Talking To The Shadow

Two faces of thesame coin

I know you know what a coin is, and that every coin has two faces most times with different designs on them. In the game of soccer a coin is always tossed to decide which side of the pitch the both teams would play at, that is to say a coin is that important even if paper money now dominates the   financial market. The most important thing about a coin is that, the story you would have about it in your mind can be instantly changed if the other side is turned over, and just as in the game of soccer, it can completely change a teams story. A coin though common and small, has a hidden power in decision making. I watched a popular "bat man " movie and a serial killer in the movie tossed a coin that would determine if he blows the brain of his victim who happened to be a cop, he was so lucky that because of the delay "bat man " the super hero came and saved his life. I know what you are thinking and don't be too quick to say "its only a movie " or laugh out loud and say " real killers do not toss coins ". You might be right after all, but, the actual point i am gradually driving you to, is for you to understand that every individual, tribe, race or nation has a better side hidden to your eyes, and can only be revealed if we learn to open our minds to the "bigger picture " as i call it and accept a" balance of story " as late Prof. Chinua Achebe would call it. On my return home after a long first semester from school, my mum introduced me to a young lad who happened to be one of the sons of her worker. At first i was thought she was going to tell me she had adopted a brother for me since i was her only son. Unfortunately she begged me to take him extra classes in math and quantitative reasoning, i asked why and with a slight disappointment she told me that he failed both the subjects woefully. She added that he was too playful and paid less attention to his school work, my thoughts about this handsome young boy standing before me changed, and a slight look of disappointment ran down through my face. Few weeks into the extra classes i took Yusuf, he came to me one Friday evening and told me to come watch him play soccer in their schools inter class soccer competition. I was present to witness the next day, and to my greatest amazement Yusuf played so well that he was crowned as the most valuable player of the competition. Instantly like a flash of light how i saw Yusuf in my mind changed completely, and even if i never told anyone i felt ashamed for only thinking of him as boy who failed math and quantitative reasoning, and with his playful nature was up to no good with his future. I was ashamed of only seeing the bad side and assuming nothing good might come out of him if he continued failing in school. The mistake i made was to completely accept what my mum told me about Yusuf the first time i saw him, she was only staring at one side of the "coin". What if she had added that he was so good in soccer, at least aside failing in school i would have thought of him as a boy who could one day be a soccer superstar. I too was also a victim of staring at one side of the "coin".
It is true that we come across different people who might not share perceptions exactly like us, but it is good not to quickly rule them out as bad people, there is always a better side of them if get to know them better. We should be advocates of seeking " a balance of story " to every person we meet.