What we can learn from the battle of beetles

On the slope of Long’s Peak in Colorado lies the ruin of a gigantic tree. Naturalists tell us that it stood for some four hundred years. It was a seedling when Columbus landed at San Salvador, and half grown when the pilgrims settled at Plymouth.

During the course of its long life it was struck by lightning 14 times and the innumerable avalanches and storms of four centuries thundered past it. It survived them all. In the end, however, an army of beetles attacked the tree and levelled it to the ground.

The insects ate their way through the bark and gradually destroyed the inner strength of the tree by their tiny but incessant attacks. A forest giant which age had not withered, nor lightning blasted, nor storms subdued, fell at last before beetles so small that a man could crush them between his forefinger and his thumb.

There is a parallel in this story which should serve as a warning to us. Most of us can survive times of crisis. We summon the strength of faith or resolve for any battle that we face head on. Whether it is in our professional or personal lives, we often overcome great obstacles. It is the small things like jealousy, anger, resentment, pettiness and negativity that eat us from the inside, which often bring about our downfall. Unlike a giant tree, we can identify and fight those moral or ethical “beetles.” We must, however, be constantly on guard.

The enemy strikes when you are most vulnerable, be on guard, stand on the truth and keep your shield on: Ego is such a powerful enemy, it gives you such a false feeling of strength that you may ignore impending danger, like how the tree was caught off-guard of the impending danger from the beetles.

Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your unguarded thoughts: Never allow negativity or discouragement to defeat you, like the beetles eating away the giant tree. Change your thoughts and change your world.

We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated: The real measure of your success is how many times you can raise and bounce back from the failures, not be defined, deterred or destroyed by it but the strength you draw from it.

Never give up, never give in: A river cuts through the rocks and the boulders, not because it is powerful but because it is persistent.

If you are persistent you will get it, if you are consistent, you will keep it: We become what we want to be only by being consistently what we want to be each day. It is the small dose of improvement that you bring in yourself, that will bring you long term success.

Sriram Bharatamis the Founder & Chief Mentor of Kuza Biashara Limited, a capacity-building organization coaching youth & SME owners across Africa. He can be reached @Sbharatam or [email protected]