Consistency

By Tope Popoola

A young man came to see me recently all the way from Offa in connection with one of the articles in this column. If he is reading this, let him get in touch. I misplaced his phone number. I have information that would be useful to him.

Last week, I informed you about the necessity for keys in opening doors and promised to share some with you. The first (not necessarily in order of importance) of these is CONSISTENCY. It is defined in the English Thesaurus as “constancy, steadiness, reliability, uniformity, evenness, stability, regularity”. ‘Slow and steady’, they say, ‘wins the race’.

There is nothing haphazard about consistency. It is predictably steady. In my secondary school days, I tried to get involved in athletics, especially long distance running. Unfortunately, I always finished among the last even though I had earlier taken off full throttle. It didn’t take me too long to know that my talent didn’t lie in athletics.

After I had dropped out of it, I started studying those who consistently won. In the most part, they maintained the same speed they took off with right up to the finish line. Most of the other participants either took off at full speed (like me), gained the advantage of distance but lost all the steam before we got halfway, or started so slowly, trying to conserve energy for the last lap, only to try and gain speed at the last lap, by which time the gap factor was to their disadvantage.

The story is told of the tortoise who challenged the dog to a race. The dog thought that was the most ridiculous and insulting thing he had ever heard. As far as he was concerned, there was no contest. It would be a good opportunity to prove the foolishness of the tortoise and the dog’s superiority once and for all.

The distance to cover and the date were set. A day to the event, the tortoise had gone to secure some juicy, irresistible bones and positioned them at strategic points of the route, the juiciest being kept a few metres to the Finish line. At the start of the race, they both took off. The dog sped off while the tortoise merely waddled along.

After a few meters, the dog sniffed the scent of what was naturally irresistible to any dog. He paused, looked behind him, and not catching a glimpse of the tortoise, decided to refresh himself by treating himself to the juicy bone. He had such a good time he didn’t notice when the tortoise strutted by. When he finished, he took off again and in no time, caught up with the tortoise who didn’t seem to be making any effort to increase his speed.

The bone-eating episode repeated itself a couple of times more until it was just a few meters to finishing. With the finishing line clearly in view, the dog assured himself that this would be the last stop to eat anything, after which, in just a few steps, he would go ahead to win. But this was no bone like the previous ones before it. It was extra special.

By the time the dog spent a few minutes with it, he was so stuffed and heavy he felt sleepy. He looked around and the tortoise was not anywhere in sight.

Assured that a nap wasn’t out of place, He convinced himself he would have woken up long before the tortoise would show up. Unfortunately for him, he was still fast asleep when the tortoise strolled to the finish line. The noise of applause for the tortoise was what roused the dog from sleep.

Many lessons are to be learnt from this story but the one pertinent to our discourse is that the race is not always to the swift or nimble-footed. Life does not award the prize of success to those who run the fastest but to those who run consistently.

In developing consistency, patience, developed through perseverance, is the key.

When your name is mentioned, what specific trait or activity comes to mind? Those who get the best out of life are those who painstakingly and consistently cultivate the disciplines that take them through the distance.

You are known for what you do repeatedly. If you enjoy what you are doing and keep developing in that direction long enough, the world will find a place to celebrate you. More next week….

Remember, the sky is not your limit, God is!