GRATITUDE, ONE MONTH MORE, AND LIFE ‘BEYOND’ THE U.N.
This is my last month working as a staff member of the UN. I retire on 28th February, and from March, assume a new role as the Deputy Head of Mission at Ghana’s Permanent Mission to the UN, New York.
I am the grateful product of God’s grace, and the beneficiary of the kindness of many kind people. I thank everyone who has helped me throughout the good, the bad, and the ugly portions of this amazing journey. But, even the ugly moments, SOMEHOW, worked together for our good …. (Romans 8)
I joined the UN in New York, on 31st January 2003, after some exciting twelve years at the BBC in London. My journey to New York started fortuitously from a moment of deep disappointment, despair, and discouragement. I had applied for a promotion at the BBC, and didn’t make it. The selection outcome also showed that I was not even considered among the top three possible leaders in my section. Those selected were good colleagues and friends.
Naturally, I felt dejected, rejected, and disregarded. But I tried to dig deeper in my faith, and apply a certain deep confidence and belief in good final outcomes, when a lot of things didn’t seem to make sense.
It was during this dark period that my colleague, Kadaria Ahmed, (a Muslim sister from Nigeria) approached me, out of some sympathy, solidarity, and encouragement to tell me about an opportunity at UN Radio in New York, that she felt was better for me. Great friends, Jay and Joel Kibazo pushed, advised, and encouraged me towards the UN.
In the mean time, just six months after my failure/rejection, I tried again, and got given the job. The full story and testimony shall be told another day – if you make a down payment for my Memoir 😉.
For anyone facing one regret letter after another, or dealing with one rejection after another, or just doubting themselves and feeling stuck, I hope these four lessons from my experience serve as sources of inspiration and encouragement:
- NEVER BE AFRAID TO FAIL – FAIL WITH GENUINE PURPOSE AND EFFORT: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work” – Thomas A. Edison, the inventor of the light bulb. The Japanese also say, “Nanakorobi yaoki,” meaning, “Fall seven times, stand up eight.”
- FAILURE IS NOT FINAL: “Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the COURAGE to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill.
- FAIL, AND TRY AGAIN: “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”
- A SEED MUST BE BURIED – TO GROW: A saying from Greek Poet, Dinos Christianpoulos, is paraphrased as, “They buried us, but they didn’t know we were seeds.”
Enough of the lessons here, for now.
I have paid my dues to the world, from the BBC World Service in London to the UN in New York. Now, it is time to render my grateful service directly to the people of Ghana.
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In this moment, I can only give thanks to Almighty GOD, for the grace that has carried a Village Boy like me, from the modest agricultural environments of Ohawu in Ghana’s Volta Region, through the BBC in London, to the hallowed halls of the United Nations in New York.
We give thanks and praise.
By Ben Dotse Malor
