What I Learnt From A Donkey Called Mkojombo

(Warning; the following article may change your life)

When I was a young boy I used to help my uncle and granny to plough in the fields. One day we put four donkeys on the yoke using them to plough a certain section of the field. There was a small string which was attached to the front part of the plough. This string irritated one of the donkeys called Mkojombo as it constantly touched its leg when it moved.  I have no idea why my uncle gave that donkey this funny name. The donkey started kicking the annoying string which touched one of its legs every time it moved. The kicking didn't help much because the string was still stuck on a certain part of the plough. Mkojombo visibly got angrier with each passing minute and started kicking harder in an attempt to get rid of this small string which irritated her. At last the donkey got furious and kicked hard with both of its back legs. Unfortunately it kicked the metal plough very hard in the process that in nearly broke its legs. One of the legs was hurt badly and we had to relieve it of its duties. We took it from its yoke and it lay down there for a very long time. Stupid donkey!

It is so amazing how we can easily can distracted from our mission by a harmless useless small string.  Many donkeys fail to finish their assignments because they got injured trying to kick off the useless harmless strings which were touching their legs. The question is, what has the small string has to do with where you are going? Is it really necessary to spend so much time and energy trying to get rid of the small useless strings. Many men destined for greatness got hurt and fell by the wayside because they started kicking strings unnecessarily until they kicked the plough and broke their legs. It's not every critic or criticism which needs your attention or response. When we turn our eyes from the mission before us and start kicking the useless small string we are setting up ourselves for broken legs and aborted dreams. When we stop focusing on the potential greatness of our relationships or marriages and start fighting over small trivial things (kicking useless strings) we will come out with broken legs or broken vows.

I was recently stunned when I heard  that  a lady who was set to perform in Zimbabwe without panties had turned the country up-side-down. The media, leaders and laymen were so focused on the lady without panties that she became the major attraction and talking point for a very long time. The question then becomes; don't we have more important matters to discuss, address and focus on as a nation than the panties of a lady (panties which don't even exit for that matter!)? It so amazing how  much time and energy  is spent on trivial things while we take off our eyes from the things which really matter. Time and time again we get distracted as a nation, families, individuals, Christians, businessmen etc by things which really don't deserve our attention, things which have nothing to do with our assignments. The secret of completing your mission and fulfilling your vision is being selective as to which strings you kick off your back. We have hurt ourselves trying to get rid of things which should just be ignored.

Surprisingly, I have no idea what happened to the string which was attached to our plough. I just remember that after a short while the string just vanished from the plough. I don't know whether it was caught up in one of the small plants and remained stuck on it in the fields or someone removed it. All I remember is that the following day it was never to be seen. If only our donkey knew that the string would disappear the following day, it would have simply ignored the small string than kick it until it got hurt in the process.  You really don't have to spend so much time and strength kicking out of your life the false accusations against you, criticism and a lot of nonsense from your enemies. They will vanish the following day or month. If only you can wait a little longer, you would see the false rumors dying out of being proven wrong. The truth shall always stand the test of time. Don't take your eyes off your great assignment because of any distracting, irritating, disturbing, small useless string.
 
Fix your eyes on the greatness which lies before you and no attention should be given to the useless small irritating strings. Useless small strings have never stopped any donkey from completing its given assignment except those which focused on getting rid of the string so badly that they ended up getting rid of their own legs instead. Most legs (relationships, dreams or destinies) are broken by our focus and obsession with getting rid of the small useless strings (critics, criticism, accusations, small unnecessary arguments…….). Fix your eyes on the ultimate prize! Press towards the mark. Ignore the small annoying strings; the more you kick them out, the more you kick the plough and the sooner you break your legs and get taken out of your assignment.

Ignore the string, it will fall by the wayside, march forward!

Mthokozisi Gwizi is an award-winning inspirational author; he has written over a hundred inspirational articles for various newspapers and magazines and spoken on a number of radio stations. Kindly send your feedback to gwizimotivator@yahoo.com