PAWNS.

We might get to think that we bear a sense of control over our life, the fact that remains evasive of our grasp is that at times we are mere pawns on this chessboard of a planet. We get set loose from the onset, out to open the attack, devour all that is in our path. We have our adrenalin levels pumped up by pep talks similar to what is given to athletes right before that final match. Our sense of loyalty strengthened by the fear of being letdowns. We become loyal and blindly psyched into fighting other person’s battles, mere mortals believing they have been elevated into immortality.

The main point of concern however, is not the possibility of being mere pawns, rather it is the fact that even as mere pawns we do possess the ability to define, change or maintain whatever trend the game was taking or was to take. A pawn might be considered by many as the weakest, most appropriate piece when it comes to offering sacrifices. This is not an entirely misguided notion. However, for the glass-is-half-full kind of thinkers, the importance of the ‘mere pawns’ becomes much more elevated.

Power has been defined in various many ways, the most appealing to me being that power is the ability to define phenomena and make it act in a desired manner. Therefore, by influencing the action, no matter how slightly, of anyone or anything, power is being exercised. The holder of power may also be anyone or anything, thus you can be shocked at how easily you could be turned into the subject of power held by the most unexpected of things or people. I place emphasis on things because it is easy to be in denial of the power that things can exercise over us. For instance, alcohol may make one behave in a certain way, there then, that person becomes the subject of the power held by the alcoholic beverage.

Back to the issue of being but mere pawns in life, it is easy for one to be weighed down by the thought of being such minute pieces on the board. However, pawns have the ability to define a game and put it on a certain course, and therefore with this ability, pawns do possess power. Once one holds power, never mind the amount, then that person cannot be useless. Pawns therefore with the seemingly little power they wield cannot be useless.

Another point worth noting is that about power is that it is also reliant on numbers, it increases proportionally with numbers, at least in most cases. This is as suggested by the notorious saying that there lies strength in unity, or unity is power. Back to the chessboard, you will notice that pawns are the many of all the pieces. They may not be all that powerful but the little strength they possess is sort of magnified by their numbers. If moved with a little wisdom, the pawns can terrorise the opponents.

Conclusively, the gist of this all is that we should never downplay the power that anything or anyone wields, no matter how unlikely to possess power that person or thing appears. Similarly, we should never allow any kind of intimidation to come from anyone who believes that we are powerless. We are of the ability to define phenomena and make it act in a desired manner, we are of power. Whenever we are faced with any challenge of which our powers and ability seem as limited as the pawns’ and our chances of success appear minimal, the mere thought of giving up should not even cross our minds, instead we should seek solace in the reality that pawns do determine and dictate the pace and technicality of the game. Unity should also be key, knowing that it is highly unlikely that two or more will fail in the same challenge when their thoughts and ideas are consolidated.