Strife may be costing you more than you think
Strife in today’s world is often perceived the be a driver for progress. The challenges generated by strife have often resulted in large advances. For example, World War 2 brought us the jet engine, radar, and precursors to satellite communications.Yet let us not forget the human toll of that war. For the first time humanity could self-destruct with the introduction of nuclear weapons.
While it is true that overcoming strife results in great progress, strife by its nature is costly. Even more costly than we often realise.
Strife has a bad effect on our wellbeing. Personal strife sets up stresses which we often cannot handle. A major cause of mental illness is strife. Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome became widely known after the Vietnam war.
Strife with others is a sure roadblock to achieving good success. Strife causes the diversion of much needed resources. I was taking some group of children in mathematics a couple of weeks ago.
Every time I tried to correct one of the learners, several others joined in. The net result was nothing was effectively learnt by the end of the hour allotted to build some knowledge in them. Strife and discord had derailed the learning experience they were supposed to have received.
Yesterday, having learnt from the events of the previous Sunday, I engaged two adult volunteers to be in the class with me before the young learners entered the class. I started straight away with the first two that came early setting the standard for the day.
In the 15 minutes before the rest of the class came in, I had covered the entire area of measurements that I needed to cover for the class with these ones. Setting the scene for the rest of the class, the young learners were all deftly maneuvered into the seating arrangement I wanted. The observers that came in afterwards were amazed at the change in atmosphere in the class and how focused the learners became.
A pep talk by an experienced protocol officer rounded off the class. She spoke to an attentive class on the values that make us excel in studies and all life pursuits. Strife was costing the young learners discipline, and focus. As a result they were missing out on the unique opportunities presented to them to get the best from the professionals that had volunteered their valuable time.
We shall dwell more on the cost of strife soon. Did you connect to this piece? Please comment and share on Twitter and your other social media outlets.
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