AFRICA IS A CONTINENT ON THE MOVE AND HER YOUTHS ARE HER GREATEST RESOURCE."We cannot always build a future for our youth, but we can always build our youth for the future."Franklin D. Roosevelt. MentorAfrica looks to help youths, through various life transition mentoring topics, to prepare youths for development and leadership that will help them change the African narrative whenever the opportunity arises.
Tuesday, 25 May 2021
MentorAfrica: YOU DO NOT HAVE TO STOP DANCING! - IL NE FAUT PAS ...
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO STOP DANCING! - IL NE FAUT PAS VOUS ARRÊTER DE DANSER!
Life has been described in many ways and one of them is that life is a dance and if we can bring ourselves to see it this way, we would learn to dance through life even if our steps do not make sense at times. Some people are said to be left-footed because they seem to be at variance with the rhythm, but that does not usually stop them from having fun on the dance floor because they enjoy the music and the atmosphere irrespective of what others are doing or saying. The rhythm of life changes with the seasons but it is our determination to continue to dance no matter what that helps us go through those seasons when those who see us dancing consider us as fools. At times like these, we have to make up our minds that we are going to take charge of what goes on in our lives by making the best of every situation. The interesting thing is that steps that were considered foolish in one season would be described as bold steps in another. There are times when the tunes become so discordant that you lose your rhythm and your steps can become embarrassing and uncomfortable. The only way to continue dancing is to keep step with the rhythm in your head no matter how faint it is rather than that of the discordant tunes that are playing all around you. You do not have to stop dancing because if you continue to give your all to maintaining your dance steps without quitting, you will surely get your rhythm and your groove back. Do have a beautiful day!
La vie a été décrite de nombreuses manières et l'une d'elles est que la vie est une danse et si nous pouvons nous résoudre à la voir de cette façon, nous apprendrions à danser à travers la vie même si nos pas n'ont parfois pas de sens. On dit que certaines personnes sont gauches parce qu'elles semblent être en désaccord avec le rythme, mais cela ne les empêche généralement pas de s'amuser sur la piste de danse car elles apprécient la musique et l'atmosphère indépendamment de ce que les autres font ou disent. Le rythme de vie change avec les saisons mais c'est notre détermination à continuer à danser quoi qu'il arrive qui nous aide à traverser ces saisons où ceux qui nous voient danser nous considèrent comme des imbéciles. Dans des moments comme ceux-ci, nous devons décider que nous allons prendre en charge ce qui se passe dans nos vies en tirant le meilleur parti de chaque situation. Ce qui est intéressant, c'est que les étapes considérées comme insensées dans une saison seraient décrites comme des étapes audacieuses dans une autre. Il y a des moments où les mélodies deviennent si discordantes que vous perdez votre rythme et vos pas peuvent devenir embarrassants et inconfortables. La seule façon de continuer à danser est de suivre le rythme dans votre tête, aussi faible soit-il, plutôt que celui des airs discordants qui jouent tout autour de vous. Il faut tout ce qui est possible de ne pas vous arrêter de danser car si vous continuez à tout donner pour maintenir vos pas de danse sans arrêter, vous retrouverez sûrement votre rythme et votre groove. Passez une belle journée!
Monday, 24 May 2021
MentorAfrica: ARE YOU CONCERNED ENOUGH TO BE A CONTRIBUTOR? - ÊT...
ARE YOU CONCERNED ENOUGH TO BE A CONTRIBUTOR? - ÊTES-VOUS ASSEZ CONCERNÉ D'ÊTRE UN CONTRIBUTEUR?
