....Great....and Small!!!

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I came across a wonderful piece written by a senior brother of mine, Kunle Durojaiye. I thought I'd reproduce the post here in it's entirety.

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....Great....and Small!!!

By Kunle Durojaiye


It’s such a wonder to realize how we forget so easily that we weren’t born as 5 or 6 footers. Some would even as much as remember their infant days, back in kindergarten or primary school, secondary or high school (depending on your background, “butters’ went to high school’ or “paki’s’ did the secondary/grammar school”); but not many have actually embraced the fact that as grown as we may be currently, we evolved from a very minute embryonic form in a woman’s womb.

No man was born full grown (apart from the likes of Sat Guru, who claim to have just appeared on the scene). Nobody just appeared! Every big thing started from an inconsequential, seemingly insignificant beginning.

• Forests grew from a small seed sown in the ground. Seed gave birth to a tree, to produce fruits with more seeds, to eventually grow a forest or plantation.

• The sayings still holds that oceans are formed from a gathering of little water droplets.

• The journey of a thousand miles begins with the very first step.

• Every business venture started with the initial paltry investment.

• Large families originated from one small phrase that passed from a man to a woman “Will you marry me”. Generations have been created from a single phrase of ultimate intention.

• Great networks and years of devoted friendship have been kindled by one of the shortest words in the English dictionary – Hi!

• Large edifices and infrastructural installations have been consumed by huge conflagrations just by a single small spark.

• The four stroke engine is ignited to produce power for motion also by a spark.

• The information age was birthed by the discovery of an infinitesimally small piece, the chip.

Apparently, every great achievement in life is simply the full grown version of an initial small embryonic idea, thought, or chip. Everything great started small. This is essentially the paradox of life. One of the greatest discoveries still reshaping the way we live and work in the 21st century, is the chip (microchip).

Literally speaking, a chip is defined as a small piece of wood/stone, or a small piece of food e.g. potato chip. To a wood worker, the chips are the tiny pieces that are seen to fly off the main wood, while the saw-man slices the log. To an electrician, a chip is a miniaturized electronic circuit that has been manufactured in the surface of a thin material. Chips, by physical appearance and size tend not to be reckoned with as major contributors and the tendency to dispose of them is pretty high. After all, they’re just chips.

And basically, that’s what we tend to do with our personal chips. They become just passing thoughts, unrealistic ideas, far-fetched imaginations, and the likes.

However, it is obvious that our world today is changing and modifying continuously premised on one factor - the emergence of small pieces, not just of electronic circuits, but small ideas, small thoughts, small phrases, small concepts, small opinions, small imaginations, small muses - The very small things!

Rather than sweep them off and dispose of them as superfluous, or over bloated, you and I need to begin to gather our chips, thoughts, concepts, and ideas together, no matter how insignificant they may seem.

Your little idea, almost swept away and discarded, when fully developed, may be the ground breaking strategy to address the complexity of traffic in Lagos.

Your infinitesimal thought, so reticent, yet so latent, may be the final piece to fit in the Nigerian democratic puzzle.

Your microscopic opinion, though never heard, could be a solution to the syndrome of bad roads in our country.

Your miniaturized chip could be all you need to change your world.

Your minute concept could modify societal and cultural styles and create a better world for us all to live in.

Your chips, when fully grown, will announce you, advertise and publish you, and take you to places. You see, it’s all about those little things deep rooted in each of us.

Pen down your thoughts, gather your chips, document your ideas…..everything great starts small.
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