DO YOU WANT THE CHEQUE OR YOU PREFER THE CASH

A friend of mine narrated the story of what transpired among herself, her mother, and her brother and I learnt quite some lessons that I thought of sharing with you today. I am sure you could pick up some more lessons to share with us in the comment box. She went to her mum recently and there she saw her brother also visiting. After they had had all the interesting conversations, her brother was about leaving and decided to give some money to his mum. When he reached out to his pocket, he realised he had only GHC 500 which was far less than what he thought to give the mum. So, he took his cheque book, and signed an amount of GHC 2000 for the mother. When he gave the cheque to the mum, she refused taking it because she didn't want the cheque but the cash. However, the cheque was four times more than the cash he had with him. My friend, the woman's daughter, told her not to bother about the cash because the value of the cheque was far more and it wouldn't take her long to cash it. She still persisted. The mother then said, "I need money to buy items and not a cheque." I picked three lessons from the story.

1. She was ignorant of the value of the cheque
All the mother was interested in was the cash. She cared less how much the cheque had for her. Many times in life, we are ignorant of the value we carry as humans. We are ignorant of how valuable our talents, gifts, ideas, potential, etc. are. As such, we tend to reach out for the cheap things of life, rather than taking the pain to assess the worth of the value we carry. If she had been patient enough to know that the cheque had more for her than the physical cash, she wouldn't have opted for the cash. Do you know what you carry? Are you reaching for the "cheque" or you're going for the "cash"?

2. Self-gratification
I am sure she must have had a mental map of how long it would take her to go cash the cheque before getting the money she needed as against the option of going for the physical cash from her son. She wanted it quickly. Many of us young people today cannot wait for the promise of tomorrow. We want it all now. We will rather jump in for a job than take the pain of growing a thriving business; we would rather jump into a "hit and run" relationship than take the time to start and nurture a great love relationship. Today, most of us want quick money; no wonder we are witnesses to all the vices we see today. The greatest people of history aren't those who are short-term-minded. They are generational thinkers. The interesting thing is that, sometimes their dreams never come to pass in their lifetime; but they do well to sow the seeds to germinate into a mighty tree that would provide shade for the coming generation. Nothing kills potential than self-gratification. We see this clearly in the story of Jacob and Esau. If Esau could have waited just an hour to prepare a meal for himself, he wouldn't have sold his birthright for a bowl of lentils.

3. She refused to take advice
One of the greatest things that could cost you is when you think you know it all and refuse to take advice. No human, not one, is self-made. Everyone you see doing one thing or the other has gotten to wherever they are because of the advice they got from others which they assessed and if it was good, they used it to get better. Of course not every advice is good. You have to be wise to know which is good and bad. As we reach out for greater things, we would need advice from our parents, mentors, and others to make wise decisions. The fact that you're a boss doesn't mean you can't take advice from your "subordinates". It is sheer pride to refuse taking advice because you think you know it all.

4. Broaden your Horizon 

The mother was ready to receive the physical cash perhaps because that was all she needed at the time to push her business. It could also mean that she had become "content" with the level of progress in her business. If perhaps she had bigger dreams of expanding the business, she would have considered carefully the other option of taking the cheque and not the cash. In life, as you climb the ladder of progress, you cannot afford to remain at your old position; you must move to higher heights. You must assess opportunities to expand. You must broaden your horizon and not be limited in your thinking.

5. Risk Taking

The mother was scared of the risk involved in cashing the cheque at the bank. All she thought was the time she will spend at the bank; having to stay in the winding queue. She felt she must have used that time to do something "more profitable." But what she failed to see in the bigger picture was the fact that "wasting" about two or three hours at the bank to cash the cheque would mean that she'll get four times the physical cash--an amount she might not be able to raise as profit over a period of say, two weeks or a month, considering taking the cash of 500 cedis. There are risks in life and one must assess their pros and cons to be able to take them.

6. Choices

The son knowing very well that he has purposed in his heart to give 2000 but was left with the choices of giving her the physical cash of 500 cedis and a cheque of 2000 cedis. However, he presented these two choices to the mother. The mother was torn between these choices.

Life is similar. Life will present you with choices and you will have to make the right choice out of the lot. People are going to leave you with choices and again, you must be the one to make the right choices.

You must present yourself with choices too and choose the best and right one(s) out of the lot. This could be called "creativity." 

So, there are my three lessons from a simple narration from a friend. I am sure you've learnt something. My question to you, however is, in your daily, weekly and yearly endeavours, DO YOU WANT THE CHEQUE OR YOU PREFER THE CASH? Bro Jona