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Ben Chiganze  A Bass fisherman’s Approach       
Last weekend we took a new apprentice, Oscar, to Darwendale Dam to show him the ropes.
From the intelligence gathered from various fishermen and fishmongers, the best fishing spots in this dam was the Gwebi River mouth which is to the north.
Oscar was a novice of bass fishing although he was not new to fishing since he was skilled in catching Thai catfish, an art he leant in Thailand.

He had more experience in using boats than us, he used to sail in the Indian Ocean to access an island which had good fishing spots.
His lack of exposure in bass fishing prompted him to approach Chris, Alan and I for assistance.
However, as soon as we got to some hunting grounds at Gwebi River mouth, Oscar complained of a severe headache.

He said that he suffers from these attacks once in a blue moon. He did not expect an attack on his orientation day.
He took some ice blocks and wrapped them in a towel right round his head and tried to relax on the boat seat.
I could notice some tears welling up in his eyes. He must have felt helpless and after a while he fell asleep.

On the stroke of an hour I caught a 8kg bass. My colleagues Alan and Chris congratulated me saying: “Chigela to clear, Chigela to take away, Check your time, the scud missile has arrived.”

Given that Chris and Alan come from Masvosva in Makoni District, I was left with no doubt that they were advocates of Tenda Bus Services which ply the Masvosva-Harare route.

Their ululation caught the attention of nearby fishermen and caused Oscar to wake up.
Oscar immediately joined the fray. He competed favourably until the end of the day.

On our way back to Harare, Chris asked Oscar whether his headache had disappeared when I caught the bass.
He replied that although he still had a headache my catch had motivated him to forget his pain and join in the fishing contest.
He added that the moment he convinced himself to fish regardless of his physical adversity, he got energised.

In all human endeavours, we face all sorts of negative setbacks on our journey to achieving our desired goals.
These misfortunes or setbacks come in the form of a loss of family member or friend, sickness and physical injury.
Misfortunes are difficult to plan for never mind how meticulous one is in preparing for such.

One can take medical aid and life policies but it does not deal with emotional stress.
No one can plan for death. Even if one puts aside resources to cater for this but no one is able to plan on how to cope with the emotional loss when it happens.

It is also difficult make a plan on how to absorb pain when it eventually comes.
What you focus on is what you will become.

The conventional thinking is that a person’s achievements in the next 10 years is directly related to what occupies their thought process at present.

If most of the times you think about witchcraft chances are in the next 10 years, you will be a witch.
Emotional mastery is one of the most difficult skill to master, but it is essential ingredient for the success.

There are so many things that distract us from achieving our purpose in life. The greatest being the thought process.
It is important to consider what you are thinking all the time because what you think determines your attitude in life.

Negative emotions in particular create tension within our body and mind. If this is not put in check, these negative emotions will create negative attitude within ourselves which will drain all the energy in our body and drive us towards self destruction.

If one does not take time to evaluate one’s thoughts, these thoughts will eventually become the dominant issues of consideration in one’s mind.

Most people are, in fact, drifting closer to their death by focusing on their sickness rather than recuperation.
The challenge is to consider what you are thinking. How many stop to evaluate what they are thinking?

Thinking process affects any individual in three ways: It either underestimates, overestimates or judges correctly the challenges one encounters.

Most individuals tend to overstate the impact of pain and stress in their lives because they lack the mental strength which enables them to judge circumstances well. Their minds prioritise adversities instead of their purpose (or calling).

Negative emotions or pain can sidetrack one’s focus if one is not careful. Pain comes and emotional stress comes, but it should not preoccupy your mind.

Oscar nearly wasted a beautiful fishing outing by focusing on his headache.
His behaviour later on demonstrated that one can succeed even if he or she is facing some negative personal conditions.
Mental strength can enable one to conquer even if one’s health is failing. Some of the well-known empire builders were people with physical challenges or failing health.

I agree that health comes first for every individual but getting good health must not be allowed to occupy all your thoughts.
Even if one is having some personal challenges, the mind must never be allowed to stoop to challenges.

Our future achievements are delivered by our minds in exactly the same fashion premature death is delivered to us if we constantly think about our ill health.

What we think about constantly and with conviction will solidify into a firm mental picture about the future and will become reality to us.
The mental picture about the future lays a firm foundation for the house we want to build in the future.

We are able to achieve anything that our mind says is real with conviction. Your mind is the umbilical cord joining you to your future, therefore be careful of what you feed your foetus (unborn child) on.

The writer is a Managing Consultant at CLC Training International. E-mail [email protected] .