Agenda | Sep 21,2025
Jul 13 , 2020
By Kidist Yidnekachew
One rainy Sunday morning, I found myself reading Khalil Gibran’s "The Madman". I realised something as I read the story - most of us carry on with our lives pretending to be someone we are not and often find ourselves at a crossroads.
Some of us do not fail to fully comprehend who we are or what we want. It is as if we wear masks each day to shield ourselves from others, and the only time we seem to take off our mask is when we are with family members or close friends.
One can only imagine the doubt this will put many people in. We rarely have any idea of knowing how many of the people around us will accept us once they see our true colours.
But, and this is a caveat, what if we managed to be ourselves all of the time. If people were vocal more instead of keeping it to themselves, which would require courage, it would be a truly different world that we live in now. It requires a state of preparedness to face the music and to take in life as it comes to us.
This was clear to me after I met a particular person a week ago. A friend called and asked me to talk to a friend of hers who could use some conversation. Skeptically, I agreed. My friend had already told her about me, thus I did not need to explain when we met. She introduced herself to me and told me some things I needed to know about her.
I assured her that our conversations were going to be kept confidential, and that if I was to discuss our conversation elsewhere, I would do it anonymously.
Then she began. Several things were obvious about her right away. She felt inadequate and did not think too much of herself. I asked her what she wanted to change about herself. Her list was full. I asked how her friends described her, and surprisingly, they did not seem to share the same negative view of herself. She tried to justify this by insisting that they were just being nice.
I asked if it was fine for me to talk to one of her friends. She agreed and gave me a friend’s number. It was unusual for the friend to be interrogated by a stranger in this manner, but she soon became loose and began to open up to me. She believed that her friend was one of the smartest and nicest people she knew; accomplished and successful as well.
“She must know. I don’t feel the need to tell her, but occasionally I let her know how amazing she is,” she told me after I asked her if she communicated properly with her friend.
When I hung up the phone, I was thinking of her and many others like her. Most of us at some point in our lives must have doubted ourselves and our abilities. Most cultures are also highly biased against showing off, for better or worse, while adulating modesty. We are encouraged to suppress our sense of accomplishment and worth.
Here is the irony though. People who doubt themselves are those that often should not, while those who are over-confident are the kind that should question their sense of accomplishment. They are assertive even when they have no clue about the things they are pontificating on, while those who have sufficient knowledge are often found unable to opine.
But it is the case that even people who have had some success and are objectively imbued with knowledge, can also be those who are unable to face the music. They are held back and their true potential and their identities clouded to the detriment of themselves and those around them.
PUBLISHED ON
Jul 13,2020 [ VOL
21 , NO
1055]
Agenda | Sep 21,2025
Money Market Watch | Jul 06,2025
View From Arada | Mar 13,2021
Fortune News | Jul 06,2025
Agenda | Aug 01,2020
Life Matters | Mar 21,2026
Fortune News | Nov 13,2021
Election 2026 coverage | Apr 16,2026
Viewpoints | Mar 11,2023
Life Matters | Jun 22,2024
Photo Gallery | 185854 Views | May 06,2019
Photo Gallery | 175895 Views | Apr 26,2019
Photo Gallery | 171452 Views | Oct 06,2021
My Opinion | 139410 Views | Aug 14,2021
Dec 22 , 2024 . By TIZITA SHEWAFERAW
Charged with transforming colossal state-owned enterprises into modern and competitiv...
Aug 18 , 2024 . By AKSAH ITALO
Although predictable Yonas Zerihun's job in the ride-hailing service is not immune to...
Jul 28 , 2024 . By TIZITA SHEWAFERAW
Unhabitual, perhaps too many, Samuel Gebreyohannes, 38, used to occasionally enjoy a couple of beers at breakfast. However, he recently swit...
Jul 13 , 2024 . By AKSAH ITALO
Investors who rely on tractors, trucks, and field vehicles for commuting, transporting commodities, and f...
May 9 , 2026
The Ethiopian state appears to have discovered a fiscal instrument that is politicall...
May 2 , 2026
By the time Ethiopia's National Dialogue Commission (ENDC) reached the end of its fir...
Apr 25 , 2026
In a political community, official speeches show what governments want their citizens...
For much of the past three decades, Ethiopia occupied a familiar place in the Western...
May 9 , 2026 . By NAHOM AYELE
Finance Minister Ahmed Shide entered the last quarter of the fiscal year with a budge...
May 9 , 2026 . By NAHOM AYELE
At the Federal High Court's Lideta Division, on Dejazmach Bekele Weya Street, one of...
May 9 , 2026 . By BEZAWIT HULUAGER
Mayor Adanech Abiebie's cabinet has approved an additional 9.9 billion Br budget, a m...
May 9 , 2026 . By BEZAWIT HULUAGER
The fight over Cosmo Trading Plc has outgrown the courtroom where it began. What star...
Loading your updates...