We all need a renewed lease of life - with a new heart

BABOKI KAYAWE
Staff Writer | Tuesday January 8, 2013 00:00

Matthews 15:18-19 should guide me, you, parents, policy makers, the entire nation. The scripture reads, 'But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person.'I received my new heart on the first Sunday of 2013. A new heart particularly the professional side of things. I am going to be a better employee, voter and citizen of this country and planet. This is not a New Year's resolution; it is just a new heart for life! These 365 minus days do not need the tired, rotten and corrupt hearts of the previous year!

Last night my new heart re-emphasised the importance of increasing ones' worth as a professional. Just like a lick of paint increases the value of a house, so does going for a refresher course, networking extensively, drawing a career roadmap and having a professional coach. Growing one's value in the workplace is very crucial as it is intertwined to harnessing more opportunities and climbing up the professional ladder. Three years ago I did not know the significance of having a mentor - someone to discuss your professional journey with. I did not even have any written document to guide this journey.

In 2011, thanks to a colleague in the newsroom, I came across a great programme aimed at assisting African women in the media grow professionally and equally compete with their male counterparts. Traditionally, yes and it totally does not have a place in this century as women have been relegated to 'soft beats' like entertainment, and generally perceived as having no space in the news warehouse - the newsroom. Wade Williams, a Liberian female journalist and editor of the FrontPage newspaper who graced the Women in News Summit in Lusaka late last year encouraged women to have a backbone in order to survive and progress in the media industry. Having been a newshound in the war-torn country for over a decade now, Williams encouraged women to turn a deaf ear to whatever neagitivity their male counterparts think or say about them. 'They told me that I won't make it.  That I should leave,' Williams said.

It took a new heart for this courageous woman to hold her shield-notebook and sword-pen and bleed in the front page for she had the heart for her people.Among the countless benefits of having a programme aimed at making one a better employee in 2013 as tapped from WIN are coaching, mentoring, networking and skills development are highly recommended. These help in gaining a new heart and attitude towards the workplace and service delivery. We all need a new heart to serve this country well, a heart to draw policies that will see the youth out of the pangs of hunger and unemployment, a heart to provide the nation with health care services timelessly and a heart to grow the wealth of this nation without selfishness and greed. We should all get new hearts for posterity. Let us preach patriotism from a patriotic heart, not a patriotic mouth and stomach.