Last week was a roller-coaster week, starting from Sunday. There was so much I had to sort out with so little time to do it and it seemed everything had to be done at the same time. I had very little sleep – I think I had a total of 8 hours of sleep last week! Phew!

Every time I considered what I had to do the more the tasks seemed absolutely daunting – I mean where was I going to start from seeing that everything had virtually the same timelines? Pretty urgent among these tasks was for an event coming up the next week, which meant I had to work very closely with the team to ensure we delivered as at when due. I have to confess the lady I was working with was such a spot. We will laugh at ourselves and the list of things we had to get out as fast as yesterday. There was an evening she called me by past nine saying she was still at work as her boss wanted to see and sign off on some communications.

Wahala! We were far from the promise land as I had another meeting to attend to which also could not wait. I also remember, smiling now, how we were texting each other in the middle of the night to get and send updates on how work was going, but interestingly we remained calm and cordial through it all.

Was it because we were Christians? Was it because we were working on a Christian programme in which we both consistently prayed to God that all will turn out well? Was it because we had decided to see ourselves as team members/partners and like I consistently told her – we were in this together – the work vigils, our desire to meet the tight and almost impossible timelines, and us putting everything in to ensure all things turned out well? I wonder?

Suddenly I find myself thinking of the relationship between clients and their partners, between co-workers or team members in the office, between couples and even between members of a family. Usually, we are so caught up in things that we forget to work in tandem. Everyone is so keen on proving their point or having their way, that we forget the bigger picture. Clients are so keen on seeing themselves as ‘kings’ that they sometimes because of their egos fail to see the points and perspectives of their partners thereby jeopardizing the success of projects.

Just think for a moment. Just step back for a bit. Take a look at what’s going on with the eyes of an ‘outsider’ and you will see that it really is the rat race mentality that is at work eating into what could have been a resoundingly successful project, a deeply insightful and fruitful meeting, or the sweetest of relationships. If we will just let go of our egos for a bit, strip ourselves of that totally unnecessary pride and with open minds work together without ‘hidden agendas’, we will be absolutely surprised how more fulfilling our lives will be, how more interesting our work or tasks will be, how more beautiful, pure and strong our relationships with family, loved ones will be; and the list goes on and on.

I challenge you to decide in your hearts to do things differently from today. Let go of the rat race, we’re not rats, after all, let go of the ego battle, after all we are created differently so we can bring our unique spice to every situation and you’d marvel at how wonderfully things can work out for us as a people – members of the human race; and how we can consistently relish the taste of success and victory together.

Our event is coming up soon and everything is virtually set. There is no animosity between us in spite of the heat we were both facing and I have such deep respect for them because of the way each person I have worked within the team has shown how the fear of God can reflect in our relationship, actions, and way of life. Indeed the world is made more beautiful if we all can genuinely love the Lord our God with all our heart and love our neighbours as we love ourselves! This in itself is an ‘Experience’ which should be ‘Global’ in every way!