We cannot overemphasis the value
of relationships because they are needed for everything we do to succeed in
life. Many people have missed opportunities that were invaluable to their
progress and success because of mismanaged relationships. We need viable
interactions with others to arrive at our desired destination and we can only
have people contributing to our work if we have relationships that work and are
valued. Success is a network of people and opportunities, no matter how
talented, committed, bold and resilient you are, you can never achieve success
without the contributions of others. There are many sour relationships and ruined
opportunities that could have been avoided by having inconvenient conversations
that a lot of people like to avoid. Simple but pointed questions are all we
need to understand something we are not clear about, but a lot of us avoid
asking those questions and we often draw wrong or misinformed conclusions. People
will always criticise what they do not understand. We cannot be contributors to
anyone's journey until we are ready to be honest with that person and ourselves
by asking those often inconvenient questions. If you really want to be of help
to anybody, you have to care enough about them to allow them show you what they
are seeing so that you are in a better place to make necessary judgments and
contributions. No true visionary should be perturbed by malicious criticisms
from uninformed or misinformed observers who are there just to throw spanners
in other people’s wheels. Anyone who wants to make a success of their journey
has to learn to respect those who are concerned enough about them and their
work, who take time to find out things for themselves before they draw their
conclusions and put forth their opinions. Do have a really lovely week!
Friday, 21 May 2021
MentorAfrica: BE CAREFUL NOT TO BECOME WHAT YOU DESPISE. - PRENE...
BE CAREFUL NOT TO BECOME WHAT YOU DESPISE. - PRENEZ GARDE À NE PAS DEVENIR CE QUE VOUS DÉTESTEZ.
It is easy to pick on something we do not like if it is not directly related to us because when it is on our table, there is always a valid reason for that particular situation or behaviour. When it pertains to other people, we tend to think that we are the best judge and many are not shy to offer their condemnation without trying to put themselves in the shoes of the other person. We must be careful not to become what we despise. Cases abound of people walking the path they despised in one season of their lives and many times it might be a path they slipped into without really realizing what they were doing. Many have ended up becoming symbols of that they despised in a particular season and until their attention was drawn to that fact they were oblivious of their actions. It may be that they had that kind of strong opinion earlier on out of ignorance, not understanding exactly what the real situation was before drawing their own conclusions. The way we feel about certain things would be different if we asked the right questions and made if a point of duty to thoroughly understand a matter from other perspectives. In the case where we realise that we have probably misjudged, we need to take full responsibility and apologise for our behaviour whenever that need arises. However, some have found themselves doing exactly what they despised because they feel that they have to square up and make others taste their own medicine. We have to be careful to understand why we despise what we despise so it doesn't turn on our heads. Being successful also requires that we also have to be people of integrity that can be trusted to role models. Do have a wonderful weekend!
Il est facile de choisir quelque chose que nous n'aimons pas si ce n'est pas directement lié à nous parce que quand il est sur notre table, il y a toujours une raison valable pour cette situation ou ce comportement particulier. Lorsqu'il s'agit d'autres personnes, nous avons tendance à penser que nous sommes le meilleur juge et beaucoup n'hésitent pas à offrir leur condamnation sans essayer de se mettre à la place de l'autre. Nous devons faire attention à ne pas devenir ce que nous méprisons. Les cas abondent de gens marchant sur le chemin qu'ils méprisaient au cours d'une saison de leur vie et souvent, il se peut que ce soit un chemin dans lequel ils se sont glissés sans vraiment se rendre compte de ce qu'ils faisaient. Beaucoup ont fini par devenir des symboles de ce qu'ils méprisaient à une saison particulière et jusqu'à ce que leur attention soit attirée sur ce fait, ils étaient inconscients de leurs actions. Il se peut qu’ils aient eu ce genre d’opinion plus tôt par ignorance, ne comprenant pas exactement la situation réelle avant de tirer leurs propres conclusions. La façon dont nous nous sentons à propos de certaines choses serait différente si nous posions les bonnes questions et nous nous efforcions de bien comprendre une question sous d'autres angles. Dans le cas où nous nous rendons compte que nous avons probablement mal jugé, nous devons assumer l'entière responsabilité et nous excuser de notre comportement chaque fois que ce besoin se fait sentir. Cependant, certains se sont retrouvés à faire exactement ce qu'ils méprisaient parce qu'ils ont le sentiment de devoir faire face et de faire goûter aux autres leurs propres médicaments. Nous devons être attentifs à comprendre pourquoi nous méprisons ce que nous méprisons pour que cela ne nous retourne pas la tête. Pour réussir, nous devons également être des personnes intègres auxquelles on peut faire confiance comme des modèles. Passez un merveilleux week-end!