ORAL VILLAGE IDEAS
BY
DANIEL APPIAH-ADJEI
Sharing Ideas On Adinkra Symbols
MATE MASIE (NTENSIE)
‘’What I hear, I keep” being the meaning of the above Adinkra symbol also brings into mind, wisdom, knowledge and prudence. It also implies “I understand”. In the Akan tradition, Understanding means wisdom and knowledge. Again, it represents the prudence of taking into consideration what the other person has said. Samuel Asare Bediako, one of the veteran musicians in Ghana who is now sojourned in Canada once composed a song entitled Mede nareka beto m’ano. (I shall put a big padlock on my lips). He continues by saying ..”na mankoka obi ho asem oo, te kakyere bo koro, nsemkeka nyeoo…nkonkonsa nyeoo, mede nareka beto m’ano..(…so that, I don’t gossip about somebody. Hearing and disclosing can ruin a whole township hence, I shall put a big padlock on my lips). This is a philosophical visitation of our wise people and their statements/communication through these Adinkra symbols
People are often asked to keep what they are told secret. For unsubstantial information, idle talk, which foolishly or maliciously spread rumours are termed as gossip and considered to be irreverent and unhelpful.
Imaging a friend tells you “Kwaku Gyan, shall I let you into a secret”? What more interesting question could you ever hope to hear? As soon as we hear these words, our hearts start to beat a little faster, our eyes brighten and focus, our bodies tense up. We are all anticipation. Why? Because having access to hidden knowledge gives us a sense of power. And the person who tells us the secret feels even more powerful. And that's why it's so tempting not to keep secrets.
Mate Masie - the importance of trust
We all like to give and receive attention, and sharing information, particularly if we have privileged access to it (i.e. we know a 'secret'), is one of the most satisfying ways to meet this basic human need. This is the basis of all gossip. "I know something that you don't. But if I tell you, you will be indebted to me." That's how it works. In most cases, it does little harm. But there are times when being able to keep a secret are vital. If you have been in the habit of letting secrets slip, people who know you will also know not to trust you with something really important. This means that your relationships with others will have little trust in them, and will be the poorer for it. You won't get as much respect as you would like. Metiri nye whole-sale syndrome (My head is not a whole-sale to keep secrets)
Easy promises - a recipe for disappointment
Mate Masie enjoins us to hold on to our promises and if we find it hard to keep a secret we have promised to hold safe, what about the other promises we make? Do you find yourself promising things before you've really thought about what it will entail, and then discover that you can't deliver on your word? It's very tempting to say 'yes' to people and so gain their approval. But if you can't deliver what you promised, the resulting let down can wreck your reputation.
When somebody shares his/her secrets with you, it shows that you are a trustworthy person and you don’t want to lose that trust by spreading those secrets to others. The person who shared the secret to you did so because it helps him let go some of the responsibility in himself while letting out some stress, too. Not everyone can hold everything to themselves all their life so they intend to share it with someone they have faith in. If you want to keep your relationships intact, you must learn to keep secrets. We should always keep in mind that the secret entrusted to us is not our secret to share. The person shared it with you to make himself or herself feel better but it’s not for you to talk about or let other people know what it is. You don’t have the right to share it even if you hold it for someone. The results could be devastating and you want to avoid that.
Don’t let the secret bother you in any way. When you are given the honor to hold the secret, acknowledge and treasure it, but you are not responsible to act anything about it unless the person asks you to do something. Respect that trust and you will be respected back.
Don’t break the trust of the person who has given you his faith to hold his secret. You may never know if you still have another chance to have it back. Most of the time when a person shares his secrets with anyone it is because he is in need of a person who can understand him and be there for him in need. Honor that trust.
If it happened that you were not able to hold on to the secret entrusted to you because of carelessness, be aware that if you open your mouth and share the secret, you will most likely lose the trust from the person or even worse lose them as your friend. So be very careful about it. If you are not able to keep your promise don’t expect them to keep their promise to you too. This will cause serious trouble in your relationship. So to avoid this, each time you feel the urge to use the secret you know to gossip, take a moment to see how much it could hurt both of you. You don’t want that to happen at all.
Always remember that one old friend is better than 100 new ones. There is no price for old friends. They know you better than the new ones you will make. So don’t try to break everything that you and they have worked so hard by sharing secrets that ought to be kept. After all, when you hide something, you can go back for it in the near future.
