The power for your presence to be felt when you enter a room is the one in which most men seek. It is rare for a man to proudly confess that he doesn’t want power. Most often or not, the ones that do confess this lie are ones that do not understand power. The arrogant have knowledge of power but do not understand it. They are the ones who when they taste victory, they flaunt and brag so much that everyone on the street should know they have attained some victory- even when it is insignificant.
One day I got a lift to town. This man that gave me a free ride to my destination is a man in which I have come to admire through our interaction at the gym. Interestingly enough, at first, I did not see that it was him. He usually drives a Korean fuel economy car but, on this day, he was driving a premium German sedan. He pulled over and spotted me. Shocked, I went running to this dream car of mine and lo and behold, it’s this man who drives the Korean economy car. Within that moment, he was different. Smelling of wealth and the leather of the German sedan making him regal as he waved I should enter the car. I opened the door and he began to clear the seat for me to sit. While he was doing so, he lifted his bag as to move it to the back seat. In doing so, a huge roll of R200 notes secured by a thick elastic band fell to the floor. He did not panic. He did not fumble and create conversation to distract me from the ball of money that fell. He simply lifted it up, packed it in the bag and warmly greeted me in his palace of a vehicle. For the whole trip, I could not control my senses. I was in the presence of true sheer power.
To this day I try my best to understand what made that man so powerful in that moment. When at the gym, he is a regular guy. Not a powerlifter or anything of the sort. A man of the people who will greet and ask how your day was. A real down to Earth man who is calm and in tune with himself. Yet after that day in this German sedan, the way I see him and respond to him as incredibly changed. The question remains, what made him so powerful? Was it the money? The car and the luxurious smells that radiated in his car? Was it his calm demeanour? Or that he hides his wealth effectively from the eyes of society? Fact is, something stood out in him from most other people who have wealth. Its interesting that you find people who will flaunt their luxurious lives and give ‘god’ the glory. Yet, these people who display power in this sense are often the weaklings in the room. They readily expose fat wallets and so forth but something from them emits a feeling of weaknesses. It isn’t a feeling of envy because most often or not, one does not want to carry that false sense of power. Their arrogant display of wealth, lifestyles and so forth some how creates the opposite strand of power. In the sense that, its not everyday that one can carry R20 000 in their pockets and call it “lunch money”. Yet their showboating however fails to give the impact given by someone who keeps the R20 000 hidden from society. Rappers and most artists fall into this trap and just how many of them are actually wealthy?
When it comes to wealth, those who conceal it have more power. The impact of their power comes when they host a party, get a gift for the wife or how they can keep a mistress or enemies quiet. They do not show off their money. Instead, they display it when necessary. Sometimes, it isn’t by choice. It could be that they need to make an impression to a prospect or they need to buy off the silence of a mistress by giving her the credit card to parade through the Diamond Walk. And so, the mistress will not tell a soul where she gets the money- lest she be stripped off the luxury she has come accustomed to. There is something very powerful about the concealment of wealth. It plays on the romance that’s created by mystery. You see a man walking and dressing like the everyday man. Shopping at PicknPay and buying No Name milk to save costs. Yet when an important delegate is in town, that very same man transforms into a Tom Ford wearing, Aston Martin driving king. It is then that people begin to witness his true essence and power.
There are those who try to find power, but rather foolishly. Under the expression ‘fake until you make it’ they showcase their fake power. The reality is however, one cannot fake power. Especially being a student and player of the power games. Fake power smells like a rotten egg. It fails to impress and it fails it make its worthy impact. Instead of envy, one develops hate for this faker of power. Envy is good if you learning to attain power. Envy puts one in a position where you see a powerful man and envy his position in society and the power he has in it. Through envy, one pushes himself beyond his own limits so that he can be like that man he envies in higher echelons of society- and even surpass him.
Power is a force that no one can escape. Especially those craving the millionaire lifestyle, power is simply the leveller of societal classes- wealth is the lever. Power comes to those with wealth. Real wealth not the one once-off lotto winner. Those who bear the scars of a life long battle to attain wealth most often are the mysterious powerful men who lurk our streets disguised as the everyday citizen. These are the ones who we envy and want to share their position in society with. Those who make phone calls with money notes do not inspire true students of Power. It is the ones with various title deeds and various corporate bonds that do.