Have you ever been in a situation where you walk into a building, a meeting, or any gathering with your head up high because of how confident you are in your abilities, only to be brought back to earth by the challenges and people you encountered? In those moments not only are our egos crushed, our sense of self-worth and esteem also goes through the window. That is the exact feeling that greets a strong colourful grain when it is taken into the unforgiving arms of a mill.
If the grain were an animate object, you can almost imagine it feeling like its whole world is coming down. The noise around, the rigorous nature of the process, and the mere fact that it is outside its comfort zone send thunderous shivers down its fragile frame. The discomfort of the moment alone would cause it to curse the moment it stepped foot into the mill. But unknown to this grain, going into the mill is a means for its life to experience a total transformation.
At the beginning of the process, the grain is washed with clean water to purge it off every dirt which it might have picked while on the farm. In humans, this can be likened to inappropriate habits which we adopt from our places of origin. We become so used to these habits that it almost feels like they are a part of us. It is only after we have had an encounter that causes us to part ways with the habits that we realize how ‘dirty’ they made us look. The next stage is the intensive period of being exposed to the bare teeth of the mill. It is the period where it is shredded into bits, taken apart and has its unwanted parts removed from the milling line. This is the part where a tough situation causes a re-orientation of everything you knew about yourself. You lose some things you previously felt was important because although those things helped you grow; they are not what you need to have in the next phase of your life.
To the grain, the things it loses in the mill can be its husk, its gloss and even its original shape. But to us, it can be friends, our beliefs or more painfully our home. They are often things that without such a radical push, we may never know we can do without their attachment. In other words, for the fruit to get past its dependence on elements from its source, it first has to
be willing to have itself exposed or vulnerable.
The beautiful part of the milling process then comes in its packaging. After it has subjected itself to some of the toughest treatments, the once-solid grain comes out as a fine powder fit to go into the most beautiful of packages. To us, that will be the acclamation we receive from the teachers and mentors who have groomed us from being raw talents with potentials into individuals able to tackle some of the world’s complex problems. It is where we are adorned with medals, honors and sometimes a title to prefix the name we originally have.
Once the transformation is complete, the refined grain is now transported to countries far and near, to the fanciest of marts and malls where the wealthiest of people walk in to buy whatever their heart craves. The interesting bit of this is that if the seed had not allowed itself to undergo such change, not only would it not have gone that far, it would have also been cheaper than the price tag which is fitted on its label. Thus, to the seed, going through the mill is not punishment because it knows it will come out of it more valuable than it went in. This is a lesson we ought to learn both as a person and as a nation.
To us individuals, we have to embrace challenges when they come our way no how hard they seem to rock our ship. That is because it may be destiny’s way of preparing us for things that are greater than ourselves. To the nation, we have to fully align our efforts towards the refining and processing of our raw materials. That is because they can earn us more revenue and sell the nation in a way that no raw material can. The choice is therefore ours, as whether we want to take that bold step and be grains which conquer the fear of the mill to, or be those who are content with the comfort of the ground.
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