Before you go to war...

Africans have really profound proverbs. The thing with our proverbs is that they can fit into different situations.

There's a Yoruba proverb that says "A child who's not old enough to avenge his father shouldn't be asking about the death that killed his father. That thing which killed his father could might kill him too."

In choosing the battles we fight, first, we should weigh our chances of winning such battles. Intentions do not win battles, neither do positions. You don't win battles because you're on the good side - good is even subjective.

Strength, grit, and meticulous planning win battles. If you don't have power to do anything, then you don't. Wishing and dreaming won't do you anything.

One of the biggest self-defeating traits that humans have comes from our ego.

I'll explain.

I have two colleagues at work; let's call them Alex and John.

Alex and John have a very difficult boss whom they report their daily activities to. This man is so difficult that he'd, sometimes, call them at night on weekends to give them assignments to go for an urgent site inspection the following day.

Everyone knows that this isn't ideal, but, it is what the job demands.

Alex would ignore his boss' call and tell him that working on weekends wasn't part of what he signed up for when he got his employment. This immediately put him in the cross-hairs of his boss.

John, on the other hand, would go on these assignments even when it's inconvenient for him. He understood that this was only for a while. In fact, John did something that would impress his boss so much; so much that he immediately became his boss' favourite.

So how was John able to win his boss' favour?

John told me that he watched Alex's relationship with their boss, and Alex was always speaking as though he was more knowledgeable than the boss; he always had a different opinion from what the boss says.

Alex would go as far as to challenge the boss openly.

It didn't matter if the boss was right or wrong, Alex became his enemy.

Admittedly, Alex was usually right about many things, but his approach made him an enemy.

One day, this boss called both men and expressed his dislike at some of the things they did, which he didn't like. John immediately apologized and appreciated the boss for being kind enough to tell him his faults. Alex felt it was unfair that the boss could say his dislikes, while he was expected to just suck it in.

He expressed his own dislike as well, even though he wasn't asked to.

Poor, poor timing...

Alex is a forgotten man in his department now; We can debate his unfair treatment another day

Just like that scene in Game of Thrones where Cersei said to Little Fingers "Power is power", indeed, power is power.

You do not win a tussle because you're on the side of "good". You win because you have the means to.

A wise person makes an assessment of their chances before they lift a sword; you definitely don't want to be taking on a Goliath unless you're certain that you would win.

That also reminds me of King David, when his wives, kids and properties were taken by the enemies; he came home to meet nothing. He had no idea which direction his enemies had gone.

Instead of splitting his army into groups and make them go in different directions which could have be a waste of effort, David sought God's face. "Shall I pursue?" he asked. And only when he was sure that he had God's backing did he make an attempt.

To wrap things up; if you're ever going to pick a battle with forces greater than you, then you must be backed by something bigger than those forces.

If you have no backing, wait until you become such a force.

"Pikin wey never mature no dey ask wetin kill him papa..." you know the rest by now.

Stay safe.