Mate Masie is more valuable in the long run
So ultimately, we all have to weigh up the short term rush we get from sharing knowledge or secrets that are not ours, or being over-ready with our promises, with the long term real benefits that come from knowing how to keep secrets and how to say 'no' when 'yes' is not feasible; Being trustworthy and reliable to ourselves and everyone else. But just how do we set about building our personal integrity if you've not already had a lot of practice at it? It's not something you can take classes in. And old habits can seem hard to change. Particularly in view of the temptations. The answer is to tap into our deepest core values of choosing a new path in life by making the new behavior feel natural and comfortable - as if you've been doing it for years. And the easiest way to do that is to make use of the power of M’ate masie. By Listening to Keeping secrets and promises, you will find yourself relaxing more deeply than you have ever done before. But this is not an 'empty' relaxation. The masterful ability to maintain your stance will allow you to review your core values and magnify their power in your life, so that you can cast out unwanted behavior patterns and establish a new template more in keeping with the real you.
Mate Masie Improves Confidence
The search for the inner source of confidence is neither an excuse for overlooking your weaknesses nor an invitation to hubris. Rather it is an identification of the strengths that make up the authentic you. Self-awareness is an attribute vital to leadership effectiveness. While leaders know their weaknesses all too well, even good ones sometimes overlook their strengths. That mindset can lead to an erosion of self-confidence.
"Confidence is like a muscle," said a colleague of mine, KariKari Nyame. If you don't use it, you will lose it. I like that analogy for two reasons. First, it connotes that confidence comes from within; it is something we can work on. Second, it puts leaders who must demonstrate confidence in order to attract followership on notice that it is their responsibility to nurture it.
It's a leader's job to set direction and determine outcomes; that only happens when leaders feel confident in themselves. Opanin Due Mante, mante (The Leader pretends not to hear. What he has heard, he keeps)
M’ate Masie Provides the Necessary Truth
There is something more to everyone than our mere bodies, than our mere thoughts, than our mere personalities. That is Patience and when you become consciously aware of yourself as being this something ,you will know no fear, you will experience the full enjoyment of all of your desires, you will feel the peace and contentment which comes from knowing that you are complete and bound by nothing. It is only when you are aware of your true identity that these things will come to you. This is your divine inheritance. To receive it is to see things as they truly are – unclouded and undisturbed by personal bents, biases and past traumas. To receive it is to live wholly in the eternal now where past and future have no distinction apart from the present moment. To receive it is to know that you are great, beautiful, extraordinary and all other qualities of magnificence without the burden of needing a reason to substantiate these claims. To receive it is to be a natural at whatever you set your mind to. Your ability to adhere to this wise symbol becomes your divine legacy. One of the Secrets of our Kings is adhering to the Mate Masie or the Ntensie symbol.
This Adinkra symbol surely is dedicated to the concept of universal oneness. Each step we travel with it and through the dreams of others, we are being led by and to the eternal, intelligent fusion that is Divine Spirit...
To grow ethically, morally and decently we must recognize the source of our growth. Honor and respect our Thought Adjuster; be more humble in taking credit where spiritual things are concerned, know that of yourself, you can do nothing but with God you can do anything. Attempt to cooperate with spiritual forces not for your purposes, but for all; God's purpose. And always follow truth, wherever it may lead.
Developing the Mate Masie Concept in You
• Emphasize Your Strengths – give yourself credit for everything you try. Applaud your efforts.
• Take Risks – approach new experiences as opportunities to learn. Do not focus on winning or losing.
• Use Encouraging Self-Talk - talk yourself out of expecting perfection and substitute more reasonable expectations. It is perfectly acceptable to try your best, but do not shoot yourself down if the outcome was not perfect.
• Self-Evaluate – It is helpful to ask for the opinion of others but learn to evaluate yourself independently. Focus on how you feel; develop your own personal power, thus gaining a stronger sense of self. Watch out for undue criticism, especially your own!
• Relive past times when you felt empowered by your situation.
• Concentrate on what your purpose in the situation is. The key is to have an aim.
• Temporary fluctuations in our feelings of self-confidence are fairly common; they happen to most of us. If, however, your self-confidence is low for a prolonged period of time or your mood shifts quite often, it might be time to seek professional help. It may be that you never really developed a good, solid concept of yourself as you were growing up and do not now possess a firm, positive concept of yourself to build upon. Establish a positive self-image.
By His Grace, I shall be back
