The Dangme Man Is Capable Of Becoming A National Assest

For most of us in the dangme land, our sense of restriction is set at a very early age. We are told what we can and can't do by our parents and also especially coming from the Dangme land-Dodowa. We were in the forest so most people think we can’t achieve certain things in the country and the world at large but I told myself if I can survive in the Dodowa forest then obviously, I can succeed in anywhere in the world.

Our friends use to laugh at us those days in Ghanata secondary school when we were day students. The cloths we can wear, the friends we can bring home, the programmes we can watch on TV, all these decisions are made for us from an early age, and they tend to build in us an understanding of what people expect of us. I came from a town that the people themselves believe nothing started by indigenes can yield any positive results. People are afraid because of spirituality believe so we are under spiritual slavery. Without planning to, we grow up conforming to these expectations.

Are you surprised which of your classmates have turned out to be successful, and which ones haven't? You could probably have predicted the futures of most of them way back in Primary school. We are born without an agenda, without a life plan or a trajectory. It is often what people expect us to be that we become. But not Ralph!

I defy expectation. All my life, people have told me what I can't do. The schools I can't get into, the courses I can't read, the jobs I can't get, the things I can't afford, the titles I can’t get. But whatever you tell me that I can't do, that is exactly what I will do.

They told me I can’t go to secondary school but I went to Ghanata. They told me I couldn't afford to travel abroad to study but I studied and got a Masters' program in Prostate Cancer and have written closed to 20 scholarly articles in journal and over 100 articles in newspapers and online. I have 9 books and also a columnist. I write columns for more than 5 major newspapers in the country and the champion of prostate world articles in the country.

They told me, your articles cannot be published in the daily graphic and times but it was published. You cannot appear on national TV and radio but I was featured to discuss national interventions on prostate cancer and I am known for my work in prostate cancer in Ghana and the world at large. I was recognized as one of the most successful students in prostate cancer by the alumni connects of Sheffield Hallam University, UK and my story is currently used as a case study for a promo by the MOOC program in the school.

They doubted my ability and you cannot even do a PhD program because no one has done a PhD in my family but I have done a PhD program and will be doing a second doctoral program. Every time you doubt my capabilities, it flips a switch in my brain, and that switch will not go off until I have comprehensively defied your expectation and proved you wrong.

They told me you won’t get a good job after you left but now I have employed people. I have an NGO and a clinic running. One thing I have learnt in this life is Patience, Patience, Patience climbs mountain. They told me your girlfriend is leaving you to married someone and I said let her go because I know where I am going. But now she stills calls me because of my success. Marriage is not a race because the bible says Ecclesiastes 9:11King James Version (KJV)

“I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all”.

Now, not all of us are like this. In fact, many of us cannot take internalize criticism. We find it hard to accept praise, but we believe every negative thing said about us. I still get self-conscious when I have to sing - even in church - because somebody once laughed at me when I hummed a tune. It's just the way many of us are. The secret of Ralph success is that he has somehow evolved a different reaction to criticism. Unlike some of us, criticism has very little effect on Ralph self-belief, because people's expectations of him will never be as big as his own expectations of himself.

In an ancient Shaolin Temple, a novice monk was thinking about quitting. He was tired of his fellow monks laughing at his Kung-Fu skills. Every time he made a mistake, they would take great pride in pointing it out and reminding him that he was not good enough. He packed his bag and went in search of his Master to bid him farewell. When he got to the Master's chamber, there was a cup of water and two small bags of salt on the table. The old man emptied one bag of salt into the cup of water and asked the novice to drink it. The boy took one sip and spat it out. The old man smiled and stroked his beard. "How does it taste?" he asked.

The boy wiped his mouth and replied, "Very bitter, Shifu"

The master then took the boy down to the edge of the lake. He emptied the second bag of salt into the lake and asked the boy to drink from the lake. "How does it taste?" he queried for the second time.

"It tastes fine, Shifu", was the boy's response.

Master patted him on the shoulder and said, "When people doubt you, it is like pouring salt into water. How it affects you depends on whether you are a cup or a lake.

Another Chinese film I watch and the guys presume to be the killer said” life is about 100% , 10% is about what happen to you in life and 90% is how you react to it and therefore challenged people to leave life to the 90% and not 10%

So my friends, if we define our capabilities based on other people's expectations, then we will never be bigger than cups. But if we set our own expectations higher than what the world sets for us, then we will always prove our critics wrong. Cup or lake, it's all up to you in the dangme land but not I, Raphael Nyarkotey Obu until I get my professorship I am not done yet! Rise up because the dangme man is capable of becoming national assets!

Dr. Raphael Nyarkotey Obu:ND,MSc, PhD(C)

0500106570. Catalyst for change in the dangme land!