Wisdom of the foolish...

Life they say is a mystery and a lesson, a lesson to those who see it as a place to learn and acquire more skills. It is a lesson to those who will never give up to situation and who does not believe in stagnancy. The lesson behind the mystery of this life is that no man is an island. We are living in the world where one should not depend solely on his/her own understanding alone because one way or the other, we need to learn from other people to help us in our own way to take us to our desired place in life.

There is a fiction that “the wise at times learn more from the foolish” and this has been a mystery to many people over the years. To me, the simple interpretation of this is that some wise men are so foolish and fool of themselves that they always think they know better than every other person around them, the impression they always create is that they are better than everybody especially the people below them in age, rank or position forgetting the fact that “no man is an Island”.

The real nature and meaning of these two saying that “no man is an island” and that “the wise at times learn more from the foolish” never really occurred to me until the day I realized that there is only a very tin line between the wise and the foolish and the tin line is that a wise man easily becomes foolish when he needs to apply his senses in solving a problem and he could not do it and a common foolish man helps him out…It happened last week when I was traveling to Ibadan to sign a business proposal for a contact, it was towards evening and I was driving very fast with the highest speed in order to meet up with the appointment.

The journey was going smoothly on Lagos Ibadan-express way until suddenly after Shagamu when I unavoidably entered into a ditch, the tyre bursted on speed which almost caused a fatal accident, my mind was gone but still managed to stop the car and came out to see how bad, on getting out of the car I realized that the tyre has been damaged beyond adjustment and also realized that the four bolts holding the tyre to the real were all gone. I looked up and down with so much disappointment knowing that even though I have extra tyre where do I get the bolts to fix it with the real to continue my journey? I opened the boot and brought out the extra tyre and how to fix it was now the challenge as it was already getting dark.

I was going up and down the highway looking for where to get a mechanic to help out, making calls to my friends to come see if anything good will come out but nothing came out of it all. As I was moving up and down in dismay, I noticed that a mad man was sitting close to the scene of the accident and was looking at the way I was struggling with the issue; he was laughing and saying all kinds of abusive words to me. The mad man concentration on my side gave me another reason of discomfort when I remember Clifford Orji but never knew he was looking at the foolishness of a wise man.

Suddenly, he stood up and walk towards my side and immediately I saw him coming, I was moving away with style applying a Yoruba adage that says “Ogbón ní àgbàlagbà fi ń sá fú malu” (An elderly man run for a cow stylishly so as not to show their fear). He started calling me names like Òde, Dìdìrìn (Lunatic). All these never bordered me ‘cause of his nature but he now said something that really challenged my senses, he said it in Yoruba that “so u are putting on a tie and u don’t have a common sense to help urself, don’t run for me o, I only want to help u and prove to u that u are a foolish man without senses” he laughed with so much noise exhibiting d normal character of a mad person. When I heared help, I was like what can a mad man offer but still listen to him. After listening to him, I realized that “the foolishness of a mad man has just helped the wisdom of a wise man”

He said u are a fool, u still have three tyres with four bolts in each of them, why not remove one bolt each from the other three tyres to give u another three then use it to fix the extra tyre, at least u can still manage that to move out of this dangerous highway and make sure u reduce ur speed…He said it and moved away dancing and exhibiting the normal characteristics of madness.

As he was going, I was just looking at him with so much surprise that a mad can could give solution to the problem that has almost run down my emotions, then I remember the common saying that “no man is an Island and truly that the wise at times learn more from the foolish”. I did exactly what the mad man suggested, I removed one bolt each from d other three tyres which gave me another three and I used to fix the extra tyre. Wao! I shouted, so a suggestion from a common mad man can actually help save a situation that has taken me hours without solution; I said to myself. I entered my car and drove off, I reduced my speed and I got to Ibadan safely with the help and knowledge of the person I called foolish, a mad man.

This experience opened my eyes to the mystery behind the saying that “NO MAN IS AN ISIAND” and also confirmed what the Bible says in Proverbs 12:15 “A fool thinks he needs no advice but a wise listens to advice”. If u are d type that thinks u are d best in all ways and considers every other people around u as nothing, I believe u have learnt from this story of how the foolishness of a mad man gave solution to the problem of a wise man…Remember “No man is an Island”

Cheers!
gbengacares©2010

10/01/2010