of the people who didn’t have the same explorative mind like me as those who lacked ambition. In those days, I used to think of my ambition as some sort of curse that keeps me picking avoidable fights. With time, my perspective has changed and I have learnt that there are just those people who like to live a simple life closer to home; different from adrenaline junkies like me who can’t stay put. Those will live on a farm, practice their profession and make money while some of us toil in school broke. We will see many places and have many stories to tell. The exotic knowledge we have will be beneficial and will leave us hungering for more, while others will be satisfied with using the knowledge we left undergrad with and their experience. Ambition varies and we should embrace diversity in the same.

When all is said, I still feel like we all need to be ambitious about something; at least three things if I am to prescribe. Be ambitious in your quest for wisdom. Have some goals when it comes to your career and finances. Work towards having good family relationships and spiritual fulfilment, no matter what your faith is. Be happy. Be healthy. Usually that comes from deliberate actions that are birthed from your goals and ambitions. Have something to look forward and up to.

I will bring you back to the story of the fisherman and the businessman. I am wondering who you agree with between the two. To be fair, it seems like the two have varied ways of looking at the same thing. One has embraced simplicity and living for the daily bread while the other lives for the sophistication of managing an empire. Who would you side with? You may already know which side I would pick. At one point I will get old and go back to Chiradzulu where I will build a small hut at my wife’s home village, with my information coming from a Panasonic FM radio and income coming from farming and raising goats. Until then, I will continue to pick headaches as I try to expand my horizons in career and life in general. Life.

Happy New Year to you. I wish you and ambitious 2024. Add some action to that, and life will get better.