You should never be good enough

You want to be successful in life, to excel at what you do, to be relevant. In the ceaseless race to the top rung of life’s ladder, you may find yourself ahead of several people. However, some will be ahead of you.

You may reach the pinnacle of your chosen vocation or career and become world-famous but to many out there, you should never be good enough to achieve what you did.

At every corner of your sojourn, you will find throngs waiting. Some were ahead of you but stuttered, and, now stuck, they cannot bear to have anyone else pass them. They will eagerly trip you. To them, you should never succeed, you should never excel, you should never be relevant. They are ready to rain on your parade because no matter how well you do or how hard you try, they have decided that you should never be good enough to get ahead.

They will pick on the tone of your skin, the schools you went to and those you did not, to determine how you should never be good enough to move along in life. They are better than you and you have no business trying to climb to their elevated social perch.

When you slip, rather than hold your hand to help you up and on, they will cut it off instead.

In the building that is life’s journey upward, you should never be good enough to add a brick. They want to own the whole building because they are loathe to share success. Whether they win or lose, everybody else must lose. If they as much as suspect you to be pulling ahead of them, you become an enemy that must be destroyed.

Ubuntu is dead.

In the insanely competitive world of Formula One racing, a Black driver called Lewis Hamilton equaled the record for most race wins on 11 October, 2020. The record, set by F1 legend Michael Schumacher, had stood since 2006. For the curious, Lewis has six world championships under his belt, one short of the 7 held by Michael. If you are familiar with the complex world of F1 motorsport, these statics defy logic.

Image credit: termiontrack.com

On the day he clinched win #91, a much older driver commenting on the feat said that whereas Lewis had won all those races, he was not good enough to be talked about as a great driver, not even among the best three of all time. Many F1 fans across the globe were dismayed by these belittling comments.

To Sir Jackie Stewart, Lewis should never be good enough to excel at his craft the way he has. It all counts for nothing.

Lewis’ response was telling:

“I don’t think you should knock anybody for the way they do things. I get knocked by many people, particularly older drivers. I don’t know why. Maybe one day they will get over it but I have so much respect for the past legends, even those who continue to talk negatively about me all the time. I still hold them in high regard.”

He added:

“In 20 years’ time when I am looking back, I can promise you this, I will not be talking down any young driver who is coming through and succeeding. Because a responsibility as an older driver is to shine the light as bright as possible and encourage those.”

Well said Mr. Hamilton. There is, after all, hope for Ubuntu (Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu—I am, because you(we) are).

An excerpt from an ancient poem “Desiderata” by Max Ehrmann goes thus:

“Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.”

Postscript:

At the time of posting this, Lewis Hamilton had secured his seventh world title with victory at the Turkish Grand Prix. In doing so, he wrote his name alongside Michael Schumacher in Formula One's record books as the most successful driver of all time.